On Wed, 19 Apr 2017 11:32:13 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message
-septe
mber.org, at 22:45:50 on Tue, 18 Apr 2017, Recliner
remarked:
wrote:
On 18/04/2017 21:22, Recliner wrote:
Apparently this Frday (21st) will be the last for the D-stock in normal
service in London. I believe there will be a farewell tour on 7 May.

After that, of course, there may be opportnities to travel on them on new
routes, with an unfamiliar diesel rumble under the floor.


What are their further prospects for conversion to DMUs and eventual
entrance into revenue service, especially after the fire?

Adrian Shooter seems optimistic that more orders are in the pipeline. The
EMT trial would not, in any case, have led to a significant order, even
without the fire. In a way, the fire was a good thing, as it uncovered a
number of weaknesses that might not otherwise have come to light

That's an unfortunate turn of phrase

till much later.

Vivarail also has a battery version entering test.

Greater Anglia's battery-EMU project has disappeared without trace.

It was a trial that tested what it was supposed to. It found that the
technology works, but battery costs need to come down more to get a
reasonable range on the batteries. It's really no different to
electric road vehicles: if you want a decent range and performance,
they cost a lot (see Tesla vs Leaf).

Perhaps the battery D-train (or is that E-train?) will keep costs down
by having smaller battery packs, which may be adequate for its lower
speed and shorter range?