[Dan Hamblin]

GNER were actually bounced into accepting the withdrawl of certain protection clauses in the franchise agreement at the eleventh hour before signature. Goes roughly along the lines of "sign this or we will start the franchising process all over again". As GNER has done so much to build up the franchise, they couldn't really afford to lose it, therefore agreed to it.

The terrorist attacks of 7/7/05 plus Grand Central being given paths on an already heavily congested ECML, have not helped their cause, and now there are the problems with the parent company. The refurbishment of the IC125 fleet is also a franchose commitment, as is the roll out of Wi-Fi across the whole of the Mallard fleet.

M8 INTERNET - 140mph DMU's? A little innaccurate as the Class 222 DEMU's being proposed are 125 mph limited, as are the highest speed sections of the ECML.

Regards,

Dan

 

[Dan Hamblin]

Well in that case they are wasting their money on leasing charges because the trains will be limited to 125 mph, unless ERTMS gets the go-ahead and money is found to upgrade the ECML...

The original plan was for Hull Trains to get the FGW Cl 180 Adelante's when they are taken off lease next year, their 222/1's would then go to Grand Central. I don't know what these 140 mph DMU's are; I can't think of any design cleared for UK use that is of such a high spec.

Regards,

Dan

 

[Dan Hamblin]

Hmm, last I heard was that HST2 was all but abandoned and that DfT Rail are talking about the Inter-city Express Project (IEP) instead. No guarantees that it will be diesel either, or limited to 140mph.

The operation of the 390's at 135mph is only a proposal and AFAIK has not been approved yet by HMRI.

Regards,

Dan