Problems with IET trains from April 2021

[whole diary]

[infoman]

Just a thought on salt,I noticed over the years platform staff never brushed  snow onto the tracks any more.
The snow is now brushed away from the platform edges.
In the not much electric days of engines and coache's(STEAM) the snow from the platforms and the tracks would just collect underneath and eventually melt and drop off
Now with so much electrics I presume network MIGHT have isued a directive that snow is not now allowed to be brushed onto the tracks

[bradshaw]

Article on the Cl 800 problems on the Modern Railways website with more detail to come in the June edition

https://www.keymodernrailways.com/article/hitachi-800-series-trains-cracks?utm_campaign=KMR%20Social&utm_content=167326488&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-385365654

[ray951]

Article on the Cl 800 problems on the Modern Railways website with more detail to come in the June edition

https://www.keymodernrailways.com/article/hitachi-800-series-trains-cracks?utm_campaign=KMR%20Social&utm_content=167326488&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-385365654

and also 'Stress corrosion causes class 800 cracks'
https://www.keymodernrailways.com/article/stress-corrosion-cause-series-800-cracks

[Lee]

Sir Humphrey to Grant Shapps:

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

[grahame]

At the risk of re-igniting a thread that's just dampened down ... do I note that a few of the London - Swindon - Gloucester - Cheltenham services are still "canned" between London and Swindon ... looks like a mixture of shuttle and London services.

[IndustryInsider]

At the risk of re-igniting a thread that's just dampened down ... do I note that a few of the London - Swindon - Gloucester - Cheltenham services are still "canned" between London and Swindon ... looks like a mixture of shuttle and London services.

Yes, I must admit I hadn't spotted that, but they are all running as advertised on the timetable for the route, B7, so again that was the plan before the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) availability problems.

Roughly every three hours off-peak a train only runs between Cheltenham and Swindon, giving a total of 4 circuits per day.  This shuttle is booked to be worked by an IET - it's 9-car 800305 today.

Mark Hopwood did tell staff to expect IET availability to fluctuate a bit, but that there was a plan to deal with that - the logical step would be to replace those IET shuttles with a DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) to release another unit, or replace more of the through services on the route with a shuttle if more than one is needed.  Not ideal for Golden Valley customers, but the obvious sacrificial lamb after the Bedwyn service.

[grahame]

Roughly every three hours off-peak a train only runs between Cheltenham and Swindon, giving a total of 4 circuits per day.  This shuttle is booked to be worked by an IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) - it's 9-car 800305 today.

Ironically, the formation change (in a broadgage-positive direction - its l-o-n-g-e-r!) is what flagged it up for me - I hadn't noticed either!

16:30 Swindon to Cheltenham Spa due 17:31
Facilities on the 16:30 Swindon to Cheltenham Spa due 17:31.
Will be formed of 9 coaches instead of 5.

[Lee]

"broadgage-positive" - Now there's a slogan with legs 

[TaplowGreen]

90 shortforms listed today (to be fair in amongst them are a couple of "long forms"!)

[Timmer]

90 shortforms listed today (to be fair in amongst them are a couple of "long forms"!)

Is this a one off Saturday or a sign of things to come at weekends?

Could become troublesome, particularly on services to/from the South West if this continues into the summer. Let’s hope not.

[TaplowGreen]

90 shortforms listed today (to be fair in amongst them are a couple of "long forms"!)

Is this a one off Saturday or a sign of things to come at weekends?

Could become troublesome, particularly on services to/from the South West if this continues into the summer. Let’s hope not.

Indeed, especially with the long weekend and the first school holiday (half term) coming up where meaningful travel will be permitted.

BBQ season approaching too which will probably have the usual effect on Sundays with staff (non) availability.

[IndustryInsider]

Yes it’s critical that the weekend service has as few short forms as possible, especially on the WoE services and tourist hotspots like Bath.

I don’t think Sunday staffing will be quite as big an issue as usual this year.  The lack of additional shifts during the week for those who like to work them up until now has meant additional Sunday’s are like gold dust and swooped upon quickly if they become available!

[stuving]

90 shortforms listed today (to be fair in amongst them are a couple of "long forms"!)

Is this a one off Saturday or a sign of things to come at weekends?

Could become troublesome, particularly on services to/from the South West if this continues into the summer. Let’s hope not.

I think it means rather less than you imagine. I noted a huge number of short (and long) formations (about 80, I think) on Monday 17th, but later this week I found none on occasions. Now, that wasn't due to a huge rise in stock availability, was it? Some recovery was to be expected, with a few extra units being checked and reassessed, and ways being found to get more of the standard plan to still work, but all off them? I can think of a more likely explanation.

First, what are these planned lengths? (I note that JourneyCheck's wording sneakily avoids labelling them as normal or anything else!) They are not in the timetable, and don't need to be fixed when the timetable is worked out (I think - except perhaps where a path imposes a limit of length less than some trains that operate). They must be in another part of the operations plan that is used, essentially, within the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company).

So I reckon the sudden loss of short forms last week must mean that the reference "normal" lengths based on the modified operations plan (including the timetable, but also stock diagrams, staff rosters, and more) were loaded into whatever feeds JouneyCheck. And the reason we are back with about 80 of them again will mean that they haven't loaded these numbers for Saturday (yet).

Incidentally, I've always thought reporting train lengths this way was a bit odd, because the "normal" length isn't published anywhere. The information can still be useful, if you are a regular (even, in a few cases, one who remotely monitors train lengths on Tiger!), or if you assume the planned length matches demand. Of course it doesn't always, and if there's enough choice which unit to "borrow" then the shortened train may be the one that needs it least. But that's all guesses, and really for most of us it's a hint rather hint a clear guide.

[stuving]

PS: to the above - that's rather an engineer's answer, isn't it? An operations manager would say "I switched that bit off as it wasn't showing anything useful". That's as good a response, and more likely as an explanation!

[TaplowGreen]

90 shortforms listed today (to be fair in amongst them are a couple of "long forms"!)

Is this a one off Saturday or a sign of things to come at weekends?

Could become troublesome, particularly on services to/from the South West if this continues into the summer. Let’s hope not.

Well, "only" 45 shortforms listed today, including some of the usually very busy Devon/Cornwall to London Sunday afternoon services, but an improvement on yesterday in this respect I guess.