Yes, the only 2 car will be the half eight from Manchester each evening. I certainly am not going to complain about that seeing as how many there are now, although I do note the rather unfortunate irony in that that's the very train I usually get when I've been to Manchester
Manchester's are supposed to be 5 cars when the full 197 service starts
It might not look good but if 2 cars are all that is available that is all we will get. And a 2 car 197 is a massive improvement on a 150/158/pair of 153s. In my opinion of course.
Plus anything that frees up stock so the Cheltenhams aren't using single unit 153s like Tuesday is a massive benefit!
Not sending trains off lease might do that...
I agree but I also accept that the lease terms were agreed prior to any delays in new stock, although not tying down the 170s to their original plans is a travesty which leads to the long term keeping of 153s, even if they may make more sense for HoW they don't add flexibility. We've had one 175 a day recently which helps, I'm thinking another 170 has been sent away but not seen that for a fact? Not seeing the Ebbw Vale roster means commenting too much would likely make me look a tool
There's an end date on the lease where they all have to be back, the leasing company haven't extended it so they can't just be held onto.
Do TfW have any set plan for where they want First Class to be, like how most London TOCs aim towards London?
Is it just Manchester, Swansea and Carmarthen which are the progressively less well served dead end stations on the route? The various branch termini may not actually have their exits at one end.
Well in that case First Class would either have to be in the Front or Middle (relative to a passenger at Piccadilly).
It's likely to just end up where it does, there's too many places that end up turning sets (Chester, Manchester via Warrington, Carmarthen, Swansea) to be consistent.
Aren't the 1st class ones only for Manchester - South Wales via Stockport, Crewe and Shrewsbury?
It's difficult to tell because of the network TFW work on. Don't forget that the 197's will be maintained at Chester, even though predominantly working South Wales - Manchester (unconfirmed if any other routes). The route to Chester is either via Wrexham or via Crewe, meaning whichever way it arrives will be opposite to the other when arriving into Chester.
So you can't travel first class in a wheelchair and all the catering supplies for first have to be carted through the train from the other driving car. Why isn't first class in the other driving car between the disabled area and the catering cavern?
Then it would be the same as the 185's with transpennine, but slightly worse as there would be almost no standard seats at all in one carriage. First would be either side of the catering cupboard and the wheelchair area/toilet at the end
Could you not just have 12 1st class between the catering cavern and the doors leaving te saloon behind the cab as standard.
Can't wait for more 197s to be accepted situation is getting worse as time drags on
It is not the destination that counts. Most Manchesters drop /pick up so many passengers for changing to Liverpool and the North.
That sounds great! How they're going to do all the diagrams with only 15 accepted units though I am not sure!
As long as all the training runs use non accepted units it should be possible to cover the diagrams. It would make sense to ensure these diagrams run over the captive NW coast onesvi order to maintain competency of different depots.
Didn't spot that one! Let's hope this works out - an end to long distance sprinters may be in sight!
Various contractual issues between different parties. But its not something that anyone who knows more details will be at liberty to share on a public forum.
