Talk:British Rail Class 159
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[edit] 158 versus 159
The rebuild consisted of the fitment of First Class accommodation, installing retention toilets and other modifications.
I would be interested to know what these other modifications were, and also what "fitment of First Class accommodation" entailed, as the Class 158 units I've seen already have First Class accommodation (and I'm pretty sure they've always had it).
Was it a case of installing more First Class accommodation, or better First Class accommodation than what was provided on the 158s?
It would also be interesting to know why retention toilets were fitted to the 159s, whereas they were not retrofitted to the 158s. Was this due to the use of a third rail supply in some areas (where I could envisage flushing directly onto the track might cause some interesting problems!) or was it for some other reason?
I suppose the key question is why they felt a need to create a new class, instead of just operating Class 158s. Why were Class 158s considered inadequate for the purpose? The units were going spare anyway, why couldn't they just use them as is? The article doesn't really address this. 217.155.20.163 22:30, 20 April 2007 (UTC)
- As far as I am aware only the Scottish 158s had first class from new. The TPX and Virgin units had it retrofitted when refurbished. Also the Class 159s had 2+1 first class seating rather then the 158s 2+2. As for the different class number, a contempary issue of Rail claimed that 159s had been modified by NSE so as to be unable to work in Multiple with Regional Railways sprinters (don't you just love BR internal politics), much like Southerns 171s. They were modified to be sprinter compatible a few years later. --Enotayokel 16:11, 5 October 2007 (UTC)
