November 2017 Summary
- Fleet Summary:
In conjunction with the 10 year anniversary of HST sets operating for Grand Central, the time has also come to bid farewell to them. The power cars will go off-lease in December, returning to their leasing company Angel Trains.
Talking of HSTs, RAIL magazine have confirmed that 43132 and carriages 41032, 42045, 42046, 42047, 42207 and 42561 have also returned to Angel Trains. As previously reported, GWR will lose the majority of its HST sets due to the arrival of the new Hitachi units.
Many of these will transfer to Scot Rail, who will operate 54 power cars and 121 carriages forming 17 5-car and 9 4-car sets from May 2019 - once refurbishment has taken place.
Also at GWR, they continue to displace their class 150 stock. The latest development is that 3-car 166 Turbo stock now operate between Bristol Parkway and Weston-Super-Mare; the Cardiff to Taunton route will follow next.
Over at GTR, class 700s have started running on the Great Northern network, primarily between London Kings Cross and Peterborough. New trains on the Moorgate line will follow next year.
It has been announced this month that, not only will SWR stock receive a new livery as reported earlier in the year, but the Class 444 and Class 450 Desiro fleet will also undergo an internal overhaul. The works will begin at the end of the month, with the addition of: new carpets and seating, new information systems and PIS screens fitted onboard and at-seat power sockets, to name just a few of the upgrades.
A mock-up of how the First Class accommodation intends to look like is shown below, courtesy of SWR ©......
444 interior 1st class ^
450 interior 1st class ^
