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

[whole diary]

[didcotdean]

Was somewhst amused by the announcement on a Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington train this morning, which was along the lines of "this is a 9 carriage train and for those unfamiliar with them, it has the feature that you can walk right along it, and all the first class is at the front'.

Later overheard a conversation he had with clearly a regular in that service that he was fed up of verbal abuse when it is 5 only.

[SandTEngineer]

This was posted on the WNXX^▸ (Stored Unserviceable, Mainline Locos HQ All Classes) forum (19/07/2018) by a GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) 'Insider':

Text sent out by RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) ending the agreement whereby a customer host can be in one half of a ten car IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) rake and a guard in the other. Allegedly this follows an on board incident, so the RMT insist on a guard in each unit from now on. What do they do on Voyagers was the question asked of me this afternoon. Answer is I don't know, but one thing is certain, GWR do not have enough guards, so expect a lot more 5 cars or tens with 5 locked out. Wonderful.

[CMRail]

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) do not have enough guards, so expect a lot more 5 cars or tens with 5 locked out. Wonderful.

Ah, let’s just cancel the training because we do not trust that Customer Hosts can get the job done. Or, remove half the train and impress all the passengers. RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) make the best impression..

[broadgage]

I see that half length IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) have returned today, about 6 I think.
Not as bad as some previous events but still far from impressive for new and very expensive units.

Stated as being due to breakdowns and not staff shortage.

[bobm]

Suspect one 10 car formation may have been split to provide the five cars for the additional 12:33 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads to take pressure off the 12:30 to Penzance via Bristol.

[ray951]

Are there more 9 car IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train)'s running, as I have noticed a couple of services on the Cotswold Line that were previously HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s? The services were the
0710 Moreton-In-Marsh to Paddington and the 1522 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington.

[bobm]

Not sure of total numbers but there are currently nine cars on both the 13:36 Paddington to Cheltenham Spa and the 14:15 to Cardiff Central.

[CMRail]

By 03/10, all services between London and Gloucester/Cheltenham will be IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train). 10 cars will be cleared for the line by the end of August just after Stonehouse is complete.

[CMRail]

Concerning at Kemble where the driver had overran the platform and ASDO^▸ (Automatic Selective Door Operation) (of course) opened the doors in coach A. Luckily, the passengers leaving checked before looking down however others would have been in a different situation.

[IndustryInsider]

The driver still has to give door release after which ASDO^▸ (Automatic Selective Door Operation) takes over, so doors opening when not on platforms should not happen!

[paul7575]

The driver should realise he over-ran and not release, but I reckon it wouldn’t be automatically prevented.  My understanding of the fairly typical modern ASDO^▸ (Automatic Selective Door Operation) gear as used on SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) Desiros is that it doesn’t detect stop shorts or over-runs.  Still relies on the driver hitting the right stop marker.

The 458/5s on the Reading side have a less complex system where each carriage has a sensor that makes its own decision, and so guards against stopping short, but not an over-run.

Paul

[IndustryInsider]

Yes, Paul - that was my point.  It should not happen as the driver should realise they have overrun.  If they have overrun (it's not difficult to work that out) then they should not operate the door release buttons.  If they do then ASDO^▸ (Automatic Selective Door Operation) will not indeed not come to their rescue.

[CMRail]

Say this was during staffing hours surely the driver would have taken the appropriate action? If I’m honest there were two train managers who showed no interest at all, and I’m sure a report would have had to of been filed if appropriate action was taken.

What is the procedure of over runs? I have watched a SWT^▸ (South West Trains) overrun video and it explains about local door open yet the driver releases the door as usual. I should have taken a photo in the end but I didn’t want to delay the already delayed train.

[martyjon]

20 half length services today, yes a FRIDAY.

[grahame]

20 half length services today, yes a FRIDAY.

I may be talking slightly out of turn here ... but if 5 car IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) were to be used on the diagrams from which that Adelantes (class 180) were withdrawn a short while back, would there still be a problem?   Looking at where there are short formations, though, they do appear to be different diagrams to the old Adelante ones, with some seriously busy services involved.