Great Western Coffee Shop

Tfw received their first class 231s this morning.  231002 and 231004 were both delivered to canton depot around 0840.

Lots of enthusiasts between severn tunnel and  Cardiff central waiting for it and many photos are up on Facebook snd flickr.

These units will be used on the following routes:

Maesteg -Cardiff-cheltenham and Cardiff to Ebbw Vale.

Wouldn't a fleet of 5 car versions of these be absolutely perfect for Cardiff to Portsmouth Harbour ??

No. The 231s are pure diesel and have a top speed of 75 mph. They might do a reasonable job, but to be perfect they would need to use the juice from Cardiff to Patchway and from Redbridge to Portsmouth Harbour, an 90 mph would be useful for timekeeping / schedules. 

I know of a train that would fit the bill perfectly…a 769!
I’ll get my coat.

Your welcome to our class 769s when we are finished with them you need some shoes and a pantograph though.

I did check on that before I posted - the only place I could find which quoted a top speed was Wiki - and that says 90 mph. According to TfW these will be used on Cardiff to Cheltenham & Maesteg (amongst others) those, surely, would require 90mph capability ?

Odd ... I could have sworn I read that on the same source.   Never mind - sadly all a bit academic!

Yes - you are correct. Sister class 756 (which I was looking at as I answered earlier) is 75 m.p.h and I kinda assumed (silly me!) that they would be the same.

The 231s will be used under the wires between Cardiff and Severn Tunnel Junction; not much less than Cardiff to Patchway, and yet no pantographs. One hopes that there is space to add a pantograph in future, but is there? Is there anyone here who's had a close-enough look to answer this definitively?

Compared to the class 755s in Anglia the class 231s have more doors, leaving less room for seats, toilets etc. If you're going to use a FLIRT to Portsmouth, you're probably better off using a 755 as the basis.

Class 231 "official launch" for South Wales Metro is reported in the Railadvent article below:

https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2023/03/transport-for-wales-launches-its-new-south-wales-metro-trains.html

Best regional style train design in operation IMHO.  Perhaps the DfT will be persuaded to spend some money on getting some for GWR, with its ever shrinking fleet now ageing fast.