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

[whole diary]

[IndustryInsider]

Yes, that's right.  It's booked to arrive into Plymouth at 10:53 to await the arrival of the other portion at 11:07.

I doubt the doors are opened until the attachment has taken place, but at least it will allow you chance to get in position.  One of the advantages of 10-car portion working is that people boarding at Plymouth are able to board an empty train, so have a much better chance of taking an unreserved seat. 

Before anyone says it, I'm well aware there are disadvantages too!

[IndustryInsider]

Today, the Swansea/Bristol diagram being listed on JourneyCheck as a 5-car is being worked by 9-car, 800311.  The two Worcester return trips are being covered by 5-car 802001, so are short formed as listed - that is a 'good' diagram to cover with a 5-car though and I doubt will result in much overcrowding.

Yesterday there was one diagram covering Bristol's IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) listed on JourneyCheck as a 5-car, and that was indeed the case.

[SandTEngineer]

An interesting snippet from an IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) Driver on the WNXX^▸ (Stored Unserviceable, Mainline Locos HQ All Classes) Forum:

If the train won't take the headcode (during driver setup) the seat reservation data will not load. The clue is that the external information displays show '00:00' in the departure time if the train is on a generic headcode. There are still issues if a formation other than the booked formation is put on instead of that specified. It will not reallocate reservations for 1x9 into 2x5 and vice versa. If you have 1x5 instead of 2x5 or 1x9 forget it. 

[IndustryInsider]

Just to add that it will recognise when a 5-car is extended to a 9-car.  We’re promised fixes will come eventually!  In the meantime GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) should ensure that card labels are available, but we know that often isn’t the case.

[Wizard]

I’m not sure that’s all correct. I’ve definitely been on 9v10 and 10v9 trains where the reservations have loaded themselves in.

[TaplowGreen]

Notwithstanding GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Journeycheck being unreliable, if it's correct today there are going to be some very cosy trips between Devon/Cornwall to Paddington today given all the short forms listed.

[Pb_devon]

First Class is indeed usually marshalled at the London end, so on a 10-car, Coach H should be the fourth carriage from Plymouth (i.e. second last carriage of the front portion).  Any formation changes should be shown on the station CIS^▸ (Customer Information System).  That being said, today it looks like it was worked by a 9-car unit throughout - however Coach H should still be fourth from the front on that as well!

Let us know how it goes...

Thanks II.
So the front portion is the half added at PLY^» (Plymouth - next trains) (if 10 car), hence I will be in the empty bit and have a chance of stowing the two large cases I will have 😁
I will let you know, subject to internet.

I can report that it all went as planned. The only huccup was the platform screen graphic had coach H as second from front, but it actually was as II predicted at 4th.

Thanks for guidance.

Oh, and the seats do seem ‘firm’ 😄

[SandTEngineer]

Notwithstanding GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Journeycheck being unreliable, if it's correct today there are going to be some very cosy trips between Devon/Cornwall to Paddington today given all the short forms listed.

Reported elsewhere that 1C88 (1603 Paddington to Truro) was reduced to a 5-car at Paddington and 520 counted onboard on departure.  Hmm, nice and cosy then......

[broadgage]

I have experienced broadly similar conditions.
We have moved on from "all trains that need to be full length, will be" and towards "a short train is better than no train"

I do not recall an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) EVER being half length ! And yes I am well aware that failed HSTs were dealt with by taking a working one from a lower priority route, and substituting a Turbo on that route.

That however is no consolation for West country passengers who used to ALLWAYS get a full length train, but now have the new shorter trains.

I ask again of IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) supporters, are there any firm plans to reliably run full length trains, and if so, how is this to be achieved, and from what date will all busy services be reliably full length.
As I have previously remarked, train travel instead of driving should be encouraged for environmental reasons, it is hard to recommend present GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) services due to the significant risk of standing.

Booking wont help as bookings are still unreliable and are voided on short formed trains.
First class does not help, as it is de-facto declassified on short formed units. Or officially declassified.

[IndustryInsider]

I ask again of IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) supporters, are there any firm plans to reliably run full length trains, and if so, how is this to be achieved, and from what date will all busy services be reliably full length.

A couple of recent quotes to staff from managers, that might help explain the current situation:

