Newsletter 153

[whole diary]

[grahame]

All excited, I opened rail tour newsletter 153 which just dropped into my inbox to find that it was the 153rd newsletter in the series, and not fun places to go on a 153.

Special "lighter side" question for everyone who's a regular 153 user - where would you like to travel on one for a rather special treat / day out?

[JayMac]

I wouldn't consider any trip on a 153 bar those that have to be taken. 

Unless a few seats were taken out and the pitch of the rest increased. 20 minutes with one's knees under one's chin is plenty enough, thanks. 

[Western Pathfinder]

Di Woodhams Scrapyard at Barry Island one way only I would happily walk home.

[grahame]

I'm really saddened by members answers ... I have a kinda love for the basics and the feeling you're not in a hermetically sealed can, but rather bucketing along with wind whistling through the vents and (?) single glazed untainted (except by dirt) windows that make you a part of nature.

If YOU don't want the 153s, we'll have some more that you don't want, please. A pair running every hour from Oxford to Radley, Swindon, Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge and Westbury where the train divides.  Front portion for Dilton Marsh, Warminster, Wilton and Salisbury; rear portion for Frome Cheese Hall, Jack and Jill Halt, and Radstock St Nicholas. Actually I'm concerned at overloading if that ran.

More distant lines to travel on a 153?   An ambition to try some where it's possible already to see how they are doing in their communities and to learn more. I look north and east from Norwich, for example.

[Rhydgaled]

A single 153? To be avoided generally but not quite as bad as a 150 if you don't have to share it with too many other passengers.

I wouldn't consider any trip on a 153 bar those that have to be taken. 

Unless a few seats were taken out and the pitch of the rest increased. 20 minutes with one's knees under one's chin is plenty enough, thanks. 

That's the same problem I have with 150s (and Pacers), although I think I can just about put up with it for around 50 minutes. The full Gloucester to Fishguard working on the way back from my holiday in Scotland though (150 vice 158).... shudders. At least you can convert all the 153s back to 155s, take out some seats and make sure the remainder have decent legroom and views out of windows, they might be decent trains then. A 150 on the other hand is just born to be unpleasant I think, you could try taking some seats out but those doors might compromise any attempt to make a decent layout with the remaining ones, and even ignoring doors there's 6 fewer metres to play with than you have with a 155.

[PhilWakely]

Offered the opportunity for a day out in in a diesel railcar, I would opt for a Class 121 W55xxxx over a Class 153 every time - on condition that the driver left the cab window blinds up 

 

[TeaStew]

I think it is a Melksham thing - I enjoy the 153s too! I went to Oxford back in January, I boarded a 166 at Didcot and had a lovely trip, the locals on there did not know they were born!

[grahame]

I think it is a Melksham thing - I enjoy the 153s too! I went to Oxford back in January ...

I have the lovely (and "lighter side", you'll note) idea of the Westbury - Swindon shuttle carrying on to Oxford - and perhaps from there on the Cherwell Valley service to Banbury; probably wouldn't work because it would eat up too many paths on the way, and would either be too infrequent or overcrowded between Swindon and Oxford depending on how many times it ran.

Once you have an hourly TransWilts service / trains passing at Chippenham, you would be looking at just one extra unit / carriage for an hourly service which (educated guess) is what it would need to make it work to Oxford. And a further extra one carriage (except they're already there in oddments; no extra actually needed) to take it south to Salisbury.

I have to emphasise ... I don't see it happening as described above; look forward to 90 m.p.h. 2 car units replacing 150 and 153 units on services currently operating from the Bristol base, and in that form it might - that also mitigates path clogging and capacity issues - 153s on new services are always likely to turn out to be an interim step if they take off.

[ChrisB]

Isn't that already being planned?

http://www.go-op.coop/train/

[grahame]

Isn't that already being planned?

http://www.go-op.coop/train/

Work quoted on that page gives me a degree of confidence on a business and operation case:

* Showing that the route will be able to operate profitably within four years
* Commissioning detailed modeling to confirm that there is capacity on the intended route

However, I have seen little movement forward on this for a while, and it's possible that the capacity modelling may no longer be current - something I'm very much aware of with regard to TransWilts starting in 2013, where the modelling had to make future predications even at that time ... and on that basis I'm not doing more that "lighter side" suggesting something for the future.

Edit to add .... Go-op AGM^▸ (Annual General Meeting) in Chippenham on 18th July.   Not sure at present on venue, time, and whether it's an open meeting.

[ChrisB]

The last I heard, it was still a live project, but negotiations with NR^» (Network Rail - home page) were dragging

[grahame]

The last I heard, it was still a live project, but negotiations with NR^» (Network Rail - home page) were dragging

How recent is that?   But for sure still alive with the AGM^▸ (Annual General Meeting) (I went back and added that to my post above) next month.   I think the service case is very much there at least within the area I know - indeed strengthened by the results seen on the Swindon - Westbury section; the commercial stuff between everyone baffles me.  I am totally aware of just how long things take when we talk "train" - my goodness we've experience of that in these parts - but I have to wonder if Go-op have missed the boat.  That's not to say that with a step change in visible actions it couldn't be done - and that visible action would (I would think) probably hit the rumour mills, railway forums, local press, and their website. 

Edit to add Just check Twitter and Facebook links from the page your quoted, ChrisB

Twitter ... Last Tweet - May 2012

Facebook ... This content is currently unavailable. The page you requested cannot be displayed right now. It may be temporarily unavailable, the link you clicked on may have expired, or you may not have permission to view this page.

Updates there would be useful - but I AM aware of how easy it is to overlook things like this in the heat of what's going on otherwise!

[ChrisB]

And I don't think their AGMs^▸ (Annual General Meeting) are open to the public in order to get an easy update....I herard from the head honcho at a brief about 4-6 months ago, I think.

[Palfers]

Well in devon we got a load of 143's now that's an experience to Barnstaple.

[grahame]

Edit to add .... Go-op AGM^▸ (Annual General Meeting) in Chippenham on 18th July.   Not sure at present on venue, time, and whether it's an open meeting.

I should, of course, have checked with my own colleagues - see http://transwilts.org/tw/events

Saturday 18 July 2015
14:00

The Citadel Hall, Bath Road, Chippenham, SN15 2AB

GO-OP^▸ (Original Poster / topic starter) aim to be the first co-operatively owned open access operator in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom). Their flagship project is a Westbury to Birmingham Moor Street service. The 2015 AGM will be held in Chippenham where it will be interesting to hear about progress. Details from info@go-op.coop