Class 387 coming to Thames Valley - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[IndustryInsider]

They'll all go through to the 'B' end, unless only formed of 4 cars.  A small part of the train will poke it's nose out beyond the steps of the 'A' end though, so hopefully confusion will be limited, though expect that end to get busy whilst the other end is quiet as the train departs back to Paddington.

[Adelante_CCT]

Decided to pop out this afternoon, caught the 15:04 from Reading to Twyford.

I know they are not new to the region, but noticeably smooth with good acceleration from Reading. An 800 can be seen behind, a sight to regularly be seen at Reading from now on.

Held on at Twyford for the 16:03 through to Tilehurst, which was a few minutes late due to the delay of the outbound class 800 seen above.


The 16:03 (15:07 off Paddington) was the first class 387 passenger service to run west of Reading, shown at Tilehurst with the 16:28 to Didcot

[ChrisB]

387161 & 387132 for the record

[janes]

Tried these the last couple of days - much better journey quality in terms of less overcrowding, but obviously the real test will be next week.

[Electric train]

Tried these the last couple of days - much better journey quality in terms of less overcrowding, but obviously the real test will be next week.

The amount of seating available was excellent ..................... while they only operated as far west as Maidenhead .................. shame to share them with the rest of the Thames Valley.

Suppose you just cannot stop progress 

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

Indeed not, and very welcome they’ll be at Pangbourne next week.  After their brief foray out here on Thursday (presumably some sort of testing or trial running) we’re back to Turbo’s this weekend, but next week….

As you say ET, you can’t stop progress. You’ll be enjoying Class 345’s soon!

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

This page on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)’s website claims that Class 387’s have “... an at-seat food and drink service on-board.”

https://www.gwr.com/about-us/modernising-gwr/january2018

That sounds good, but then I realised that it was a rather careless copy and paste from the description of the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train)’s higher up the page.   Not sure about “Space for larger items can be found between seats in some areas and luggage stores at the end of certain carriages.” either.

Looking down the page it claims that Turbo’s have “two toilets – including one wheelchair accessible - in every four carriages”.

Does anyone at GWR check what goes on their website?

[TaplowGreen]

Tried these the last couple of days - much better journey quality in terms of less overcrowding, but obviously the real test will be next week.

They'll be rammed to the gunwhales.

[insider]

Expect lots of Turbo vice 387 coverage due to lack of drivers with Traction knowledge.

Both Monday & Tuesday there are a high number of uncovered jobs.

There are still also issues with Coupling & Uncoupling in service at stations, as no agreement has been reached with ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) & GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway). Some platform staff have been trained to "assist" drivers with the Fly Doors between units, however expect "issues" UFN^‡(resolve).

[Adelante_CCT]

After their brief foray out here on Thursday (presumably some sort of testing or trial running) we’re back to Turbo’s this weekend

Yes, just the 3 return trips on Thursday and Friday, with turbos this weekend. All diagrams scheduled to be 387s on Monday, depending of course on the number of drivers passed out*


*Whether that be passed out for driving 387s or passed out from having one too many the night before remains to be seen!

[stuving]

This page on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)’s website claims that Class 387’s have “... an at-seat food and drink service on-board.”

https://www.gwr.com/about-us/modernising-gwr/january2018

That sounds good, but then I realised that it was a rather careless copy and paste from the description of the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train)’s higher up the page.   Not sure about “Space for larger items can be found between seats in some areas and luggage stores at the end of certain carriages.” either.

Looking down the page it claims that Turbo’s have “two toilets – including one wheelchair accessible - in every four carriages”.

Does anyone at GWR check what goes on their website?

The leaflet I found at Reading station says so, and also has most of the rest of that text with minor differences in phrasing. Not the bit about food, though.

It's the IET text that departs more from its leaflet, though a lot of the paragraphs have been copied verbatim. I suspect that in picking out the text to copy to that web page (not the bits that refer to pictures, basically), something got copied twice and in the wrong place. And is there a leaflet about the "new" Turbos (even if it is only in English)?

[1st fan]

This page on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)’s website claims that Class 387’s have “... an at-seat food and drink service on-board.”

https://www.gwr.com/about-us/modernising-gwr/january2018

That sounds good, but then I realised that it was a rather careless copy and paste from the description of the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train)’s higher up the page.   Not sure about “Space for larger items can be found between seats in some areas and luggage stores at the end of certain carriages.” either.

Looking down the page it claims that Turbo’s have “two toilets – including one wheelchair accessible - in every four carriages”.

Does anyone at GWR check what goes on their website?

The leaflet I found at Reading station says so, and also has most of the rest of that text with minor differences in phrasing. Not the bit about food, though.

It's the IET text that departs more from its leaflet, though a lot of the paragraphs have been copied verbatim. I suspect that in picking out the text to copy to that web page (not the bits that refer to pictures, basically), something got copied twice and in the wrong place. And is there a leaflet about the "new" Turbos (even if it is only in English)?

They're not unique in a dodgy cut and paste. My local council made people sign up to a register (and pay a fee to do so) if they're private landlords. The only problem was they posted conflicting information about who needed to register. The info on all the the categories said only people in one category had to register. It was obvious that this was duplicated from the first category. I pointed this out to them and the bloke I spoke to was annoyed. He was seriously annoyed at the person who had just been lazy and not bothered to proof read.

[TaplowGreen]

Not a great start to the New Year!

 Train Formation Update
07:04 Didcot Parkway to London Paddington due 08:08
07:04 Didcot Parkway to London Paddington due 08:08 will be started from Reading.
It will no longer call at Didcot Parkway.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Will be formed of 4 coaches instead of 12.

[BBM]

0937 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-DID^» (Didcot Parkway - next trains) at TWY^▸ (Twyford station) this morning and the 1037 from PAD at DID:

[TaplowGreen]

So I was looking forward to the brave new world this morning, all that extra capacity etc etc......rather disappointed to find loads of short formations....4 coaches rather than 8 (or 12) and trains into Paddington packed to the gunwales as per usual, full and standing......apparently more of these brand new trains than usual are in need of repair......