obrut165
Member
150002&150209 due to arrive at Fgw st Phillips marsh as 5z69 @ 13:40 tommorow departing Eastleigh 11:22
Have FGW secured the prototypes then, as well as the orphaned centre cars?
Yes, 150001 & 002 will be used on Basingstoke - Reading and 209 will be inserted into 2 150s
Despite the above being quoted from DfT and FGW press releases, surely the pool of 4 3-car 150s (001,002,121,127) will be used turn and turn about on Reading-Basingstoke and Bristol locals?
150002&150209 due to arrive at Fgw st Phillips marsh as 5z69 @ 13:40 tommorow departing Eastleigh 11:22
As mentioned when the Basingstoke - Reading proposal first came up, there is no reason why the two units should not be allocated to Bristol for maintenance, but stabled at Reading during the week. If one was to fail while at Reading they'd replace it with a 165 or 166 temporarily.
This is basically how SWT provide for the Lymington 158, it stables overnight at Bournemouth and runs to/from Salisbury at the ends of the week.
But why do that? They are non-standard with the rest of the fleet and Reading is a maintenance depot. Much easier to just train the Reading fitters to look after them there.
Roy
They are not that non-standard, why did LM treat them as just another 150 if that was the case? They have their differences, agree, but not substantial enough for them to be treated so differently. As for Reading, 2 units for 2 diagrams, monday to friday? Tall order to keep the pair doing that week in, week out. A pool of 4 3-car units to cover 2 Reading turns plus a Bristol one seems more likely. You simply don't diagram 100% of your fleet - see how Hull Trains suffered when they didn't have a reserve?