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Recliner[_3_] · April 19th 17, 10:25 PM posted to uk.transport.london

wrote:
In article , d () wrote:

On Tue, 18 Apr 2017 22:45:50 -0000 (UTC)
Recliner wrote:
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 till
much later.

IMO the main weakness is using van engines at all. Safety issues aside
long term reliabilty is going to be a serious issue as these engines were
never designed to be worked at max power for hours on end then spend
another few hours idling almost 365 days a year. Their capacity is small
meaning the max power rpm will be much higher than normal railway diesels
and hence increased wear and tear. I'm sure the company would point to the
ability to swap out the engines but really, who is going to want to spend
the time and money replacing knackered engines every few years?

I thought they'd managed to get diesels that don't need to be left idling
all the time these days?

Yes. Though I suppose one of the four power packs may need to be left
running at a terminus. And the D-train's duties certainly won't involve
running at "max power for hours on end".