XC seem to think it's fine. I'm still very surprised that no TOC has thought of installing a vending maching though, would remove the need for a trolley and in any event there are often times when the trolley can't get through the train.Omitting a buffet?
On a long distance Intercity service?
Surely they wouldn't!hock:
...Would they?
I'm not I just know that not all OHL installations are the same, I don't know where the how many OHL supply stations there will be either. Is there any other reason you can think of that would require a diesel engine to power the auxilliary systems?
I think Zoe and Ainsworth74 have both hit the nail on the head here. None of this paints a particularly rosy picture for the future of Intercity rail travel in the UK beyond it being a basic mass mover of people from one place to another. We're talking about using these trains on the "Cheiftain" to Inverness and the "Northern Lights" to Aberdeen, and London to Cardiff/Swansea is hardly a short hop either, and yet it remains to be seen if there'll be much in the way of a provision for catering and on board comforts. Anything more than a "no frills" service seems to be an unfashionable objective to follow in the present day.
People want these rock bottom airline style advance fares though. If you want no frills airline style fares then it's reasonable that you have a no frills airline style travel experience.
Omitting a buffet?
On a long distance Intercity service?
Surely they wouldn't!
...Would they?
I've increasingly little faith in the IEP specification offering anything that makes it comparable to being a direct replacement for HSTs...
hock:If we do it will only on the bi-mode and only one engine of the three engines.Also I hope to god that we won't have underfloor engines throbbing away even under the wires!
I beleive you'd need to employ more staff though, for example if one member of safety critical staff can deal with five coaches then a ten coach train you will only need one dispatcher on the platform as the guard can deal with the other five. More than ten and you'd need a second dispatcher.
Not everybody is after the rock bottom airline style advance fares though. Its understandable that the approach to design for on-train facilities has moved towards the fit as many seats in as possible approach, to seat as many passengers as possible who are attracted by low fares, raking in maximum revenue by providing a basic service with very few extras, but it is not always preferable.
There seems to be a bias towards aiming train design at the journeys made over intermediate sections of the whole route, which is appropriate in terms of the number of passengers who make partial journeys compared to the number travelling the whole length of a train service, but by looking at medium to long distance services this way it makes it easy to forget the nature of the service provided as a whole: In my opinion trains should be designed with the needs of the passenger who is making the complete end to end journey in mind, rather than just aiming to satisfy the majority of passengers travelling the shorter intermediate journeys. Remember that these trains are earmarked for the lengthy London to Aberdeen and Inverness services as well as GWML.
Indeed but I find it's no coincidence that catering facilities started to decline at the same time as walk-on fares went through the roof and advance fares were widely introduced. It was also around this time that some TOCs decided to pack as manys seats as possible into the coaches. If advance fares were increased or even withdrawn in some cases in return for lower walk-on fares and better catering facilities you'd hear no end of complaints.
It's has to be better than using HSTs on semi-fast commuter services out of Paddington though.
By running 4 tph you may attact some people from the M4 and National Express coaches. Remember that the extra services will run via Badminton and it's possible a ten coach formation could run to Bristol Parkway where it would split with five coaches going to Cardiff and five going to Tempel Meads. There wouldn't be any extra paths required via Bath.
So if you have one of the engines running all the time under the wires then you only need to start the other two 20 minutes before you need them.
Don't forget you will still have the Swansea service. There was a proposal to scrap the half hourly service back in 2006 at the start of the Greater Western frachise as the loadings west of Swindon were not considered to be high enough. It's possible that they will run 4 tph to Bristol Parkway via Badminton though, I'm just trying to see a reason for the dft's requirment for the trains to be able to split en route.
