Shenfield Track into the city

Shenfield trains from Liverpool Street will indeed be taken over by Crossrail, although peak-time Gidea Park terminators will still run out of LS and mix with Crossrail traffic.

Is it the case that all Shenfield trains will be crossrail (bar Gidea Park as noted)? I'm sure the requirements of the line meant a few extra per hour would terminate at LS in addition to those through the tube? This might be very outdated though!

As for the Chiltern train to Paddington, I'm not sure the route south east of Greenford will be retained post HS2. Asking an engineer on the project at the roadshow last year, he said they hadn't been asked to allow for a NR track alongside so hadn't planned for one. However the route has been tinkered with since so that, too, might be out of date.

Shows how much I know about the classes operating out of Paddington

I assumed you meant to ask what whether the 165s and 166s operating out of Paddington that will be made redundant by Crossrail (and the proposed electrification to Oxford) will be transferred to the Chiltern franchise. Chiltern may have need of more stock for the Evergreen project (Oxford - Milton Keynes etc) so this is certainly possible. As they were built to the more generous loading gauges bequeathed to GW and Chiltern by Brunel and Watkin, they would not fit on most other lines without some clearance work (as I think was done for the Reading - Gatwick route)

I'll be disappointed if Chiltern do not get some of the 165s for their services. I heard the plan regarding the pacers. There are many 150s in the SW so they will be welcome up north. Chiltern need some 166s for their faster diagrams too. They don't want to be lumbered with more 172s that can't operate via Amersham.

Also with regards to the class 315's displaced by Crossrail it is expected that these could be refurbished for use on the Cardiff Valley lines network if/when it is electrified.

I expect the 315s to be scrapped to be honest

Have you a source for this information Anthony?

Rich

I'm not sure this scheme will be completed (but you never know) as the GW scheme is on hold and the 315s are nearly life expired!

Much as I dislike travelling on 315's, from a mechanical perspective they still seem ok from this passenger's point of view; they're just really tatty inside.

As long as they get a good wash down, a decent lick of paint and the seats replaced, they'd probably be good for another decade at least. I'm sure the Welsh would prefer a 315 to a Pacer any day!

I think the class 315's would get a complete re-build with them being gutted and then have new interiors a bit like SWT did with their class 455's.

A number of the class 315's would be getting reduced to 3 carriage units particulary to work services from Cardiff to Rhymney/Treherbert.

As for the GW electrification it is going ahead although a final decision hasnt been made yet to extend the wires beyond Cardiff to Swansea.

An annoucement about the government signing a contract with Hitachi is supposed to be happening today although it has come yet

As a user of the 1980 built class 315s on a daily basis into Liverpool Street, they we tarted up internally (doorways were repanelled from original yellow to pink) some 5+ years ago. Those that a similarly aquainted with them will probably agree that the ride is jolty, legroom is very very tight (if not uncomfortable) and the seats both hard and occasionally broken, with the bottom/back have dislodged from the frame.

Today they are functional as a suburban/short journey stock, however travelling on them day-in, day-out, is certainly not a pleasurable experience. Perhaps NXEA and now Greater Anglia (sounds like Greater Angrier when announced in Liverpool Street over the station tannoy) acknowledged this in maintaining prices with annual Goldcards for the past couple of years, although its going up by almost £100 when I renew in a few months !!!!

The late 1980s class 321s and more recent 360s, are a huge step-forward in both comfort and ride. So depending on how long anticipated journeys may take, should they be reused in Wales, I'd suggest that the 315s be completely rebuilt internally and improved suspension installed...

If, as suggested already, they are otherwise mechanically sound, they should then indeed last until 2030ish...

They'll never be perfect, but they could improve on the current 2/10 for day-to-day experience of the average commuter to an 8/10 if the job is done properly.

Personally, as long as the replacement 345s are as comfortable as the 321/360s, I can't wait for the replacements to arrive....

I believe they will come up between the slow tracks (southern pair) west of Stratford use the interchange platforms with the central line and then use the slow lines to Shenfield which with the fly overs at Ilford become the northern tracks. East Anglia expresses should not be interfered with although there are connecting crossovers if needed such as for freight movements from Forest Gate junction.

Funnily enough, I find the suspension of the 315 rather outstanding. It feels far more forgiving that the Class 317 (and the 455 in the Southern Region). The acceleration of the 315 is far smoother than FCC's 313s which does the "jerky" movements we find on old DC stock (C-stock being very pronounced).

That said, the 315s can definitely do with a deep clean and new, higher seats. Thank goodness the fairly new panelling makes the interior far more appealing than FCC's. They're also slow off the mark for a Metro stock and the performance across the fleet is noticeably inconsistent. It's easy to find yourself on a "Rocket", "Fairly Average" and a "Dog!" which raises the question of how healthy they are mechanically.

Let's just hope the new 345s will combine the performance of the 378s with the initial acceleration of the Desiros!