Rumour of HSTs to operate Cardiff-Portsmouth discounted - probably Class 165/166 instead

[whole diary]

[phile]

So, would you like me to update this topic's heading again, or not? 

The current heading is as advised by an engineering manager. I think it's a good bet!

A good bet maybe, but the rumours seems to be changing at a rate of knots. If I were to suggest re-naming it would be something like "Rumour of HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) to operate Cardiff-Portsmouth discounted - who knows what else instead".

This from WNXX^▸ (Stored Unserviceable, Mainline Locos HQ All Classes) forum:

All change;

All 21 class 166 to be allocated to Bristol plus 'most' of the two car 165s. All three car 165s remain at Reading. 166s to be all standard class with some seating rearranged.

Officially all 153s to go off lease, unofficially the five Porterbrook 153s are remaining.

My source isn't a rumour, but current actual plans straight from the horses mouth! Of course plans may change if further delays or issues with electrification.
The current official plans is 1 tp2h 2+4 HST Penzance -Cardiff/Bristol. 165/6 Cardiff-Portsmouth. These are of course subject to change

Is this the latest.  I thought the 158 Fleet was going to be formed back into 2 Car Sets to enable the Cardiff to Portsmouths  to be worked by 2 x 2 Car Units. (4 Cars).   Still, if this bit or that bit of the jigsaw slips back, plans can change day by day.

[LiskeardRich]

So, would you like me to update this topic's heading again, or not? 

The current heading is as advised by an engineering manager. I think it's a good bet!

A good bet maybe, but the rumours seems to be changing at a rate of knots. If I were to suggest re-naming it would be something like "Rumour of HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) to operate Cardiff-Portsmouth discounted - who knows what else instead".

This from WNXX^▸ (Stored Unserviceable, Mainline Locos HQ All Classes) forum:

All change;

All 21 class 166 to be allocated to Bristol plus 'most' of the two car 165s. All three car 165s remain at Reading. 166s to be all standard class with some seating rearranged.

Officially all 153s to go off lease, unofficially the five Porterbrook 153s are remaining.

My source isn't a rumour, but current actual plans straight from the horses mouth! Of course plans may change if further delays or issues with electrification.
The current official plans is 1 tp2h 2+4 HST Penzance -Cardiff/Bristol. 165/6 Cardiff-Portsmouth. These are of course subject to change

Is this the latest.  I thought the 158 Fleet was going to be formed back into 2 Car Sets to enable the Cardiff to Portsmouths  to be worked by 2 x 2 Car Units. (4 Cars).   Still, if this bit or that bit of the jigsaw slips back, plans can change day by day.

Latest as of 24th June.

[Rhydgaled]

Cardiff - Penzance on a hst I don't will be such a bad idea especially when you compare them to clas 150/1's that have 3+2 seating which I don't really like.

Assuming that Cardiff-Penzance would be an extension of the Cardiff-Taunton stoppers, it seems a bit silly to use IC125s on it which, being loco-hauled, probably won't be as quick off the mark as, say, a 5-car AT300 bi-mode (whether 800 or 802, although the 800's fuel tanks might not be big enough). If you're going to go to the trouble of making IC125s compliant with 2020 regs, surely they might as well keep them as 2+8 sets and use them on limited-stop services out of Paddington as was planned before the class 802 order.

[paul7575]

If you're going to go to the trouble of making IC125s compliant with 2020 regs, surely they might as well keep them as 2+8 sets and use them on limited-stop services out of Paddington as was planned before the class 802 order.

Or you might want to use a common fleet of 800 series trains with pretty much identical and interchangeable performance into Paddington.   

You just never give up about keeping HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train), you are a stuck record on this subject, and I doubt DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) or GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are listening to you.

Paul

[rogerw]

I hope that 158s are retained on theh Cardiff - Portsmouth service.  In my view the use of 165/6 with the 3 + 2 seating would be a retrograde step on a long distance service. Further the lack inter-unit gangways could also cause problems with localised overcrowding

[chrisr_75]

I hope that 158s are retained on theh Cardiff - Portsmouth service.  In my view the use of 165/6 with the 3 + 2 seating would be a retrograde step on a long distance service. Further the lack inter-unit gangways could also cause problems with localised overcrowding

I think someone mentioned earlier in the thread that the 3+2 seating would be modified when these units move west. The 158's are desperately short on leg room though, so be careful what you wish for!

I think the ideal solution for this sort of route would be something like ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)))'s class 175 - airconditioned, good top speed and fabulous amount of legroom for a modern train - not sure if they could do an interior refit on the 16x's to provide the sort of legroom found in the 175's (I suspect the number of door openings might be an issue), but some thought needs to be put in to this as the current 3+2 bay seating isn't the best suited to mid-distance routes imo.

[IndustryInsider]

Or some of the soon to be surplus 185s from TPE^▸ (Trans Pennine Express) - though the better the internal layout, the more carriages you need!

[chrisr_75]

The 185's would be an eminently sensible choice too, although what strikes me about the 175's is that there is ample leg space without apparently forfeiting too many seats (which imho are amongst the comfiest on the uk rail network currently), although obvious downside of increased dwell time at busy stops due to the doors being in the carriage ends.

Going off on a slight tangent, I wonder if ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) might collect (some of) the 185's as they'd be a good fit for many of their longer distance routes which will not see electrification any time soon and also the Maesteg to Cheltenham services which currently must be an endurance test in a rattly old 150!