IETs into passenger service from 16 Oct 2017 and subsequent performance issues

[whole diary]

[Sixty3Closure]

According to Journeycheck the 17:07 to Frome is likely to be five coaches rather than nine tonight. 

Should solve the problem with short platforms at least.

Well that's going to be cosy especially if the 17.18 is 3 coaches again (which is the only reason I ended up on the delayed 17.07).

[ellendune]

1A07 The 06:48 from Weston Super Mare to Paddington, the 08:12 from Swindon sat down at Didcot this morning with an electrical fault.  After a while we were advised to detrain as they would have to reset the train which would lock the doors for 5 minutes.  We were then advised to take the following train which came in on Platform 4.  This waited a while and was very crowded.  Then amazingly 1A07 went forward first and we waited longer before taking the relief line all the way to Reading, passing the nearly empty and once more stopped 1A07 at Moreton Cutting.

We arrived eventually at Reading on a train that was 25 late having just been overtaken again by 1A07 on the approach to Reading. 1A07 was 50 late at Reading and lost more time before reaching Paddington just after the later train 64 late.

Why could our train, which had most of 1A07's passengers and was ready to depart not allowed to leave Didcot only 10 late?  It could have then arrived at Reading not too late.  Instead a nearly empty train with a fault was given priority and proceeded to block the main line!

[TaplowGreen]

1A07 The 06:48 from Weston Super Mare to Paddington, the 08:12 from Swindon sat down at Didcot this morning with an electrical fault.  After a while we were advised to detrain as they would have to reset the train which would lock the doors for 5 minutes.  We were then advised to take the following train which came in on Platform 4.  This waited a while and was very crowded.  Then amazingly 1A07 went forward first and we waited longer before taking the relief line all the way to Reading, passing the nearly empty and once more stopped 1A07 at Moreton Cutting.

We arrived eventually at Reading on a train that was 25 late having just been overtaken again by 1A07 on the approach to Reading. 1A07 was 50 late at Reading and lost more time before reaching Paddington just after the later train 64 late.

Why could our train, which had most of 1A07's passengers and was ready to depart not allowed to leave Didcot only 10 late?  It could have then arrived at Reading not too late.  Instead a nearly empty train with a fault was given priority and proceeded to block the main line!

Because GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) couldn't give a toss about their customers.

[broadgage]

To be diplomatic, the decision may have been made by network rail who control the signals and other infrastructure, rather than by GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).
Whoever made the decision though, it does seem very poor planning to give fast line priority to an empty train known to be sick whilst delaying  a fully loaded passenger train on the relief line.

So someone cares little for the passengers even if it might not have been GWR this time.

[broadgage]

Similar today, about 27 half length trains.

[IndustryInsider]

Yes, very very poor indeed.  The only improvement I've seen (and it is based only on visual observation) is the number of 10-car units running with half locked out of use, an even worse scenario, appears to have thankfully reduced quite substantially.

[broadgage]

Yes, we seem to have progressed from "no staff for the other 5 car unit" to "5 car only"

What is the present excuse for routine short formations ? is it still the apparently unforeseeable need to train staff on the new stock.
Or simply a case of the new trains not working.

Advocates of the new shorter DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) will no doubt state that in fact they are doing fine, and that the short formations are actually an advantage of the new shorter trains, on the grounds that half a train is better than no train.
Had we retained proper intercity trains, I doubt that we would have had cancellations on the scale of the present short formations.

Whilst full length trains no doubt remain a future aspiration, for the here and now the downgrade is worse than expected.

And even when we do achieve full length trains, these are still nasty outer suburban DMUs and not proper intercity trains.
This is not just my view, look at the reviews on trip advisor, trustpilot and similar websites.
My feelings about downgrading from a buffet to a trolley are well known, but a study of customer reviews suggests that many people expect a buffet on an intercity service, not just me.
The absence of reservations, hard and small seats, non functioning air conditioning, and limited luggage space are all frequent causes of complaint.

[Timmer]

My feelings about downgrading from a buffet to a trolley are well known, but a study of customer reviews suggests that many people expect a buffet on an intercity service, not just me.
The absence of reservations, hard and small seats, non functioning air conditioning, and limited luggage space are all frequent causes of complaint.

You can thank Dft for all that you have listed to be wrong with the new trains on the GW^▸ (Great Western) network. Be interesting to see what the feedback is like once they start running on the East Coast mainline.

[broadgage]

I suspect that the East Coast units wont be as bad as the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ones.
Firstly, I think that East coast passengers are still allowed a buffet, the "no buffet" downgrade was a GWR thing.
Secondly they might work better, lessons might have been learnt from the failed introduction on GWR.

[TonyK]

Meanwhile, I had my first encounter with a full-sized IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) today, at Tiverton Parkway:







It wasn't burdened with passengers obviously - 5Z05 was running to Paignton as a testing / training run.

[Richard Fairhurst]

My feelings about downgrading from a buffet to a trolley are well known, but a study of customer reviews suggests that many people expect a buffet on an intercity service, not just me.

It's the worst of both worlds. The same trains are running on intercity services (like London-Penzance) without a full buffet, as well as on outer-commuter services (like London-Oxford) where they waste 20 seats worth of space on an unnecessary kitchen.

[bobm]

I have now made 30 journeys on IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) and I have noticed in recent weeks the reservation system has been working more often than it hasn't - although yesterday it seemed to be case of "belt and braces" with both paper tickets and the electronic displays.  At least they agreed with each other!



One other thing I did notice yesterday however was a localised fault with the aircon.  An area of four rows of seats on one side of the train were all noticeably warmer than those around them.  On an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) it has always been a case of all or nothing.  Seems the systems on the IET might be more modular.

[FarWestJohn]

After 40 years of amazing technical advances since the introduction of HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) we finish up with a mediocre under floor electro-diesel train. Sadly we could not even design and build it in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom). I find it amazing that there is no UK owned company that can build our trains.

[bobm]

We gave football to the world and we can no longer win it....  oh hang on. 

[SandTEngineer]

After 40 years of amazing technical advances since the introduction of HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) we finish up with a mediocre under floor electro-diesel train. Sadly we could not even design and build it in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom). I find it amazing that there is no UK owned company that can build our trains.

Never mind, it will all change next March and all train manufacture will return to the UK......