Trimode cl 769 to operate Reading to Oxford and Gatwick.

[whole diary]

[RichT54]

769943 is back out on the North Downs Line today and is scheduled to go all the way to Gatwick for the first time, I believe.

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:K06066/2021-06-16/detailed

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:K06067/2021-06-16/detailed

I have attached some photos of it travelling between Crowthorne and Sandhurst.

[IndustryInsider]

I remain concerned about reliability once in service, but the testing/training programme seems to be going reasonably well so far.  I doubt there'll be (m)any Turbos released to the west in time for this summer's surge though unfortunately.

[bobm]

In an update from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) a fortnight ago a senior manager did not believe any turbos would move west until September.

[stuving]

I see that today's two runs include station calls, unlike previous ones. Some of those are so short that they might even have really been passes, but Wokingham and Reigate have seen several minutes.

I went to observe today's second run outbound, which did indeed hang about for some time (I was the wrong side of the crossing to see if anything was actually happening). So this time I heard it accelerating from a stand, and it is relatively quiet - as these things go - less noise than a typical Turbo, at least. In fact the motor whine (notoriously loud on these old GEC G315BZ DC^▸ (Direct Current) motors) was subjectively louder. The engines are I think mounted symmetrically, so one is louder than the other.

[RichT54]

I was just having another look at the photos I took this morning and remembered that the driver sounded the horn as the train approached the footbridge I was on which made me I wonder if he had waved as well 

[RichT54]

Some good video (not mine) of the recent class 769 test runs on the North Downs and Brighton Main lines:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IGdTczUq6o

[broadgage]

Some good video (not mine) of the recent class 769 test runs on the North Downs and Brighton Main lines:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IGdTczUq6o

I, interesting, thanks. BTW^▸ (by the way) at about 6 minutes into the video it looks like a nasty dip in the track, on the line used by the 769 approaching the camera.

[stuving]

I was just going out shopping when I noticed that this morning's run to Gatwick and back had turned back at Guildford. And 769946 duly came back through Wokingham 10:56 instead of 12:08, and with its rear engine shut down. Engine failure (and return from Guildford) also happened on the first run on Monday, and perhaps the second turned back even earlier (but RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) gets so confused by this kind of thing it's hard to be sure). Wednesday's two runs were cancelled. So far so ...?

[eightonedee]

By way of reminder, here is the first post in this thread-

   
Trimode cl 769 to operate Reading to Oxford and Gatwick.
« on: April 19, 2018, 06:04:17 pm »
Reply with quoteQuote
Just seen on Twitter,
Philip Haigh states
GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) to bring 19 tri-mode Class 769 4-car trains to Reading-Oxford and Reading-Gatwick services from next spring. Will run on AC and DC^▸ (Direct Current)▸ electrification and diesel. Will initially support introduction of refurbed trains to Heathrow Express.

and the first insider comment-

   
Re: Trimode cl 769 to operate Reading to Oxford and Gatwick.
« Reply #3 on: April 19, 2018, 07:09:42 pm »
Reply with quoteQuote
It is, obviously, good news to get more capacity.  Just the extra strain on crew training, and the reliability and power of the units themselves that cast a bit of a shadow in my opinion.

So II - who's going to win on Sunday?

[IndustryInsider]

So II - who's going to win on Sunday?

Broadgage is the one with the crystal ball!

[stuving]

This afternoon's run did happen, rather to my surprise. This one (reportedly 959) got to Redhill, but by then it was 20 minutes late so it met its own schedule coming back. On the way back to Reading it only lost 10 minutes, but with the advantage of not doing station calls. No informed reports on what its problem was, but being a bit short in the engine system department looks a likely bet.

[onthecushions]

From what is published elsewhere, the Northern and TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales) 769's are now in service and behaving reasonably. Ours are still in the testing stage, it seems.

OTC

[ellendune]

From what is published elsewhere, the Northern and TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales) 769's are now in service and behaving reasonably. Ours are still in the testing stage, it seems.

OTC

Difference is the third rail I suppose.

[IndustryInsider]

Plus of course ours are still being delivered and testing hasn’t been going on for long.

Perhaps this thread’s title should be amended?  There are no plans to use them on services to Oxford.

[eightonedee]

There are no plans to use them on services to Oxford.

But they were originally announced as being for the Reading-Oxford services as well - have a look at the first posts in this thread. If I have understood the position from following this over the last three years this has changed and Reading - Basingstoke is now the other route they will cover.

Which inspires an idea, partly stimulated by Marlburian's recent post -

Time was when I would take the train to a nearby town or village and walk, before returning home by rail. But the current hourly service to and from Tilehurst doesn't encourage this, compared with the previous half-hourly one.

As for travelling east through Reading, it seems eons ago since in January 2020 I was lamenting having to hang around on the station for a connecting service at certain times of the day.

I didn't bother to renew my Senior Railcard that expired two weeks ago.

We currently have two "gaps" without OHL^▸ (Over-Head Line) on services around Reading - Didcot to Oxford, and Reading to Basingstoke. The former is now a fractured service with changes/delays at Didcot. For some reason the stopping Reading to Didcots have still not been restored to half-hourly. As Marlburian says, this is quite a disincentive to using the train to get into Reading or take a connecting train onwards, with the prospect of possibly nearly an hour's wait (or two if there's a cancellation). Furthermore, there is the somewhat frustrating sight of lightly loaded 8 coach trains running hourly when 5 years ago it was a much more convenient half hourly off peak service run comfortably with 2 or 3 car trains. 

I appreciate that compared to the travails of Melksham passengers (once again highlighted by today's posts) this seems like a "first world problem", but every reduction in service frequency is another group of people who will think "why bother with the train, I might as well drive".

So - if there's some reason why the pre-covid half hourly off peak stopping services continuing on to London cannot be restored, why not combine the Reading - Oxford stopping services and the Reading-Basingstoke one into an hourly Oxford-Basingstoke, reversing at Reading, one that can use 769s switching power at Reading and Didcot, thereby restoring a half-hourly stopping service from Reading to Didcot, and also possibly releasing a few more Turbos for the west?