Merle Haggard
Established Member
As through services to Euston from past Brum are dead (a very good thing this is, too; they literally destroyed the timetable), they'll just use 350s or 3-car 730s.
Will this be the case even if/when services return after Covid? I ask because I thought that the Walsall - Euston through service was a promise made by M.P.s or something similar, rather than a franchisee's suggestion/franchise commitment, i.e. couldn't be escaped just by saying 'the franchise system is dead'
As an aside, upthread, I really don't know why I wrote about 323s coming to WMT, must have had Northern's fleet cascade on my mind...
It does seem to me that the full impact of the changes that Covid has sped up (I personally think that the changes, e.g., great use of click and collect and WFH were changes that were happening anyway, they just happened in months rather than took years) just seem to be ignored regarding peak capacity requirements, and the resultant level of stock required vs new stock being on order. If (and I don't know, of course, but if) changing work plans mean that the peak demand into Euston can be catered for with 8 rather than 12 car trains, that means in effect that each of the 4 cars saved could be saved entirely (because peak demand drives fleet size). I'm not sure how many units this would save altogether, but the order seems to be to replace the 350/2s and 319s like for like.
However, he pre Covid timetable diagrams did not seem to segregate trunk, outer-suburban and inner-suburban workings (for instance, a Tring inwards at Euston might leave as a down Liverpool) and having separately specified stock for the different services will possibly make diagramming less efficient. It might also result unavoidably in sets remaining in Euston or New Street platforms longer (because they are waiting for the next appropriate, rather than just next, service). So possibly, more units will be required, but other conflicts will arise.