Haven't the ex-TPE 3 car 158s at SWT been modified so they are are more similar to the 159/0s then the remaining 3 car 158s with other operators?
Is there any difference anyway except that 159s have controlled emmission toilets, which the 158s will be getting in the next few years anyway?
Now I know Wales deserves new rolling stock, but with other franchises recieving Stadler and CAF DMU's I can see a huge cascade of DMU's to Wales.
Plus with ongoing strong rumours of South Western Rail franchise to order new EDMU's there will be plenty of 3 car Class 159 fleet going spare.
Remember that Northern have a LOT of Pacers, so even though they are introducing new DMUs they aren't actually releasing anything cascadable. Even if they were, deliveries of the new CAF units are due to run into 2020 according to the list in Modern Railways, so cascades from Northern would be too late to help W&B make their fleet TSI-PRM compliant. The Stadler units for GA aren't due until 2019 either, so again cascades may be too late and new DMUs for Wales will not be possible before 2020. The only new train option by 2020 that's not an EMU is CAF's mark 5 coaches, unless somebody has a spare production line and DMU design ready to roll.
Hopefully we will see the new franchise incorporate new services with new/displaced dmu's I wont be surprised to see us get some of these class 319's flex units as well as some possibly displaced class 158's.
I also believe that Northerns class 144's will appear on shot term to bolster the valley lines fleet
Porterbrook's response to the consultation run by one of the National Assembly committies makes slightly interesting reading depending on your perspective. Porterbrook have apparently given up on the ePacer concept, from the link:
Porterbrook Leasing said:
At this moment in time, the Class 143 (referred to as Pacers) will have no commercial viability for re-leasing on the UK rail network past the PRM-TSI deadline given the requirement from the DfT for them to be replaced in the Northern franchise as part of the franchise re let process. As a consequence of this decision Porterbrook has no intention to invest in them to make them compliant with PRM-TSI legislation
There are designs for 153s however, I wonder if that involves converting them back into 155s. They are also trying to 'sell' the class 323s for the Cardiff metro; I cannot see the sense in that since the car length is 23m which I thought wasn't cleared on most of the ValleyLines, and the only line that might take them (Rhymney) has a very short platform (just one door platformed I think, so trains need to be gangwayed throughout). Even if that station was fixed (I've not been there, so don't know the details of the problem) the other platforms are only 6x20m I believe; do 323s have SDO? Also, worryingly, making ATW's 36 150s compliant would apparently be a £10m investment; how long a lease after 2020 would be necessary for Porterbrook to recoup that?
I noted 5-car from Brum splitting at Mach (which could be done by sticking a non-ERTMS half-158 between the two halves of an existing one) would fit the line well.
If SWT do release their current DMUs, I wonder if the centre cars from the 159/1s could be put into ATW's 158s or would they need ETRMS mods anyway? And would there be a problem mixing the Perkins engines in ATW's 158s with the Cummins ones that I think the 3-car units have?
Only up to a point though. If my maths are correct - at any one time during the day you'll have 3 158s somewhere between Shrewsbury and Holyhead, and 3 in the south. That gives you an extra 6 158s to play with if they exclusively worked Cambrian-Birmingham (notwithstanding the alterations you'd have to do to the diagrams to free them up). Is 6 extra units enough to do everything that the Cambrian needs?
Realisticly it is only 5 extra units (3 in south Wales and 2 between Holyhead and Chester), because Wrexham passengers would probably go balistic if you removed their through link to Birmingham (Holyhead-Chester is less of a problem since it is faster via Crewe anyway).
Hourly Chester to BHM INTL needs 5 diagrams
Hourly Aberystwyth to BHM INTL needs 7 diagrams.
Cambrian Coast needs 3 diagrams.
or keeping existing pattern
16/17 units for
2 hrly Holyhead to BHM INTL
2 hrly Aberystwyth to BHM INTL
2 hrly Pwllheli to BHM INTL
plus 3 for
2 hrly Aberystwyth to Crewe
Ideally the Coast should run (2-hourly) through to Brum, so that means a few more?
I make it 16 diagrams for the following:
- Hourly Aberystwyth - Birmingham International
- 0.5tph Chester - Wrexham - Birmingham International (join/split with Aberystwyths at Shrewsbury)
- 0.5tph Pwllheli - Birmingham International (join/split with Aberystwyths at Machynlleth)
which is how I think it should be, ideally with some 3-car units in the mix but I'm not particularly keen on the idea of hybrid 158s (better than most of the alternatives though I suppose) - I'd like to see them fit UEGs and ERTMS to the 175s but I don't suppose that is likely sadly. If you didn't have any 3-car units, is ATW's fleet of 24x 158s enough to lengthen everything that needs more capacity to 6-car out of Birmingham (with 4 coaches going wherever is busy)?
