Railcare awarded £20m class 16x refurbishment project

[TEW]

But you may well be right about using something other than a Turbo on a North Downs route diagram, as it and the Basingstoke service are fairly self-contained and you could presumably limit the number of crews who would need training to work say a 158, if they can hire one. Certainly can't see any lone stand-in set being let loose on the main line.

Believe the majority of crews working the North Downs line already sign 150s for the Basingstoke services, so using 150s may be an option. Southern drivers only sign 165/6 AFAIK so they'd have to be trained up on any alternative traction.

 

[Chris125]

Once the GW electrification frees up the 165/166 fleet, the most obvious place for them (besides any remaining diesel routes in the Thames Valley) would be former GWR routes- so West Country locals & branches (along with boosting capacity on Chiltern) and maybe South-West Wales.

We know where the 165/166 fleet is expected to be operating thanks to the Overarching Enhancement Plan for the necessary gauge clearing - Cardiff-Bristol-Exeter-Penzance (including Weston-super-Mare), Bristol to Portsmouth, Westbury to Weymouth, Bristol to Worcester (including Gloucester), Bristol to Severn Beach, Swindon to Gloucester and Swindon to Westbury along with various diversionary routes.

Chris

 

[swt_passenger]

Given that the 165/166 fleet has clearly been earmarked for use in the Bristol area and on routes through Bristol such as Portsmouth - Cardiff for quite a few years, why do so many posts bother perpetuating these artificial limitations on their geographic use?

As discussed before, they were recently cleared between Redhill and Selhurst Depot via East Croydon, and between Guildford and Basingstoke via Woking, with no apparent difficulty whatsoever...