I don’t think Portsmouth gets that much of a rough deal, even if I did always prefer 444s growing up near Guildford. The express services end to end are just over an hour and a half, for which using 450s isn’t exactly outrageous, and it’s not even like they’re the sole stock on the line. There’s still a decent chunk of 444s going down there. What I’d personally be more keen on seeing is a return to 2tph Portsmouth fasts, but that’s a discussion for another thread.
I think we can all agree the 458/4s won't ever be going to Portsmouth.
Some could say fast on the Windsor lines is equivalent?
Definitely not. Gradients, speeds, bends very different to name just a few.
"Fast" on the Windsor lines is about 60mph! Maximum speed limits is 70 but services only achieve reach that on very limited sections, eg Feltham to Staines if not stopping at Ashford, in my experience.
Glad to help.
Thank you very much. Post 4528 states they’re both providing spares for other units.
If 458/4s are to be withdrawn by 2027, we may never see those units again. Not in service with SWR at least.
Well we’re yet to see a source to confirm they will be, so I don’t think that’s something we need to worry about just yet.
Hopefully not. I assume 458529-458536 will be part donors like 175008 at this point? 8 units seem highly unlikely to find a new home. 8536 is gonna cost a bomb to fix, etc. I'm curious on how they're gonna fix 8401/8418. Possibly 8529 will be the part donor this time?
Seems mad to get rid of 529 and 530.
Can’t seen any path yet, perhaps the units still on hand back process
So true, literally any opportunity I can take a 458 I will.
It does, but 530 was out of service for a fair while, so I presume it has the most miles left (hopefully?)
Yeah, would make sense actually, probably should have thought about that, might try spot the 529 drag when it finally occurs.
530 on it’s own on Reading’s today
it's been like this for a while already, after 529 got withdrawn
I was referring to the period when 535 was single for a while, and 529/533 were together a lot, when 530 was in Wimbledon depot for a month or two.
533 will probably have the most miles left because it was out of service for around 2.5 years from January 2021 to around June 2023 I believe.
Oh interesting, I don't remember that (albeit I wasn't too focused on individual units at that point.) Out of curiosity, do you know why?
awaiting parts, and was used as a donor unit for other 458s in the meantime
makes sense, I wonder if any /4 parts have been (noticably) used on any /5s yet (or vice versa), I remember seeing a photo of a 458/5 window on a 458/4 a bit ago
yeah - a blue frame on a 458/4
Yes, strangely that's shown as 4 instead of 10 on Journeycheck even though it's normally a single 458/5 anyway.
