Christopher125

Have you got a link to this announcement? I've not come across it, and this presentation by Abellio says December 2018 which would seem more likely.

That's essentially what they are proposing, and why it's officially called 'Northern Powerhouse Rail' not HS3 - a mix of new and upgraded infrastructure at conventional linespeeds (probably 140mph max as trains will be sharing stretches of HS2) rather than a dedicated 200mph+ 'high speed line' like HS2, which was never seriously on the cards.

Kenneth Branagh actually - perhaps he'd be better off playing Everett than Poirot!

Sorry for the bump but did you find out anything more?

Hammond has already committed the £300m required for the connections with HS2, politically the government have to deliver on it.

This WYCA committee paper from a few weeks back gives some clues about the emerging plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail aka 'HS3'. (credit to cheguevara for the link).

One is an unpowered trailer, the other has a large diesel engine underneath - parity alone would be a major achievement, especially given other modern designs like the Voyager, Meridian and Adelante which are criticised for interior noise.

Some recent tweets by journalist Richard Clinnick appear to back this up... "DB sound meter shows reading of 58.8 in powered vehicle of 800005 at full speed. HST at full speed - 74.7 Motor for 800005. Standard next to Buffet on HST" ...and also of note: "On a GA Mk 3 standard class. IC70 seats. Legroom is 11inches. A GWR HST is 12 inches and an IEP is 13 inches."

According to posts on another forum they may have gone for a halfway house - max power when starting away but as the speed increases they gradually return back to 750hp.

IRJ: Bombardier and CAF to supply 107 trains for West Midlands franchise

Isn't the NYMR now a mainline operator, using the B1 over the national network on Whitby services?

IIRC all the modern F&WHR carriages have corridor connections, it allows them to offer a buffet/trolley service.

I don't believe so, there are photos of it being driven off forwards at Fishbourne. https://www.facebook.com/groups/366070303809648/permalink/392947624455249/

A surreal sight! (credit to Justin for the photo) by Justin Foulger, on Flickr by Justin Foulger, on Flickr

IIRC that was before the area was resignalled, which involved upgrading the connection with the SVR as described in the 2013 article below: The Rail Engineer: Connecting the Severn Valley In August 2012, the main line was re- signalled and came under the control of the West Midlands Signalling Centre (WMSC) located at Saltley. This project incorporated the provision of a new facing crossover on the main line to make the reversal of terminating trains easier. It was quickly realised that this would create a facing movement over the points leading on to the Severn Valley Railway meaning that they would need to be equipped with a facing point lock. Why therefore not make this a fully signalled route thus facilitating quick and easy movement on to and off the heritage line? Negotiations with Network Rail commenced with mutual benefits being realised by both parties and a collaborative design was prepared.

The Stourbridge Line Users Group have uploaded a stakeholder presentation to their facebook page - usual caveats apply, but here are the service/fleet details below: Train services December 2018 • Major timetable recast, based on improving the performance of Birmingham New Street − currently the highest cause of secondary delay to train services in the whole of the UK • We will do this by reducing turnround services by up to 50%, freeing up platforms to allow any laterunning trains to make up time • This will help all Train Operators including Cross Country and West Coast services. We will also: • reduce journey times between Euston and Birmingham and Euston and Crewe • run new through services between London and Birmingham International to Liverpool and Walsall and between Nuneaton, Coventry and Leamington Spa • introduce additional services between Shrewsbury and Birmingham and Wolverhampton and Crewe • provide a new hourly Sunday service between Shrewsbury and Birmingham • run additional earlier and later services to Hereford, Crewe, Northampton and Liverpool. December 2019 • We will double the services between Nuneaton and Coventry SX and SU via the Ricoh Stadium after completion of the new bay platform at Coventry. We will replace the single car train with 2 car Class 172 trains. On Saturdays we will run 3 trains per hour • There are plans to build 7 new stations in the West Midlands, subject to the successful completion of feasibility studies • Stourbridge Junction terminators will reverse and we have an aspiration to run them to a new station at Brierley Hill, converting the existing double freight lines to two single lines, one passenger and one freight • We plan to extend Kidderminster terminators onto the Severn Valley Railway, subject to a new station being built at the West Midlands Safari Park. May 2021 • A new Sunday timetable that runs as many services as Saturdays, doubling the current number of services. A new Sunday service will run between Bedford and Bletchley. December 2023 • We have an aspiration to extend Brierley Hill services to interchange with the new Midland Metro station we have planned for at Canal St. Fleet [subject to successful completion of new train procurement and deals with ROSCOs on existing fleet] December 2018 • 172/0 introduced from GOB 8x2car • 230/2 introduced Bedford-Bletchley 3x2car. December 2019 • 350/4 introduced from TPE 10x4car. December 2020 • All 15X and 170 removed • New DMUs introduced, 12x2car and 14x4car. May 2021 • 350/2 removed • New EMUs introduced, 42x5car and 36x3car. Good news for Vivarail with 3 230s for Marston Vale services. 323s and 319s aren't mentioned but almost certainly for the chop.

Indeed. Only 33012 is approved for use on the mainline.

A pair of bi-modes working together in diesel and electric can be seen at the beginning of this video:

Isn't it something like 605 Hitachi vehicles replacing 464 HST mk3s? Not entirely like-for-like but gives a good idea of the capacity increase, especially as the new vehicles are several metres longer.

...or an imaginative way to display items which might otherwise have been out of the public eye entirely. It would be great if museums could have everything on display in an ideal setting but that's rarely possible, so better on a wall where they can at least be appreciated from a distance than in storage where they can't IMHO.

That's been around for some months in connection with the devolved 'West Midlands Rail' services - somewhat equivalent to the old Centro livery I suppose? If South Western is a guide the new branding for the wider franchise will take some time to emerge. There's nothing to suggest that on their website, IIRC a winding-up order was served but that may have been resolved? While true for many of the initial post-privatisation designs the latest generation are noticeably lighter - the Bombardier Aventras and Siemen's Desiro Cities are significantly lighter than their forebears with lightweight inside frame bogies and aluminium bodies becoming standard.

It's the 'Filton Bank Four Tracking' scheme, which will reinstate the extra pair of tracks. https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/western/great-western-mainline/city-of-bristol/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jUYViwle1c

I was thinking of reports like this in the Irish Times last October: Rail report: Routes around country at risk of closure "The financial problems of the country’s railways could be addressed in one of three ways – by the State providing millions in increased exchequer funding, by widescale route closures, or by a combination of both, including reform of the free travel scheme, the Government has been told. A review, set up to look at possible solutions to the rail company’s financial sustainability, says Iarnród Éireann needs more than €640 million in additional finance over the next five years to tackle solvency issues and as compensation for previous under-funding." AFAIK the Belmond service is a private investment by that company which also operates the British Pullman and Royal Scotsman - it's not really indicative of the wider network.

The plan was and appears to remain for Corby services to be up to 12-cars long, as stated in the franchise consultation.

Are they? There was a lot of investment at one time but that was before the recession, the last I heard they were talking about closures.