Greater Anglia Amends Class 720 Order From Bombardier To Increase Flexibility
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Advent.
Greater Anglia is changing its order for Class 720 trains from a mixed fleet of 22 x ten-car and 89 x five-car to one of 133 x five-car.
The order is still 665 carriages in total.
In Why Do Some Train Operators Still Buy Half-Trains?, I tried to answer the question in the title of the post.
There have also been articles in railway magazines, questioning the practice of buying short trains and doubling them up.
In the UK, the following companies are running new trains in pairs.
- Great Western Railway – Class 800 and Class 802
- LNER – Class 800
- London Overground – Class 710
The only creditable explanation I have heard was from a driver, who said that if one train in a pair fails, you can still run a short train.
Abd now Greater Anglia say it’s for increased flexibility!
It also gives the ability to split the train at a junction station to serve two destinations.
Comment by MauriceGReed | October 8, 2020 |