Class 170 replacement in sight?

摘要

Progress is being made in finding rolling stock to replace the nine Class 170 DMUs that are to transfer from FTPE to Chiltern in May 2015 (RBI458 p1). Industry insiders confirm that the Rail Delivery Group has been keen to demonstrate how TOCs and ROSCOs can work together to resolve such problems, following insistence by DfT and Interim Franchising Director Peter Wilkinson that rolling stock issues should be resolved within the industry. 'We have been asked by DfT to investigate some options to provide enough rolling stock to fully resource the May 2014 timetable beyond the current franchise from April 2015', FTPE Managing Director Nick Donovan told RBI. 'We hope decisions can be made and resolution reached before August 2014 when we will need to have some certainty with our bids for timetable paths post-May 2015'.