Cl222 Meridians

[towerman]

Does anyone know where these trains are going when EMR gets it’s new stock?

[YY13VKP]

Jan 12, 2022 19:40:22 GMT towerman said:

Does anyone know where these trains are going when EMR gets it’s new stock?

It’s not been confirmed just yet but I suspect they will end up with CrossCountry who are in need of extra stock. However they are more likely to get the ex Avanti/Virgin Voyagers

[700101]

Only 2 places I could see them going would be either Cross Country (all) or Chiltern (some)

For Cross Country this will see them stand down there HST sets and boost some other services in terms of capacity but then they are also destined (more likely) to get Avanti West Coast Class 221 Voyagers (20 of them) which would make sense as they already have the Class 221’s or if they took on both this would have them completely stand down the HST’s and Class 172’s

For Chiltern Railways this would see them operate on the London Marylebone - Birmingham/Oxford routes and some services to Stratford Upon Avon which in turn would stand down there Class 68/Mark 3’s and help them boost other services using there class 165/168’s

Possible outcomes could be

Cross Country take both Class 221’s and Class 222’s
Chiltern take around (estimate) 17 Class 222’s
The remaining move to Grand Central (replacing the 180’s) , Scot Rail or Transport for Wales services ?

[towerman]

Thanks for those ideas.

[snowman]

I think the plan is to reduce two 7-car units to 5 cars and lengthen the four 4-car units to 5-cars this Spring
Presumably some of the first class will need to be changed to standard
Will then be 23 5car and 4 7car units

From memory some were originally 9car and have quite a lot of first class seating

No idea who will get them once the new Bi-modes are in service
Cross Country seems most obvious, but GWR might take a few to replace its shortened HST sets and release 158s from its long routes to Portsmouth etc