Flood damaged 156478

[scotraildriver]

Rail mag carries a current feature suggesting a heavy rebuild for 156s; I only had a brief scan but very possibly it could have been those on the far north runs. So they may survive an extra decade or two if that goes ahead. In general though I agree, a decent order (preferably for something specially designed to be lightweight and not horrifically expensive to run) would be a good idea and would make sense if it allowed us to shift more than just Pacers. Particularly with current electrification schemes (GWML) already over budget, I think we're going to continue to need a sizeable diesel fleet for some years to come. Many of the 150s are in a very poor state of repair, and it's a concern to consider how much structural integrity can be retained when corrosion appears to be rampant.

156 are not used on the Far North line. They were replaced with 158's years ago.........

 

[BestWestern]

Rail mag carries a current feature suggesting a heavy rebuild for 156s; I only had a brief scan but very possibly it could have been those on the far north runs. So they may survive an extra decade or two if that goes ahead. In general though I agree, a decent order (preferably for something specially designed to be lightweight and not horrifically expensive to run) would be a good idea and would make sense if it allowed us to shift more than just Pacers. Particularly with current electrification schemes (GWML) already over budget, I think we're going to continue to need a sizeable diesel fleet for some years to come. Many of the 150s are in a very poor state of repair, and it's a concern to consider how much structural integrity can be retained when corrosion appears to be rampant.

156 are not used on the Far North line. They were replaced with 158's years ago.........

Okay - my apologies then, the top end of Scotland isn't my strong point; the article spoke of 'scenic trains' so I presume they'd be up there somewhere, rather than on gritty suburban jobs...
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Better to just re-form them into 155s again, which is what I think is more likely, unless they are significantly knackered structurally, rather than creating heterogeneous units. Or is there a strong need for 3 car sets which couldn't be met by 4 cars consisting of 155+15x?

There are some structural concerns, the bodies are allegedly sagging across some of the fleet (must be contageous cos some of the drivers seem to have the same problem ) which isn't helping their cause. There is certainly a need for more capacity, and three coach trains would be an immediate improvement of course. It also saves considerable cost, as they could just be marshalled into the middle of units 'as is' with no modifications required whatsoever.

 

[najaB]

Okay - my apologies then, the top end of Scotland isn't my strong point; the article spoke of 'scenic trains' so I presume they'd be up there somewhere, rather than on gritty suburban jobs.

They are used on the west coast to Stranraer, and I believe out to Fort William so pretty scenic routes.

 

[455driver]

However, had a new DMU order been in progress I wouldn't be surprised if an extra unit had been added to it with an existing 156 cascaded to Scotland.

So the leasing company would rather spend £2.5million on a new unit rather than £400K on what is effectively a general overhaul (C6? in modern terms).