4 GWR coaches at Doncaster for power doors.

[whole diary]

[LiskeardRich]

4 GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) coaches are currently at Doncaster works being modified with power doors etc for trial. An ex virgin coach also present being used as a design jig for the welding.
From an internal source it is hoped to be in service in September doing the daily Bristol Penzance 0600 start diagram. It will be extensively tested before any further coaches are converted.

[devonexpress]

So another set albeit small going to have GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) livery then?

[Surrey 455]

That testing must be extensive if it'll be 9 months before going back in service! Would it not be quicker to build a whole new train?

[Rhydgaled]

Would it not be quicker to build a whole new train?

Probably not; the first class 800 was taken off the ship from Japan in March 2015, and it'll probably be March 2017 before the first one enters passenger service. If you had an existing train design coming to the end of a production run with free factory space to extend that production run then you might be able to turn out additional units faster, but a new design will always take some time to put into production and the factory needs capacity to built it etc.

[rogerw]

This is also probably a test bed for the propoed Scotrail conversions

[Surrey 455]

Just out of interest, are they likely to be installing retention tanks in the toilets?

[Rhydgaled]

Just out of interest, are they likely to be installing retention tanks in the toilets

Not sure if the Doncaster work includes the toilets or not (it might), but I'm pretty sure I've read that, at some point before 2020, the retained IC125s for both GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) and ScotRail will be fitted with retention tanks. While I don't think it is a legal requirement, I think I've read that efforts are being made to ensure all TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) stock in use from 2020 doesn't dump toilet waste on the track.

[TonyK]

Probably not; the first class 800 was taken off the ship from Japan in March 2015, and it'll probably be March 2017 before the first one enters passenger service.

That delay is as much to do with infrastructure as vehicle, I reckon.

[Rhydgaled]

Probably not; the first class 800 was taken off the ship from Japan in March 2015, and it'll probably be March 2017 before the first one enters passenger service.

That delay is as much to do with infrastructure as vehicle, I reckon.

Is it a delay though? I can't remember the original date the first one was meant to be in service anyway. I read in Modern Railways that some electrical problem (interference?) had been encountered when testing 800s being Reading and Didcot but Hitachi were claiming they were still on schedule despite this, which suggests it was always the plan to put the first one into service in 2017. I might be wrong though.

[TonyK]

Is it a delay though? I can't remember the original date the first one was meant to be in service anyway.

It depends which report you read. It seems to have been a bit of a movable feast, but that is always the way with big projects. In the early days, I seem to recall thinking that I would get work to pay for a trip on one of the first IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project. This will offer more capacity on routes, save money, give a consistent and safe service and meet customer requirements. Intended to replace HSTs.) trains to run under wires from Temple Meads. I have now been retired for 6 months.