I will look into it and let you know.

This is old news.

It was known 18 months ago when the franchise started that Adelantes were not to be part of the fleet after this December so there is no surprise in any of this.

I am sure that the 515 seats in an HST, which are all being refurbished at a cost of £62 million, will be far better at coping with the enormous growth in rail travel that is predicted than the 282 seats in an Adelante.

However, I am sure the story is not over yet as no other train companies have shown an interest in them and the Government is hardly likely to let them go into store when demand is increasing. I have a hunch that the Governemnt will make sure FGW retain some, if not all of them, at a cheaper rental to improve comfort and capacity on some West of England services.

This is not a shambles for FGW it's just the way the media have decided to tell the story.

I think that we are losing sight of the fact that Writersblock asked whether HSTs are to be replaced by Class 47 locos and carriages. Thats what I am currently looking into.

However , I appear (so far , at least) instead to have come up with an answer regarding the Adelantes. See link below.
http://ihatefirstgreatwestern.blogspot.com/2007/09/back-to-future.html

Certainly I cannot see locomotive hauled coaching stock being used. As you say there are insufficient Class 47's still available - many having been converted to Class 57's for Virgin Trains or Freightliner in recent years, and I doubt if there are sufficent coaches left that are suitable either - the electrical supply on HST trailer vehicles is different from loco-hauled coaches so they are not compatible.

FGW and GNER are both refurbishing their existing fleets of HSTs to give them another 10 years or so of operational life. Beyiond that, the DfT is engaged in a longer term replacement in the form of the IEP (or InterCity Express Programme). This is likely to be an underfloor diesel or diesel electric multiple unit (aka Voyager style) that can be split/joined en route. For more information follow this link:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/162259/165234/203030/iepsummaryoverviewpdf

A big driver for the DfT and Government now is the environment and the jury is still out on rail electrification. With diesel engines becoming ever more reliable, using less fuel and oil , and exceeeding european standards they are seen as they way forward. The big problem with electrification (apart from the cost of the infrastructure itself) is the need to generate the electricity in the first place which means it is more expensive and more environmentally damaging requiring more power stations and a distribution network.

Quote from the link below.
http://indefenceoffirstgreatwestern.blogspot.com/2007/09/reader-mail-iv-part-2.html

"This fortnight's Rail magazine (not always authorative, I know) has a FGW spokesman denying that class 57's (which are reengineered 47's) and coaches will be used on daytime trains because "they can't keep up with HST timings" (which sounds fair enough)"