Problems with IET trains from April 2021

[whole diary]

[grahame]

387 152 paired with 387 165 preparing to leave Bristol Parkway with the 10:19 to London Paddington (running as 9L43)

So ... that's all week, and in public service (with 9 headcode, and "reservations compulsory").   Didn't know reservations were done on a 387!

UID V43480, identity 9L43
TSC 25375002, headcode 6422
STP schedule
SSuX - 24/05/2021 to 28/05/2021
Express Passenger
Great Britain (Network Rail, TPS)
Pathed as Electric multiple unit
Planned for 110mph max
Standard class only seating
Reservations compulsory

[IndustryInsider]

So ... that's all week, and in public service (with 9 headcode, and "reservations compulsory").   Didn't know reservations were done on a 387!

They are. 

[broadgage]

Sir Humphrey to Grant Shapps:

"At least no-one's mentioned those pesky IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train)'s today..."

Followed by,

Sir Humphrey to Grant Shapps

"There has been the odd mention of those IETs minister, but they are now yesterdays news, fortunately. Hopefully the public are getting used to the reduced service and will stop moaning"

Grant Shapps "Indeed so, Humphrey, should we put out a statement"

Humphrey "I would not, unless in response to a specific enquiry from someone important. In that case, use the standard message about all working together to face the challenges"

Grant Shapps "Did they find any other trains"

Humphrey "Yes minister, the rail industry responded wonderfully to this unprecedented situation. They even considered some old trains, but we managed to put a stop to that nonsense"

"Why ?"

Humphrey "Our rail industry partners have gone to a lot of trouble to justify the new trains, despite a little negative feedback,  use of old trains might increase criticism of the new ones"

Grant Shapps "Good point" And Humphrey, book my car and driver for the weekend, I shall visit Cornwall"

Humphrey "Yes minister" And by the way minister , I have prepared for your approval a statement only to be released if any of the great unwashed criticise you for driving.

Grant Shapps "I expect to BE DRIVEN,  not to drive"

Humphrey "Of course minister, slip of the tongue, very sorry sir.  The statement says "the minister would have preferred to take the train, in line with our green policies, but due to the popularity of the trains around a holiday weekend, It was reluctantly decided  to use road transport, so as free space for hard working families" A hybrid car was used.

Well that is settled then, enough of all this, glass of port in the club?

[Witham Bobby]

Sir Humphrey to Grant Shapps:

"At least no-one's mentioned those pesky IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train)'s today..."

Followed by,

Sir Humphrey to Grant Shapps

"There has been the odd mention of those IETs minister, but they are now yesterdays news, fortunately. Hopefully the public are getting used to the reduced service and will stop moaning"

Grant Shapps "Indeed so, Humphrey, should we put out a statement"

Humphrey "I would not, unless in response to a specific enquiry from someone important. In that case, use the standard message about all working together to face the challenges"

Grant Shapps "Did they find any other trains"

Humphrey "Yes minister, the rail industry responded wonderfully to this unprecedented situation. They even considered some old trains, but we managed to put a stop to that nonsense"

"Why ?"

Humphrey "Our rail industry partners have gone to a lot of trouble to justify the new trains, despite a little negative feedback,  use of old trains might increase criticism of the new ones"

Grant Shapps "Good point" And Humphrey, book my car and driver for the weekend, I shall visit Cornwall"

Humphrey "Yes minister" And by the way minister , I have prepared for your approval a statement only to be released if any of the great unwashed criticise you for driving.

Grant Shapps "I expect to BE DRIVEN,  not to drive"

Humphrey "Of course minister, slip of the tongue, very sorry sir.  The statement says "the minister would have preferred to take the train, in line with our green policies, but due to the popularity of the trains around a holiday weekend, It was reluctantly decided  to use road transport, so as free space for hard working families" A hybrid car was used.

Well that is settled then, enough of all this, glass of port in the club?

Brilliant!

You are either Antony Jay or Jonathan Lynn and I claim my £5

[broadgage]

Brilliant!

You are either Antony Jay or Jonathan Lynn and I claim my £5

I am neither of the above, nor am I Roger Ford, nor Mr Rees -Mogg. Despite suggestions to the contrary.

[CyclingSid]

So ... that's all week, and in public service (with 9 headcode, and "reservations compulsory").   Didn't know reservations were done on a 387!

They are

Booking for non-existent bike spaces??

[stuving]

Yesterday morning, the following were reported as out of service from the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) fleet:

For cracks (mostly yaw bolster rather than jacking point):      8x800-5, 3x800-9, 2x802-5

In checking/NDT:           3x800-5                                      total 16

For other reasons:          2x800-5, 1x802-9                         total 3

From what we've seen, the jacking point cracks don't go far enough round any piece to allow it to drop off. So it would not have been so hard to convince yourself that they can all run safely. Jacking the train, now that's a different proposition. And that logic would not lead to a similar conclusion on the yaw damper mounting.

