Electrostars arent Carbon neutral ?
No, but they help the railway get to
net carbon 0 because they use electricity, which is easier to generate 0-Carbon than diesel is to offset.
replace 171’s with something else, or electrify the line.
Replace with a battery-capable unit, perhaps? Electrification would be the ideal end-state but realistically the money just isn't going to be there. Nor is the safety case for 3rd rail likely to improve.
There are 2805 Electrostar vehicles, and just 56 class 171 vehicles on Southern…
why afflict 2805 vehicles with heavy battery equipment unlikely ever to be used and consume copious amounts of energy to drag about ?
Unlikely ever to be used? Are you aware just how often the third rail gets switched off around the network? Also, 377s currently run about with a big concrete block to simulate the load of the AC transformer gear, so you'd be replacing completely useless weight with equipment that could perform a valuable role during disruption for all trains. The energy is already being used, might as well do so usefully!
As it is the 377/5 & 377/7’s have a perfectly cosmetic pantograph with no where to raise it.
These have used the DV-capability on Thameslink and the Milton Keynes Services, and removing it would be somewhat cutting off nose to spite one's face.
it might be more cost effective to build a modern equivalent of an MLV capable of dragging 3/4 cars about, or a Battery pack refurb of remaining spare 73/1s instead of the Diesel engine.
No, building a separate vehicle for push-pull operation would not be more cost-effective this isn't the 1930s any more. Uckfield runs at 10 cars for 171s (equivalent to 12 cars 377), so you'd either need to drop cars to fit the push-pull train behind the signal at London Bridge, or attach/detach at Oxted. You may get away with a 4 or 5 min dwell if suitably fitted with Dellner couplings etc, but you'd need a shunter-driver at Oxted all day to move the 73 into position ready for 2 trains per hour. Batteries require no additional staff, no additional operational costs (depending on charge times etc) and only a minimal amount of training and modification to the units. Germany and Japan already use them on routes longer than any single stretch of running they'd be needed for in the UK.
