I live in Cardiff and every day watch the 231s come in while waiting for my Sprinter. The good news is we’re not waiting as long as those im Birmingham or the South West, as TfW really have done very well so far with the FLIRTS and CAFs - and it’s not often I compliment them!
At least there are 197s on test to watch! I've seen plenty of them yet not a single 196 on test despite living along one of the lines they will be received on. The 197s are going pretty well all things considered, they'll likely be in service before the whole fleet is built, which seems to be the threshold for success at the moment.
That's not how I understand it. The document appears to be suggesting that all 14 first class units are to appear overnight at the end of 2024 to the final specification. As far as I know, the seat plan for that 'final specification' is still this (so quite unlike coach D on a Virgin 221):
As it stands, no crews at Shrewsbury, Cardiff and Carmarthen, and only a handful at Crewe have been trained on 197s. Until that changes it's hard to put 197s on South Wales
Ah I see. I apologise, I thought 'quickly refurnished' meant in the region of 5-10 minutes and would involve throwing a headrest on the Standard Class seats or something like that!
Useful, thanks.
There are also around ten unnumbered sets at Donny, so I assume they are the ones you are asking about. Out of the factory but as yet unfinished.
Is it confirmed that 006 & 007 are at Wolverton and 008 at Donnington as I have all of these as being at Bicester MOD?
Is it confirmed they ever actually went to Bicester and not straight to Wolverton?
Good question - anyone know the answer?
No.
Sensible use of limited resources. In the meantime, Crewe are working hard on MKIV training, and Cardiff are busy on both MKIVs and Stadlers - and there's no point training Crewe on 197s without Cardiff or vice versa.
Given the 158s will be mostly stuck on the Cambrian, that's not too likely (but not impossible if plans change).
Nothing to do with Derby, as these are assembled in Newport.
What does "considering" mean?
Doh my brain. Amazing its taken 3 days and 3 hours for that embarrassment to surface !. Gone back and edited it.
Haha Ooops sorry
On one hand, I’m pleased the 175’s are staying to boost capacity but I’m a little concerned how this will work at night at Chester depot. The night shift is a nightmare as it is, now throw in a load of 197s into the mix…. It’s going to be chaos.
I think we're going to see a shuffle with more 175s stabling at Crewe overnight instead of Chester. For the Manchester - South Wales diagrams it looks like there's only one unit that comes from Chester in the morning. At the moment it's 4.
We've had 101-105 so 106 is what I'm assuming.
That's wildly different to what your post appeared to mean! Has one even shown up at all or was that a guess too?
It’s all a guess there, as a lot don’t have numbers and way they park if they did you couldn’t get it.
