Electrical power supplies can fail, maybe not on a nationwide scale, but the risk is enough to warrant the provision of a fair number of 'self-propelled' locos to come to the rescue in the event of such events (he says confidently!)
If the wires come down during a storm, for instance, then EMUs would have to be moved from A to B to allow for repairs to be made; obviously electric locos wouldn't be able to perform such tasks, so diesels will have to be retained for such occasions.
How long before a nuclear or solar powered train threatens the existence of electrics, I wonder.....
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