The average age of rail rolling stock is seen as an indicator of safety, reliability and comfort. Since 2000/01 the average age of national rail rolling stock has fallen steadily for long distance operators. For operators in London and the South East there was a gradual fall between 2000/01 and 2003/04, followed by a fall of about 20 per cent in each of 2004/05 and 2005/06. The average age for regional operators has shown little change.
DfT» Transport trends - published today. My highlighting.
I understand that the
FGW▸ long distance fleet is the oldest in the country with an average age of around 25 years. Some new trains (the Adalente units) were obtained a whil eback, but these are to be returned in December. There are no plans to replace the trains in the next 10 years. It follows that the fleet on FGW will on average get 1 year older each year until 2016, after a substantially higher average aging this year.
I take it, then, that the DfT expects service to get less safe, less comfortable and less reliable? (But gosh I do like the 125s!)