Recent content by BR67

An extension, yes, but not 10 years. Announced today, 7 railway periods. https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/uk/first_group/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=858&newsid=1675695

Yes, set 157 (the last of the 56 sets to be painted) is in Widnes now, out later this week. It'll be plain grey, not Avanti branded.

The bits of masking tape with black numbers on are identifying "snags" that have been spotted but not rectified yet by Hitachi, before the unit is offered for Provisional Acceptance by the owner and operator.

HULL TRAINS REVEALS NAME OF NEW £60M FLEET Hull Trains has officially named its £60m new fleet of trains which will revolutionise travel between Hull and London. The five Hitachi trains will form Hull Trains’ Paragon fleet – a name chosen due to its stand-alone meaning and its significance in...

Yes, but Spain has been considering open access rail operations for five years. Nothing has (yet) happened. https://www.railwaygazette.com/news/passenger/single-view/view/spanish-passenger-market-competition-approved.html

Really?! I don't see any mention of tilt on the Alstom HS2 page here. (They refer to Avelia Pendolino as a product, but that's limited to 250km/h, so not an HS2 solution). The train would be a lot more costly if it tilted, and there was no requirement to tilt in the HS2 Rolling Stock Technical...

They are on lease for the full franchise term (see the Franchise Agreement, page 176). https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/668663/south-western-railways-2017-rail-franchise-agreement.pdf

Rubbish. It was DfT failure, as explained here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmtran/537/53705.htm (but we're well off topic, so no need debate this further here)

It wasn't announced this morning, so it won't be announced today. (It would have to be announced before the markets open). I'm not sure if it's 3 months, or 90 days, that is normally required for mobilisation. By Monday it's only 89 days left...

Why do you think the battery will be for traction? No other AT300 has a traction battery, and if this one did, it would be a bi-mode. It hasn't been announced as a bi-mode.

It is a new(ish) supplier - McLaren Applied Technologies. https://twitter.com/VirginTrains/status/1059411696689782784 The DfT mandates free WiFi in its latest franchise specifications, so this change will have been agreed as part of the ICWC Direct Award extension...

Well, the franchise ITT required Guildford to Waterloo via Cobham in 53 minutes (see Maximum Journey Time: Pattern SD1, in attachment A part 3 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/south-western-franchise-2016-invitation-to-tender). Currently it looks like about an hour.

It's on page 74 of the TSGN ITT.

Today! Bombardier Aventra. http://www.firstgroupplc.com/news-and-media/latest-news/2017/20-06-17.aspx

The criteria are here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rail-franchising-pqq-passport-documentation As mentioned above, unions wouldn't meet the financial criteria, amongst others.