Class 159's on lymington to brockenhurst service.

[Fincra5]

I'm with the people who suggested a 313 or 508. Southeastern have around 6 or something 508s in storage being only used to keep up milage (etc). SWT could take on just 2 of these. Would make far more sence given the 3rd rail and they don't exactly need much or any work doing to them.

 

[MrC]

I'm with the people who suggested a 313 or 508.

But having a couple of units of a different class from the rest of your fleet makes no sense at all. You need somewhere to maintain them - have to be Wimbledon as ISTR Bournemouth doesn't perform maintenance any more, specific class engineering knowledge, separate parts stock, a roster of specially trained traincrew, plus a whole load of other issues such as how you handle assistance, and the need for train turning paths.

All for a minute backwater branch line that relies on subsidies to exist? It ain't going to happen.

 

[thefab444]

They're also high density units with no cycle space at all!

 

[Fincra5]

Well the drivers trained on the Slammers should be able to drive a 508. Drivers of the Wessex from Southern are mainly ones who used to drive slammers.

 

[MrC]

Well the drivers trained on the Slammers should be able to drive a 508.

i'm pretty sure a 508 is closer to a 455 than a slammer and there's not many 455 qualified drivers at Bournemouth (in fact I'm struggling to think of more than a couple of possible candidates). Anyway, 508/313 would still need separate traction knowledge because there will be differences from other classes. It doesn't matter though as you'd still need a separate link of traincrew to man a non-standard class and all the other factors I mentioned above still apply.

Basically it's a non-starter for a TOC to do this unless someone steps in to make it worth their while and I can't see why anyone would do that in the current financial climate.

 

[kennethw]

The only problem I can see with using a 158 on the Lymington branch is that 158s only have space for about two bikes, whereas the 3CIGs could accommodate about 10-15 in their brake vans. I can see cyclists being turned away from the train at Brockenhurst or Lymington Pier because all the bike spaces are occupied. From personal experience, there seem to be plenty of cyclists on Lymington branch services who then take their bikes onto the Lymington-Yarmouth ferry.

that happened on 16 sept when 158 unit in use in preperation for withdrawal of cig's in that case, what would be needed is a cycle hire facility in Lymington