Coupling Issues
Since the timetable change in December there
has been a sharp rise in the number of
coupling/uncoupling during service. This has led
to an increase in coupling/uncoupling faults. To
combat this our partners at Hitachi have been
carrying out a special check to ensure the
electrical coupler head is correctly aligned and
the guide rods are clean.
In addition to this there is a check of the
Mechanism Indicator Valve (MIV) to ensure the
setup is correct. Dellner (the coupling
manufacturer) have also identified an issue with
the electrical coupler operating actuator and
Hitachi are replacing these, starting with any sets
were there have reported to have had repeated
failed couplings. Hitachi are very close to
completing the special check and are working to
change out all of the actuators.
Modifications
There is an ongoing modification program being
carried out currently by our partners at Hitachi.
Here is just a snapshot of some of the mods
being carried out:
General Mods:
• Door reliability mods are progressing well
with the campaigns for the door sensitive
edge and ball bearing cage now complete, a
further campaign to raise the operating
pressure has been agreed and should be
started soon.
• The VCB^▸ (Vacuum Circuit Breaker - electrification) Control modification is planned to be
finished by the end of next week.
• DOO^▸ (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)) camera Wide Dynamic Range software
update is progressing well on the 802 fleet
with 9 sets left to complete, Hitachi are
setting up to start this software role out on
the 800 fleet.
• Coffee machine W spring clip in the coffee
hopper and coffee pot holder modifications
have been agreed and the campaign will start
soon to fit these.
• EPOS^▸ (Electronic Point of Sale) holders for the standard class catering
trolley will be rolled out very soon.

[IndustryInsider]

And...

The very fact that the December Timetable
change has come and gone with little, if any,
comment in the media is testament to the hard
work and meticulous preparation from all
stakeholders in what was a truly collaborative
approach. That said, you are only as ‘good as
your last game’ and we must now kick on and
focus on the next challenge.

Whilst the last couple of years have been very
dynamic, fraught and ambiguous, we must now
get ‘back to basics’ and bring some stability to
our operation. am clear that we must make the
right number of trains available every day, in the
right formation, in the right locations, which are
clean and free from restrictions and defects. I In
order to ensure we do so, we are making some
organisational changes within Hitachi which will
see elements of Train Presentation brought
‘in-house’ and a reinforcement of our Train
Maintenance Centres with greater corrective
maintenance capability.

Collectively, with the Train Service Delivery Team
we are looking to integrate further and remove
some of the barriers to communication; we will
be strengthening the Hitachi presence in
Maintenance Control and empowering them to
make the decisions required to ensure we deliver
for our customers and are best placed when
things inevitably don’t go to plan.

We will also be rolling out our Fleet Management
system, SOROS, across our business and have
already provided access to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), which will
provide the visibility required to make informed
decisions, ensuring we are agile and able to
respond. This will provide the status, location
and orientation of every unit ‘live’, as well as
maintenance details and will make our
allocations process more streamlined and
effective.

Finally, our train presentation plan to return the
units to the standards expected of our customers
is now in full swing with exceptional results being
achieved, the challenge now to ensure we
maintain the units at that standard.

[TonyK]

Reported elsewhere that 1C88 (1603 Paddington to Truro) was reduced to a 5-car at Paddington and 520 counted onboard on departure.  Hmm, nice and cosy then......

As confirmed by my daughter and son-in-law, and with seat reservations cancelled. Fortunately, they realised before many that the five cars at the back end were going nowhere, so were able to grab seats while the others were still trying to get on the doomed part. It got even cosier at Reading, I am told, where customer gruntlement levels plumbed new depths. It had thinned out by Tiverton Parkway. Lack of a second TM^‡(resolve) was cited as the cause.

[Timmer]

Reported elsewhere that 1C88 (1603 Paddington to Truro) was reduced to a 5-car at Paddington and 520 counted onboard on departure.  Hmm, nice and cosy then......

As confirmed by my daughter and son-in-law, and with seat reservations cancelled. Fortunately, they realised before many that the five cars at the back end were going nowhere, so were able to grab seats while the others were still trying to get on the doomed part. It got even cosier at Reading, I am told, where customer gruntlement levels plumbed new depths. It had thinned out by Tiverton Parkway. Lack of a second TM^‡(resolve) was cited as the cause.

Confirms the utter madness of Dft procuring so many 5 car sets instead of 9 car sets that have to have two qualified members of staff when joined together because of no access between sets.

My gosh GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have had problems just providing 1 member of staff to operate a train on a Sunday net alone 2. Can’t blame Hitachi on this one.

520 passengers on a 5 car set is crazy.

[broadgage]

And given that the policy of downgrading to 5 car DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit), was decided upon several years ago, then why was no effective action taken to ensure that the extra staff were available in good time.

A proper inter-city train, gangwayed throughout would in my view have been preferable. However once the decision had been taken that short DMUs were the future, then there is no excuse for not having the extra staff to operate them.

[SandTEngineer]

Interesting comment from Roger Ford (of Modern Railways) concerning the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Franchise and the after effect of IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) Introduction:

2016-17 GWR Premium £67 million.
2018-19 GWR Subsidy £277.5 million
Some of this is down to increased track access charges, which applies to all TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) . However rolling stock charges are a major contribution.

Much discussion elsewhere that this is down to hugely increased fuel costs and staffing costs (e.g. doubling up of Train Managers and refreshment staff when 5-car IET sets run coupled together) and compensation costs to HITACHI when sets end up at the wrong place and at the wrong times.

Apparently the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) and the Treasury are puzzled why this should be so......