(Yesterday, 8:25 pm)solsburian wrote I've said it elsewhere but it is a shame that the Class 769 as proven to be a disaster, as had they actually worked they could have been a good short term (but knowing the railways, would have probably turned into a mid/long term solution) for the Northumberland line, being 4 car (albeit shorter than the Class 156/8), but having the advantage of having a high density commuter interior, and wide double doors at the 1/3 and 2/3 positions to allow with faster loading and unloading. Plus, they could have operated using the Overhead line from Benton – Newcastle, plus when doing the Morpeth /Chathill runs. But their owners Porterbrook seemed to have overlayed their hand with them and the ones in use are just as bad as the D-Train Class 230 conversions from D78 Underground stock, so perhaps such conversion ideas are best kept as theoretical.

IMHO the Class 156/8s are not suitable for the Northumberland line given their doors being placed at the ends of the carriages, and were designed from the outset as long distance, limited stop units, with lower rates of acceleration compared to the Class 150s as a result (the Class 170 is a bit sluggish too). That is not to say that I would support sending Class 150s up here as a replacement as they are just as worn out (or even worse) than the Class 156s.