But at a lower cost of ownership than the zoo of previous ex-BR rolling stock.
It certainly has mate.
Overall very much agree, I just don't understand why the regional units have built in level boarding whilst the commuter units don't and to top it off the 3 by 2 seat sections are very narrow to walk through!
My understanding is that the FLIRTs are more expensive units compared to the 720s and we have to remember when they were ordered it was all about seats into London hence the 3 + 2 seats. Compared to other TOCs our grumbles are minor inconveniences.
Not only is the ITV Anglia weather report still being sponsored but all the Hare adverts are still appearing throughout the commercial breaks. As many expected it’s just business as usual
The wonderful thing with us staff especially at ground level have been untouchable right from the start of this pantomime in the 90s. It’s just another day in paradise.
Especially if you're Phil Collins.
And to think it was ‘Against all odds’.
The issue with LUMO and other Open Access Operators is the degree to whether (or not) they pay the true cost of their access to the network. That's not as simple as saying LNER bad, LUMO good - it's a complex debate to disentangle the 'true' costs of railways when you try and split them all up.
The 100% fleet replacement was underpinned by the almost-free money available to banks during Quantitative Easing; it allowed a once-in-a-lifetime update to the whole fleet, but those times have now passed and the money to pay for fleet renewals going forward is going to cosy more.
I get the need to pack in as many seats as possible, I'm just surprised they introduced 2 new train sets at once, one came with level boarding built in, whilst the other didn't. Level boarding needs to be taken seriously, any new trains introduced now or in recent years will probably still be in use in 2050 and beyond, that really isn't good enough.
When the public consultation (run by the DfT I believe) took place prior to the award of the last franchise the overwhelming response was seats, seats and more seats which is exactly what the travelling public got because the DfT said the trains had to have them. The fact that you can't use some of them, move down the train easily and having minimal small toilets was an (unintended?) consequence of this.
Regular commuters will presumably learn to stand on the right place on the platform to use the emptier parts of the train.
There is a difference between the commuters on these and other lines out of London as if they're GEML there's the long non stop crawl up to Shenfield before anyone gets off so pretty much all passengers are on for a minimum 20 to 30 minutes as opposed to some of the other lines where it's a genuine hop on hop off commute (Thameslink for example) where seating is less important
While I don't want to turn this into another 'Is GBR worth it' thread, I think it's incredibly important to note that GBR is not DFTO. DFTO is a stepping stone to what GBR will be, but the idea of GBR is not the same as DFTO, or what any of its companies are doing. LNER are doing a fares trial, and Northern are doing an entirely different one. Both DFTO but still operating essentially the same, because GBR is meant to be a sweeping reform of the industry.
Is this with the widely used white LED dot-matrix screens or LCD screens, do you know?
Re: West Midlands Trains their contract was recently given a 12 month extension to end September 2026, can't find anything about GA.
I’ve found the first-gen BlackBox displays GA use are really poor at longevity.
Interesting as I follow numerous local news websites ranging from BBC through the EDP to more local ones which have all run stories on GAs move across. I would estimate about 90% of posts are against GA moving across.
