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    Pembrokeshire CC - Bus Operators Taken In-House

    I understand that Pembrokeshire County Council acquired the assets of Edwards Bros (Tiers Cross) at some time over the past year. However, during a recent Zoom meeting one of the other participants said that she believed that the council had taken over at least two bus operators. My efforts with...
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    Thoughts on discontinuous electrification?

    mods note - split from here. Merseyrail does however illustrate one of the issues with having batteries for traction (rather than just for 'hotel power' which is almost certainly worth having) - once the train is capable of moving itself without wires/3rd-rail it opens the door to...
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    TfW possible timetable changes and rolling stock cascades connected with the introduction of 197 units

    Moderator note: Split from https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/caf-civity-for-tfw-news-and-updates-on-introduction.182501/ Quite a few changes to the plan there (see my bold) beyond the ones we already knew about with 197s instead of 170 now intended for Pembrokeshire. What is going to happen...
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    Cardiff-Portsmouth - Rolling Stock Solutions?

    I was in agreement until the first comma of your third paragraph. However, construction of class 197s absolutely should not ever be considered for anything, except perhaps as what Northern's class 195s should have been. On routes like Cardiff-Portsmouth, they would be little better than the...
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    Future of SP differentials?

    It is often noted in these forums that class XXX is not suitable for cascade to route YYYY to ZZZZ because class XXX would not be permitted to run at the full permissable speed to the route due to the full speed being an SP (Sprinter, although Turbostars are permitted to use them) differential...
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    Class 197 Civity DMUs for TfW - alternatives and speculation

    We're getting told off on the main class 197 topic so I've created this one for speculative stuff like alternatives. In Ireland, the InterCity Railcars are getting new intermediate vehicles built after eight years, and the bi-modes that I propose should have been built instead of 197s could...
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    DMU Fuel Economy - Sense Check

    From the topic how far on a tank of fuel I have a report that a 2 car 156 will do 3mpg per set, or roughly 6mpg per vehicle. Now, I have some figures for a bunch of Northern DMUs: Class 195: 0.81 litres per mile Class 170: 0.97 litres per mile Class 158: 0.72 litres per mile Class 156: 0.68...
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    How do TfW think they can get 2-hourly CDF to Liverpool AND Holyhead through Wrexham?

    Only semi-speculative this one... (The short version, to save you reading this long post if you don't want the detail, is that the fixed TfW paths to Manchester and Birmingham don't seem to permit what TfW seem to have proposed). We know that TfW proposed introducing a service every two hours...
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    Decarbonisation - How Many Alternative-Traction Units Will We Need?

    Does the Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy (TDNS) published by Network Rail say how many battery and hydrogen trains will be needed if and when the recommended electrification programme is completed? I had a very quick look and don't think it does, but maybe I missed it. Given the...
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    EMU power distribution (inter-car connections)

    I'm aware that distributed traction means not all motor coaches on AC EMUs have a pantograph, and even when there are two pantographs there may only be one transformer on the unit. Thus there must be inter-car connections to distribute the power from the pantograph(s) between all the motors. A...
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    Cardiff-York - what are the permitted routes?

    At the end of Feb I'm planning to head from Cardiff to York going on TfW via Lydney to Cheltenham then the XC125 through to York. However, I've not yet decided how I'll come back (which will be on the 2nd of March). One option is fairly simple, XC IC125 to Bristol Parkway and then GWR through...
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    4250 route kilometres of electrification - but which kilometres?

    The rail industry decarbonisation taskforce have recommended additional electrification (roughly 4,250 route kilometres) to support the nation's net-zero carbon target. However, I have not been able to find any details of which routes they would be targeting. Does anyone have more information on...
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    Class 90 OHLE test train GWML - timings?

    I am aware that a class 90 with a mark 3 and DVT (plus two class 67s in most cases) has been in use testing the new OHLE between Bristol Parkway and south Wales. Could anyone let me know whether this is still running and if so when I might be able to see it on Saturday (14th December)? Or...
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    Delay causes - detailed statistics?

    Train operators publish some performance data, such as this example from Transport for Wales Rail Services (TfW). Among other things, TfW shows the percentage of delay minutes attributable to TfW, Network Rail, and other train operators (TOCs). However, both TOC and Network Rail delays can...
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    A Formula For Window Alignment?

    Most trains seem to have at least a few seats where your view is at least partly blocked by a window pillar. So, I have wondered whether it is possible to ensure that every seat has a good view (unless it's night time or the train is in a dark tunnel of course). Also, if having every seat...
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    New DMUs (Civity) - climate change

    In a topic on future uses for the IC225 fleet, it was suggested that class 67s with mark 4 stock could have been an alternative to new DMUs for Manchester-Swansea serivces. I argued that, if this were to happen, fewer new DMUs should be ordered. However, 'hexagon789' was in favour of ordering...
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    CAF Civity/LHCS UK Fleets - Dates and Factories

    Sorry for being lazy, but I don't want to wade through the class 195, class 397, class 196 and class 331 threads. I've looked at the last couple of pages of the linked ones, on which the information below is based. This topic is just for a summary of when the latest entry into service estimates...
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    M4 (Wales) Relief Services

    With the new first minister in the Welsh Assembly having (thankfully) called a halt to the second M4 around Newport, what are the main flows of traffic through the Brynglas tunnels at peak times and what public transport services could be introduced to attract modal shift away from the M4...
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    Petition for Manchester Piccadilly platforms 15 & 16

    Some thoughtful soul has started a petition on the official UK Parliament petitions site calling for urgent implementation of the Castlefield corridor quadrupling project. Perhaps the most important part of the scheme is the two additional through platforms for Manchester Piccadilly...
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    Saturday return (CMN-BRI) outward break of journey

    I'm planning a photography/video trip from Carmarthen (CMN) to Bristol Temple Meads (BRI) or possibly Cardiff Central on Saturday (27th May 2017). I intend to break my outward journey at Neath, to film the 11:32 to Pembroke Dock going over the river+canal bridge. The GWR mixing deck, shows...

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