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Future of the 350/2s

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The Planner

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Northern already sign Crewe to Stoke via Alsager and run 2 x trains that way each day, 5K45 and 5H46. They may also sign a short distance beyond Stoke for shunts. Northern also sign routes like Liverpool-Runcorn-Crewe and possibly Crewe-Warrington-Wigan.

"Northern" signing Stoke to Stafford/Rugeley wouldn't take too long, and there's plenty of traincrew available who already sign it. That is one of the benefits of GBR, you don't create artificial boundaries or problems. West Midlands Trains staff will work for the same organisation as Northern staff. It won't be a Northern service, it will be a GBR (North West and Central region) service.

Either way route and traction knowledge won't be an issue, there will be staff available who sign both.
There is nothing happening, if at all, in the next year. Its not even being talked about at present.
 

DarloRich

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Will run out of room at Wembley before much longer. The units there are all still ‘pan up’ and cut in. However if there’s not any encouraging news soon I suspect they’ll be be headed to Sims soon enough.
relatively new units aren't getting cut up any time soon.
 

adc82140

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Any reason why they are at Wembley? Porterbrook normally use Long Marston.
 

warwickshire

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Maybe awaiting a decision on Northern, reuse elsewhere, or Withdrawal, but don't want to speculate to much, Until the decision to withdraw is actually set and announced officially, however back to Long Marston 350237 is actually there. So again speculative 350237 might be a indication,
Ie again wait and see if Withdrawal does go ahead.
 

DarloRich

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What other countries do you think would take them?
no idea- i am not a business development manager for Siemens! But they are good quality trains, reliable trains They are tired inside but other wise good and from a decent "family" of units.
 

Silverlinky

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Those were quite a lot older and more specialist.
Class 360/2, built 2004/5, scrapped 2022.... 17/18 years old.

Class 350/2, built 2008/9... 16/17 years ago.

Would also guess that gangwayed stock is less desirable than non-gangwayed in the current climate.
 

Peter749

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If they were diesel locos they could go anywhere easily, and DMUs could probably go to another continent as HSTs have done, but UK EMUs of any power source have no real alternatives abroad.
Why could you not send an Emu abroad? Apart from Platform Height and width to the train.
 

Bletchleyite

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Why could you not send an Emu abroad? Apart from Platform Height and width to the train.

The units might be more suited to metro-style services. For instance, Bangkok has a metro-style service serving the main airport (I won't try to spell it! :) ) which basically uses Class 360s, albeit with a beefier aircon unit plonked on top and an interior using the blue moquette that the 350/1s used to have.
 

Nym

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Why could you not send an Emu abroad? Apart from Platform Height and width to the train.

Pantographs…
We are not a TSI railway

EDIT: Technical Standards for Interoperability.

Pantograph / Overhead Contact System operation is country-spesific and will likely continue to be for some time.

In addition to the country spesific protection and data logging systems, the pantograph would also need to be changed if being sent anywhere else, and then re-homogonised for that country.
Seems a lot of work for an asset that isn't *that* expensive any more.
 
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61653 HTAFC

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Why would it be "awful" if they end up scrapped?
They're not being kept on along with their sister units because of the ownership, and the resultant higher leasing fees. Presumably if Porterbrook find a new user, this will be at a more competitive price than the previous deal with LNWR? Otherwise, why should Northern end up as even more of a financial basket-case just so that Porterbrook don't have to take a hit? If Porterbrook are able to reduce the leasing costs, couldn't they have done so for LNWR? It isn't the first time they've painted themselves into a corner, as they did the same with the 323s initially- assuming that WMR would want the Northern fleet too. Perhaps it's high time they suffered the consequences of their decisions?
It isn't actually that unusual throughout history for some fleets to be withdrawn and scrapped after around 20-25 years. Plenty of first-gen DMUs only lasted around 25 years.

With my enthusiast hat on I'd rather the 323s stay. There needs to be a better argument than "these trains are newer" to make the change. If they're going to be cheaper to lease and maintain then great, but there's also the downside that on Northern they won't be able to work as 8-car sets which means anything currently 6-car would have to run as a 4.
 

Peter749

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Pantographs…
We are not a TSI railway

EDIT: Technical Standards for Interoperability.

Pantograph / Overhead Contact System operation is country-spesific and will likely continue to be for some time.

In addition to the country spesific protection and data logging systems, the pantograph would also need to be changed if being sent anywhere else, and then re-homogonised for that country.
Seems a lot of work for an asset that isn't *that* expensive any more.
The trains run on 25kv AC which a lot of countries have which is why Class 86, 87 and 92 locos have been exported abroad even though non of them had systems suitable for the countries they went to
Why?

Because it is cheaper to rebuild than buy new.
I doubt the 350s would work elsewhere but some company might want the equipment.
 

tfw756rider

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Why would it be "awful" if they end up scrapped?
(Not disregarding any of your points but just replying to the basic question)

350s, as with all the "post-privatisation" units, which should stay, are relatively modern. They still look "in place" in the 2020s. They have air conditioning. All the accessibility equipment is part of the train design itself, and the announcement intelligability in particular is relatively good.

323s, as with all the ex-British Rail units, which need getting rid of, are obviously old. They look out-of-place in the 2020s. They lack air conditioning. They're so old that all the accessibility equipment had to be retrofitted, including the totally clear-sounding TrainFX (Levenshulme = "Mumblemum").
 

BerkshireRails

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What other countries do you think would take them?
South Africa for the Gautrain.
Gautrain is an 80-kilometre (50-mile) higher-speed express commuter rail system in Gauteng, South Africa, which links Johannesburg, Pretoria, Kempton Park and O. R. Tambo International Airport. It takes 15 minutes to travel from Sandton to O. R. Tambo International Airport on the Gautrain and 35 minutes from Pretoria station to Park Station in Johannesburg. The Gautrain has 10 stations. Buses, shuttles and midibus services are available to transport passengers to and from all stations excluding the O. R. Tambo International Airport Station.
 
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