Improvements are always welcome.
Worth noting Crewe to Euston will be routed away from Stone with a new hourly Birmingham to Crewe via Stone service being introduced, which will obviously require additional EMUs.
That's the brand created by West Midlands Rail for the local services in the West Midlands (ex-West Midlands county area plus neighbouring local authorities).
While they could be refitted, they don't really have a metro-style interior as they are (that implies side-facing seating).
Siemens could deliver earlier...Or it's when CAF will have completed delivery of the Northern order or when Stadler will have completed delivery of the Anglia order, or possibly just the earliest date any manufacturer can start delivery of a new train order?
Not necessarily. Based on DfT's definition of 'metro style interior' used in various ITTs the 700s have a metro style interior and the SWT 455s and LO 172s almost match the requirement.
On top of this, there will be standing room for 50,000 passengers in Birmingham in metro-style carriages, similar to the ones used on the London Overground, for short cross-city journeys,
If DfT were being very brazen adding a new 6th car to some internally refurbished 707s (bench seats a la London Overground see below so not current 707 internals)
"and standing room for an additional 5,000 passengers in London." sounds about right for Anglia sized big vestibules but without the tip down seats.
Would it therefore be similar to this layout?
Would have much preferred something like the Siemens MX3000 as used on the Oslo Metro system
Siemens could deliver earlier...
Are the 323s going or are the 100 coaches for cross city in addition?
I'd agree, there's no need for fully metro seating on the Cross-city. I know it gets very full in peaks, but off-peak it can be reasonably quiet, certainly no use getting rid of all normal seats.
S8-style interior, similar to the Oslo above but with longitudinal seating along one side, would work reasonably well - the Met line and the cross-city cater to a similar market (busy inner city coupled with reasonably light suburban loadings).
If it wasn't LO style how would you get the 50,000 standing space?
Are the 323s going or are the 100 coaches for cross city in addition?
As someone in the LM Area (Northampton, soon to be commuting to Coventry), while this doesn't deliver my wish of having some Northampton services go up the Trent Valley for better national connectivity northbound, it's nice to see that Govia lost (maybe the invisible guards will start showing their faces more often now), that Porterbrook's gamble backfired (although I don't have anything against the 323s), and that there will be some new DMUs. I do hope all the 319s, 150s, and 153s go.
The 150s are due to transfer to northern either this year or next.
100(+*) extra cars would be about 2.5times the number of extra cars needed to run all cross city at max length so it looks like the 323s are going.
*Dft says 100+ in one place.
If the 100+ is more correct than 100, then 102 with 6 car might make sense but might be about 1 unit short depending on diagramming & changes so 108 might make more sense.
How soon? I thought a reason for TPE and Anglia not using Siemens was they couldn't deliver a fleet of new trains by the end of 2019.
Neither can Bombardier but that didn't stop them getting the Anglia work.
Siemens being between 5-10% more expensive for a comparable spec. product probably made the difference between total fleet replacement or not in the Anglia bid. Ditto the first SW win.
Don't Siemens include more 'after sales service' in their price than the likes of Bombardier or CAF?
153s won't be any use on their own because a 2019 compliant bog will remove too many seats. So I doubt they will stay long term unless formed into permanent pairs (i.e. 155s).
Surprised at the colour scheme not including Abellio red and being more like the existing LM one plus the orange. Is that because of the proposed generic WM livery perhaps? The font is definitely Abellio though.
Interestingly the press release contains the line "more space for passengers will be rolled out on the Marston Vale line".
Specifically, reference to "more space" rather than new trains and no reference to seats. With short platforms that don't lend themselves to tagging on an extra 153 and low-ish line speed, does this mean 230s, I wonder?
Interestingly the press release contains the line "more space for passengers will be rolled out on the Marston Vale line".
Specifically, reference to "more space" rather than new trains and no reference to seats. With short platforms that don't lend themselves to tagging on an extra 153 and low-ish line speed, does this mean 230s, I wonder?
I've grown to like LM. I hope things don't change too much and job losses are minimal.
One thing I've not seen mentioned. Does this mean Barlaston could be re-used if there's a service from Brum to Stoke ran by this new franchise holder.