Slim to non-existent in my opinion.

That's the reality and the rather perverse way the railway is financed.  Thames Trains and its heavily commuter based operation was just about breaking even when it was absorbed by First Group, but a package of improvements (including bringing the 180s onto the route) meant a subsidy was required for the LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) routes - I think it was around ^100m over two years?  I'm not sure how much of a profit the LTV routes currently make, if any, but it's counterbalanced with the loss making routes at the western end of the franchise.

As for the air-con, as I said before, let's give it another year - we're not yet out of one of the most prolonged heatwaves of recent years.  The contractors who installed the original system will have no shortage of faults to fix, but it remains the case that a few carriages in the fleet are still cooling very nicely - for some reason it seems to often be the middle carriage, so (unlike the first system which never really worked) at least there's a fighting chance that by next summer faults will have been resolved.

I've been busy out and about on the network over the last couple of years (concentrating on the 'west' end), and taking lots of 'before' pictures.  I'll return to these spots, which are stations, junctions and other areas of interest, in a couple of years for some 'after' pictures and do some comparisons in the same vein as I have done with some other places, such as Princes Risborough and Bicester North in the thread below:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=7250.90

It will be interesting to see how many classic GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) views are spoilt by the coming of wires and gantries.  I will, of course, share the best of them with the forum.

Bit off topic now (mods to move to the Crossrail thread?), but I think that a sensible seating layout for the Crossrail design would be 2+2 metro style seating (as on the LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise)/LO Class 172s) for part of the train which works out at about 60 seats per carriage and longitudinal seating for the other part at around 32 seats per carriage.

If you had the middle four carriages as longitudinal and the three carriages at either end as 2+2 metro then that would give you around 490 seats which is similar to the spec - slight reductions for disabled spaces, bike spaces and toilets might be needed to take that back down to somewhere near the specified 450 seats.

That would mean those who are travelling longer distances from places like Taplow and Burnham could get relatively comfy seating at either end of the train, with those travelling shorter distances in the core section able to pack into the middle carriages with their ample standing room.  Just an idea...

If I remember correctly, several carriages of which ended their days languishing in Hinksey Yard towards the latter part of the 1990s?

Very good video simulation that - better than our official route learning ones!

End of 2016 I think you'll find.  That might make all the difference in terms of stock cascades!

We'll see!  Southern won't exist from July 2015 by the time these trains arrive, and I'm a bit lost on what the effect of the expanded Thameslink network (and the new Siemens trains) will have on  existing services, and thus how much released stock will be available for other services, on Southern's current network.

The platform number signs on the transfer deck have now been enlarged as promised.  Maybe not quite the size I was hoping for, but much better than the old tiny ones, and help to avoid confusion with people trying to find a platform 13, but only seeing signs for a 13A and 13B.  They won't stop someone asking where platform 98 is though - as I was asked the other day as someone was catching a train departing from platform 9B. 

Will these be the electric units that end up working the LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) routes from Paddington to Oxford and Newbury after a short stint on the Thameslink route.  And will that 'extended order' end up providing the trains that end up working the East-West Rail route after that has been electrified?

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/southern-selects-bombardier-to-supply-trains-for-thameslink-cascade.html

I expect that will be enforced as strictly as it is on current peak services. 

I like the mention of 140mph compatibility.  I like the mention of 120 minutes from Paddington to Worcester getting rid of all the slack.  I like the stated reduction in typical journey times to other destinations which I feared might get forgotten over time.  I like the mention (again) of increased leg room and no compromises on luggage space.  I don't like the cost and time it's taken to sort out since way back in 2005.

Will I like the train itself when it arrives is the only question... 

It looks like I was being a little optimistic and from observations over the last couple of weeks the system still gets 'lost' just as much as it used to.   

What with that, the as yet unimpressive air-conditioning modifications, and the badly designed toilets (which block too easily and run out of water too quickly), the refresh programme has so far delivered very little other than new seats covers and less grimy interiors.

Yes, they have less opening widows - only eight per carriage.

Reliability wise, this prolonged hot spell has seen more and more fail as each day goes on.  I reckon about 15-20% of carriages (note carriages, not complete units) are currently working effectively.  Almost all the rest now have the windows opened.  Again I stress, if it's not working in one carriage, it might well be working OK in another so check to make sure.  If the windows are shut there's a good chance it's working OK in that carriage - if not tell the driver at the first opportunity.

Whilst 20% is not exactly a great percentage, it's far better than the 0% that worked before the system was altered, and this is a once-in-every-ten-years heatwave.  Looking optimistically about the situation, at least it will provide plenty of work for the engineers, who will hopefully be able to correct the outstanding issues in time for next summer.  The other option is to gently forget about the new system and we'll end up where we were with the old one, so let's hope that modifications are possible and will be made.

George Osborne popped by to check on the progress in the build up to the first of the two main stages of the work starting:

http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/News-Releases/CHANCELLOR-SEES-WORK-ON-SWINDON-TO-KEMBLE-STRIDE-FORWARD-1def.aspx