Not sure where you heard that. The planned date for the soft launch was shown as week commencing 03.12.23 internally and thats what everyone was working towards. I imagine a mix of PTI testing, asos, and the RMT have caused it to slip.
Yes, this was post ASLEF action being announced when I understood the date had slipped to this week. But last week I heard this had been put back again.
Your right - not many 10car showing on RTT for Windsor and Eaton Riverside anyway so makes ruling out 458s easier than checking everything..
What have Porterbrook got to do with 701s?
They are 450s
It stays out for the rest of the evening though - I thought we are looking for just a one off run?
Surely the likelihood of getting 100% of the available 701 drivers is quite slim?
Driver allocations aren’t necessarily random, if it was a 701 turn, the traincrew diagrams should be done in a way that ensures only 701 traincrew are signing them.
How last minute is last minute? I would quite like to go down to go on it, but living in the Midlands I would need some level of knowledge of when one is running!
Probably for the first run maybe less than an hour's notice assuming SWR want to keep it under wraps until the last moment
Yeah that's fair enough. When do you think a best bet would be to go. I'm thinking tomorrow or Thursday but I don't wanna gamble one and miss out!
Only one 10 car out today, from the look of it. 458 536 + 458 521. Everything else is showing as 8 cars.
It could simply not yet be allocated because the depot might have a choice of what stock to send out on it yet. It should be obvious by 14.25, though...
Let's wait and see
Well... I cannot forecast the 701 but the weather forecast is better tomorrow than today or Thursday, so... take your pick!
Would make sense, but when has SWR and 701s made sense!
www.realtimetrains.co.uk
Then if they do convert that ecs later it would presumably become 9Q17?
Is it actually a passenger service - its run as required atm
Why would they need to run as class 9s? They’re not exceptional or special?
At the moment, none of us have any idea - it's just the most likely candidate for them to switch from an ecs into a passenger service at the last minute.
Thank you @3973EXL for your help & swift reply.701526
Realtime Trains | 5Q20 0909 Derby Litchurch Lane to Eastleigh Trsmd | 19/12/2023
Real-time train running information for 5Q20 0909 departure from Derby Litchurch Lane to Eastleigh Trsmd on 19/12/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