[broadgage]

Yesterday morning, the following were reported as out of service from the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) fleet:

For cracks (mostly yaw bolster rather than jacking point):      8x800-5, 3x800-9, 2x802-5

In checking/NDT:           3x800-5                                      total 16

For other reasons:          2x800-5, 1x802-9                         total 3

From what we've seen, the jacking point cracks don't go far enough round any piece to allow it to drop off. So it would not have been so hard to convince yourself that they can all run safely. Jacking the train, now that's a different proposition. And that logic would not lead to a similar conclusion on the yaw damper mounting.

Thanks for the update.
From the above, it seems to me that the 13 units stopped for cracks are unlikely to return to service this year as repairs are not even planned as yet.

The 3 units stopped for examination may or may not return to service depending on what is found.

The other 3 units stopped for unrelated reasons will presumably return to use, it does however seem a reasonable supposition that other units will from time to time be stopped for unrelated reasons, and the number of such might tend to remain broadly similar.

The most optimistic forecast that could reasonably be made from the above is therefore
13 units stopped long term, probably for the rest of the year at least.
3 units returned to use after examinations.
3 units returned to service after unrelated issues dealt with.
OPTIMISTIC forecast, long term lack of 13 units.

A more realistic forecast based on the above data would be.
13 units stopped for cracks for the rest of this year.
Of the three units stopped for examination, one returns to service, other two stopped long term.
3 units stopped for unrelated reasons, return to service, BUT other units suffer unrelated  issues, with an average of 3 stopped at any one time.
MEDIUM FORECAST a long lack of about 18 units, varying slightly due to random unrelated faults and varying times to repair.

A reasonably pessimistic forecast would be
About 18 units out of use long term as above.
And about one unit a month withdrawn in addition due to cracks worsening.
18 units short to begin with, rising to about 25 units short by the end of the year.
About 25 units short for most of NEXT year as repairs slower than expected and only keep up with new failures.

Comments ?

[IndustryInsider]

Well, supply will certainly fluctuate on a day to day basis.  With good availability, like today where there seems to be more carriages in services rather than less, then the current timetable can be provided as advertised.  I’m sure we all hope there are more good days than bad days.

The effect of the longer term repair programme remains to be seen.  And there are a lot of other unknowns, principally what levels passenger ridership return to.  Without social distancing rules there is an awful lot of extra capacity that could be soaked up - I haven’t personally been on a train where the passenger count exceeded 150 people since the pandemic started.

[IndustryInsider]

A lovely bank holiday weekend is over.

The first true test of the railway’s ability to handle quite large passenger numbers in 2021 with social distancing in place.  Sure, numbers were down on pre-COVID levels, but we’re still pretty high.

I was pleased, as I’m sure everyone else was, that IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) availability was good throughout the weekend, especially on the key route down to the West Country.

Friday saw a few Bristol<>Paddington’s run as 5-cars. 

Saturday saw no short forms, and a couple of long forms on Swansea trains.  Connected with the football?

Sunday saw a handful of short forms, including a small number of WoE services, and that was also the case on the Monday.

Overall, pretty good though.

Does anyone have any horror stories to report?  My observations were largely based on JourneyCheck, which we all know cannot always be relied upon to be accurate, though it does generally paint a worse picture than is the case on the ground.

On Friday I wanted to get one of the short formed Bristol to London trains at Didcot, but as it pulled in virtually all seats were taken. I could have stood on my own in one of the vestibules, but decided to wait for the following train a few minutes later.  That turned out to be one of the 8-car 387s where I had the carriage to myself at the front...though it was quite a lot busier at the back.

[TaplowGreen]

Quite a few short formations today by the looks of it?

[broadgage]

Looking at the degree of congestion on the roads, I suspect that many drove to the West country rather than take the train.

Some were still probably thinking of the advice "do not travel by train" issued when the cracks were discovered.
Others were probably still thinking of the risks of catching covid on public transport.

And of course a lot have perhaps previously used the train for holiday travel and vowed "never again" after some of the experiences reported elsewhere on these forums.

And finally it is not just me whom considers the new trains to be worse than the old ones, and to be something best avoided. Look on trip advisor to see what people think.

Train travel is often considered to be hugely expensive, very complex, and increasingly uncomfortable. Driving meanwhile gets cheaper.

[stuving]

Quite a few short formations today by the looks of it?

Note that roughly a quarter of those are IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train), the rest are smaller DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit).

[broadgage]

Quite a few short formations today by the looks of it?

Note that roughly a quarter of those are IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train), the rest are smaller DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit).

Yes, but I suspect that many of the non IET short forms may be an INDIRECT result of IET non availability. For example a turbo being used in place of a cracked IET, resulting in a shortage of units for branch line or secondary services.
Several short forms are reported as being 3 car instead of 5 car, these I suspect to be turbos instead of IETs, resulting in short formation of whatever would have been worked by the turbo.

[IndustryInsider]

Several short forms are reported as being 3 car instead of 5 car, these I suspect to be turbos instead of IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train), resulting in short formation of whatever would have been worked by the turbo.

Which ones are (or were) listed as 3 vice 5?  I can’t see any.