On Jun 1, 2:44*am, TheOneKEA wrote:
On May 31, 5:36*pm, Arthur Figgis wrote:

On 30/05/2011 11:47, Paul Corfield wrote:

There are not enough 378s around nor are there any contract options
left to be activated. I suspect that by the time comes around to
electrify the line that Bombardier will have thrown away the jigs and

People often say thrown away jigs will stop rolling stock orders, but
what does it actually mean in the contect of modern trains? Won't they
just upload computer files to a new jig-o-matic, or something?

The problem is that doing that upload translates into a substantial
lead time, since the work required to adjust the manufacturing
equipment (including the jigs) so that it turns out the correct
components and structural pieces means that it isn't cost-effective to
do so for a small order. The first couple of pieces are unlikely to be
quite right, and therefore you need to make enough of them to ensure
that you get the correct pieces for later assembly.

If the jigs and other systems needed to build 378s are in fact
discarded and need to be reconstutited, TfL would have to order at
least 10-15 4-car units in order to make it cost-effective. If the
GOBLIN were electrified I'm not sure it could absorb 10-15 dual-
voltage units all by itself, which means that TfL needs to use them
somewhere else on the Overground, such as one of the core service
routes (Willesden-Stratford, Clapham-Willesden, Highbury-West Croydon).

Well, there was mooting that if demand continues to rise then we might
see 5-car trains in the mid-term. That might be sufficient to get more
378s for the Goblin. Perhaps units for the mooted takeover of the
Crystal Palace-Clapham Junction (and up the WLL) outer SLL service
(should it come to pass) might swing the balance as well.