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TfW class 398 Stadler Citylink tram trains

MikePJ

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Thanks folks - the network statement is always a bit behind the times! It looks like 84m is the "baseline" platform length (i.e. long enough for two 398s working together). Butetown, as a newbuild station, gets 125m platforms, so that definitely suggests that TfW aim to operate triple sets between the Bay and somewhere further north when it gets busy.
 
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tfw756rider

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During the early hours around 3.30am a triple set of 398’s went passed in the direction of Ninian Park on test

Improvements to Cardiff Bay platforms could presumably accommodate triple sets of 398’s for post Arena Events

I’m wondering which other stations, Central, Queen St, Pontypridd aside, could accommodate loaded triple sets
Wow! A 9-car 398 would be about the capacity of a 6-car 756.

I've never seen more than a single 398, but I've only been seeing them in the day.

Have any 398s worked in multiple (even if just double) on daytime test runs yet?
 

MikePJ

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Wow! A 9-car 398 would be about the capacity of a 6-car 756.

I've never seen more than a single 398, but I've only been seeing them in the day.

Have any 398s worked in multiple (even if just double) on daytime test runs yet?
It's also worth noting that several stations received platform extensions to handle 6-car trains of Sprinters/Pacers in the Arriva days (sometime before 2012) but then there weren't enough units to actually run the longer trains... so that's an investment that's taken a long time to pay off.
 

positron

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Thanks folks - the network statement is always a bit behind the times! It looks like 84m is the "baseline" platform length (i.e. long enough for two 398s working together). Butetown, as a newbuild station, gets 125m platforms, so that definitely suggests that TfW aim to operate triple sets between the Bay and somewhere further north when it gets busy.
The bay stations are larger also to accommodate people flows more than just pure train size too. So it's not necessarily an indication they intended to run triple sets. But I imagine it'll happen for certain occasions.
 

MikePJ

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The bay stations are larger also to accommodate people flows more than just pure train size too. So it's not necessarily an indication they intended to run triple sets. But I imagine it'll happen for certain occasions.
The other benefit of the long platforms at the Bay is that they can be used to stable extra trams, either for regulating the service or for ensuring that there are plenty of sets available to handle a surge after an event ends. I can foresee that a pair of 398s could sit at the buffer stops end of the platform during an event, with single units coming and going from the town end, and then the double set is opened to passengers once the rush arrives.
 

tfw756rider

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Many thanks! May I ask if you saw it, or did you otherwise find out somehow?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

It's also worth noting that several stations received platform extensions to handle 6-car trains of Sprinters/Pacers in the Arriva days (sometime before 2012) but then there weren't enough units to actually run the longer trains... so that's an investment that's taken a long time to pay off.
True, indeed.
 
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Harlequinuk

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Green Signals member can watch an o interview with TfW and they talk about the tram trains
 

Last Hurrah

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It's also worth noting that several stations received platform extensions to handle 6-car trains of Sprinters/Pacers in the Arriva days (sometime before 2012) but then there weren't enough units to actually run the longer trains... so that's an investment that's taken a long time to pay off.

Platforms on Penarth to Rhymney route were lengthened to accommodate longer trains which Arriva were not able to provide

There was a sizeable notice board at Rhymney, stating platform lengthening had been carried out with the help of EU grant funding
 

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chrisjo

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Rail Adventure power cars on the way to Pengam today, might be relevant? 6D37, then 6Q39 to Old Dalby tomorrow.

43468 RAFC LEICESTER 596D371E03 D * PENGAMSDG N
43484 RAFC LEICESTER 596D371E03 D * PENGAMSDG N

and...
 
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Defiance149

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I gather a Class 398 was moved directly from Portbury Docks to Asfordby last week by road, number unknown but presumably 398032.
 

tfw756rider

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Looks like 398028 was named during the visit
398028 Myddfai

According to this article (publication warning):

The one Charles drove was also officially named Myddfai, after the small Carmarthenshire village nestled in the Brecon Beacons, where he had his Welsh residence, the 18th-century coach house Llwynywermod.
 
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fadster

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Noted at Asfordby test centre today:- 398015/019/020/024/032. All parked up.
Fadster.
 

Avowedsevern

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Yes, I know. What I meant was there may be a school children-named name that comes after this one that wasn't. I don't know how else to say that.

Fixed that for you, you don't need to add the clunky "that wasn't" -- it's redundant and we can infer meaning without based on context. I imagine this is why you caused confusion.
 

tfw756rider

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Fixed that for you, you don't need to add the clunky "that wasn't" -- it's redundant and we can infer meaning without based on context. I imagine this is why you caused confusion.
My original post said "the one that wasn't", not "this one that wasn't". I later changed it to the latter, actually with the intention of being clearer. Anyway, I'll just say thanks. Thanks.
 
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