Recent content by Korot

In understand the Hex -> Crossrail replacement to be a bye-bye to the 'express' part: Heathrow express no longer runs, freeing up paths on the fasts/mains. Instead, Crossrail trains are extended along the slow/relief lines to keep up capacity to Heathrow, even if at a slower journey time...

Heathrow Express' current units are only ~80m long, while 1 Clss 345 is 200m long, so they won't be a 1-for-1 replacement anyway. There are currently 10 extra 345s under construction, intended for more trains through the core + extending the current Paddington-terminators to OOC when it opens...

I think that's because the loading loco, 99004, is moving with its pantograph-side leading (I think that's the 1-end?), while the trailing locos have the pantograph trailing. The side of 99004 we see is the one with the ventilation grills, which block a centred position for the logo.

The 93 only has a 900kW diesel engine, which would both has to supply hotel power to those 8 coaches & traction power for most of the route. On electric the 93s are plentiful enough with their power, but they can't do long passenger runs away from catenary.

Does anyone know the reason the 99's run in diesel under wires during these tests?

Possibly not that long, because LNER also operates on (parts of) the Fife Circle.

PJM, just 2 posts above yours in #1167, gave the answer:

Is that the first real confirmation that there will be 99s with ETS for passenger service?

1) If you top/tail down from London to Penzance, you'll also have to top/tail up from Penzance to London, else you'll collect a lot of 57's in Penzance! Futhermore, if reliability is the reason you want to have a back-up locomotive going 'down', certainly reliability is also so poor you'd want...

No, HS2 only benefits England & Wales according to UK Govt, not Scotland. So Scotland does get extra funding (which it uses for it's decarbonisation program), while the devolved Wales gov't does not.

You mean currently? Currently the non-core trains terminate in the above ground terminal stations; with trial service being a shuttle that does not interact with the non-core above ground service.