Trimode cl 769 to operate Reading to Oxford and Gatwick.

[whole diary]

[IndustryInsider]

Oxford was dropped from the plans very early on.

There wouldn’t be enough units to cover the North Downs planned diagrams if they were used on an Oxford to Basingstoke service, though that indeed might well be a more sensible utilisation of them…though there are a few arguments against as well.

[Rhydgaled]

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

I'm not sure abouth the "behaving reasonably" part - Roger Ford's 'New Train TIN Watch' shows the TfW 769s to be performing relatively poorly in reliability terms (think only the Crossrail 345s were worse) and the relevant topic on the RailUK Forums has many reports of fewer 769s being out in service each day than intended (although I'm not sure if some of that is due to COVID-related delays in staff training or if they have trainned enough staff).

[onthecushions]

The improvement has been very recent and fewer (bad) reports are being entered.

OTC

[bradshaw]

One has ventured to Southampton

769930 on the 5Q19 0647 Reading Depot to Southampton and return

https://twitter.com/skuttersrule/status/1417746816091701251?s=21

[eightonedee]

One has ventured to Southampton

769930 on the 5Q19 0647 Reading Depot to Southampton and return

It is escaping! Perhaps it wants to run away and live with a 230 on the Isle of Wight!

[eightonedee]

Prompted by the mention of them in the recent/current Weymouth thread, any more news on when they will be ready for service (recalling Spring 2019 as the original target date....)?

And how many have been delivered?

And any information as to what the principal problems causing all this delay might be?

[stuving]

Prompted by the mention of them in the recent/current Weymouth thread, any more news on when they will be ready for service (recalling Spring 2019 as the original target date....)?

And how many have been delivered?

And any information as to what the principal problems causing all this delay might be?

The 769s made earlier and now operating (when fit) on Northern and TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales) have had very poor reliability and still do. That's despite delays that were in part so as to fix the problems (which have not been identified).

The GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ones started off with a habit of giving up and coming back early to Reading, but more recently have done a lot better. So far their trips to Gatwick and back have been for mileage accumulation (aka fault-free running), but as of last week they began doing driver training (subject to having enough staff, presumably).

There are not many of the fleet at Reading yet, but that doesn't tell you haw many a ready. Until there are enough trained drivers they can't be put into service, so the Turbos can't go away, and there is not much room for stock in excess of the working fleet. That's not to say you need the whole fleet available before starting to use them, so December still looks possible for a limited introduction. You'll remember that GWR talked about "infiltrating" them, which I think means no razzamataz and marketing nonsense - confidence in this all going to plan remains low.

[eightonedee]

Thanks Stuving - I look forward to my last few months of commuting before retirement with trepidation!

[IndustryInsider]

There are also issues over the suitability of the cab.

[eightonedee]

There are also issues over the suitability of the cab.

That's sounds serious - can you tell us more?

[IndustryInsider]

Just whether it's appropriate for a 'new' train.  It's a design of cab that would never be allowed for a new build now, and though this is a conversion job, it's a major conversion job so opinions differ as to whether it should be accepted into traffic with various sub-optimal features in the cab, such as a poorly designed seat, general space and layout and cab cooling. 

The same argument rumbled on at Northern for quite some time!

If I was to take a punt, it will be next year before any enter service, and when they do reliability will plummet.  But a saviour will come within a short(ish) period of time when excess diesel stock from elsewhere will be found as a result of a post pandemic surplus of trains due to service cuts elsewhere on the railway network.

[Timmer]

Maybe it’s time for the railway to admit on this occasion you can’t teach an old dog new tricks and drop this project.

In the time it’s taken you could easily have electrified the missing links on the North Downs line and ran the 319s as they were intended…on electricity!

[Electric train]

In the time it’s taken you could easily have electrified the missing links on the North Downs line and ran the 319s as they were intended…on electricity!

That may not have solved II point about cab suitability, if they were being introduced to replace existing stock and the cab standards of the 319's are low than the 165/6 the same questions would be raised by the Drivers Staff Reps with the company managers

[grahame]

If I was to take a punt, it will be next year before any enter service, and when they do reliability will plummet.  But a saviour will come within a short(ish) period of time when excess diesel stock from elsewhere will be found as a result of a post pandemic surplus of trains due to service cuts elsewhere on the railway network.

OK ... but will there really be a surplus?

Quoting the Secretary of State

I do not dispute that the Bristol trains are busy at certain times, and while I acknowledge the attractiveness of the through service to Waterloo to passengers like Mr Annand, there are increasing capacity issues elsewhere on the West of England line, especially beyond Salisbury, as leisure demand grows.

Consequently, the industry is looking to ensure that we maximise the use of the SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) diesel fleet on the core Exeter route,to ensure that customers can have a comfortable journey.

[IndustryInsider]

I think there will be, yes.  300 cancellations a day for Scotrail planned IIRC^▸ ('if I recall/remember/read correctly')?  There will be much more of a surplus of EMUs^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit) I think, but I expect there to be a diesel surplus too.