GWR Class 800

[Mag_seven]

Well seeing as an 800 has been to Penzance presumably these are paperwork issues rather than major physical problems?

There can still be gauging restrictions that prohibit "loaded trains" which will need to be sorted before it can carry passengers on the route concerned. Empty trains ("Tare" to use the parlance) may not be subject to those restrictions hence the reason why empty Class 800's have visited Penzance.

 

[83G/84D]

Well seeing as an 800 has been to Penzance presumably these are paperwork issues rather than major physical problems?

More than paperwork issues although I don’t know the extent of the issues and what it will take to resolve them.

AFAIK the issues apply to loaded and empty trains as special working arrangements were used for all of the previous runs.

 

[ainsworth74]

Interesting. Thanks

 

[jimm]

Not strictly Class 800 news but Hitachi and GWR held a media event at Pistoia in Italy today to show off the first Class 802s built there

Meridian News story and video report here http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2018-02-09/ciao-new-high-speed-trains-coming-from-italy/

BBC South Today 6.30pm bulletin should be appearing here shortly http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09qlc16

Hitachi press release http://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/hitach...ampaign=Subscription&utm_content=current_news

 

[Typhoon_93]

Quite an impressive sight tonight is 5X81 Aycliffe to Doncaster 800302+801201 18cars..

 

[Sean Emmett]

Evening out in Weston by IET. But 18.20 ex BRI caped so got 150s instead. On 21.34 WSM BRI. 800 029/010. Not going well. 9 min stop at Weston Milton. Now stopped before Worle Jn. Chances of making Severn Beach line connection?!

 

[PHILIPE]

Evening out in Weston by IET. But 18.20 ex BRI caped so got 150s instead. On 21.34 WSM BRI. 800 029/010. Not going well. 9 min stop at Weston Milton. Now stopped before Worle Jn. Chances of making Severn Beach line connection?!

First one in the morning ?

 

[deltic08]

That’s quite something for a train company where Virgin effectively only has naming rights!

10% is 10% just for a brand name. Easy money straight into Branson's pocket. Stagecoach should be more careful who they get into bed with.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not strictly Class 800 news but Hitachi and GWR held a media event at Pistoia in Italy today to show off the first Class 802s built there

I really hope Hitachi has been able to do something about the serious quality problem that the previous owner of that factory suffered from.

 

[deltic08]

We’re going way off topic but while DOR made money for the DfT; it’s nowhere near the sums NXEC were due to pay the DfT in franchise premiums over the same period.

You said it. DOR made money for the DfT, with much lower fares than Virgin. NXEC should have done but didn't. That must tell you something about the way our railways are being run purely due to Tory dogma and Labour intransigence.

 

[Sean Emmett]

First one in the morning ?

Just made connection. Thx to GWR staff. Not just me.

Apparently fault with our train, but no more info than that.

 

[Sean Emmett]

0645 BRI SWA 800 025/024. My first IET up Filton bank.
Tad under 59 mph on 1:75.
Betw 150 and 158 performance.

 

[jimm]

I really hope Hitachi has been able to do something about the serious quality problem that the previous owner of that factory suffered from.

No, I'm sure they won't have known a thing about any of that and have done nothing at all as a result...

Here's a short extract from an article in International Railway Journal from the start of last year.

The integration of AnsaldoBreda into Hitachi under the HRI brand has been a key focus for Hitachi over the last year. Given its troubled recent history, Dormer is pleased with the progress AnsaldoBreda has made in restoring its business, a process which he points out was already underway before the takeover by Hitachi.

“When we looked at AnsaldoBreda four years ago we decided that it wasn’t right for Hitachi,” Dormer explains. “There were two reasons for this. One was that AnsaldoBreda was a bit of a mess and secondly, I don’t think Hitachi Rail was strong enough from a leadership point of view in Europe at that time. However, when we went back two years ago and had another look, we saw quite a transformation in the business. They still had their legacy problems - IC4 in Denmark and V250 in Belgium and the Netherlands were disastrous projects - but they were building ETR 1000 [high-speed trains] for Trenitalia in a very successful joint venture with Bombardier.”

http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/rolling-stock/hitachi-builds-momentum-in-global-market.html

 

[Bessie]

I'm sure Hitachi have got quality control sorted but it will be interesting in due course to compare reliability of the fleets. Hopefully both will be top notch.

 

[Pete_uk]

The ITV video thumbnail shows sections of welding along what looks like a seam between the floor and wall section. Is that going to be fully welded continuously?

 

[Sean Emmett]

800 008/022 just dep BRI to PAD ECS as no train manager for 1100 dep. All pax turfed off onto 1130 HST incl me.
On Fri my Weston IET was cancelled too.
Getting beyond a joke.

 

[superkev]

I really hope Hitachi has been able to do something about the serious quality problem that the previous owner of that factory suffered from.

Isn't it a shame Hitachi saw fit to invest in a stir welding line in Italy rather than Newton Wycliffe. Brexit perhaps?
K

 

[bastien]

Isn't it a shame Hitachi saw fit to invest in a stir welding line in Italy rather than Newton Wycliffe. Brexit perhaps?
K

It's normal welding in Italy though, as in the machine that was already there when they bought the factory. At least, that's what I remember the post somewhere up there ^ said.

 

[jimm]

Pistoia has a MIG welding facility

Unlike Newton Aycliffe, Pistoia has machine-controlled welding equipment and body jigs as part of its production line for the ETR1000 Trenitalia high-speed trains. It can therefore build its own bodyshells from sets of ‘flat-pack’ panels manufactured at Kasado using friction stir-welding (FSW), a process which gives a weld essentially the same composition as the parent metal with minimal heat distortion. Pistoia does not yet have this FSW technology and so uses MIG welding.

https://www.railengineer.uk/2017/07/04/take-a-look-around-hitachis-pistoia-train-production-plant/

 

[snowball]

Incidentally stir-fry welding (as I call it) was invented in the UK:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction_stir_welding

 

[superalbs]

800 008/022 just dep BRI to PAD ECS as no train manager for 1100 dep. All pax turfed off onto 1130 HST incl me.
On Fri my Weston IET was cancelled too.
Getting beyond a joke.

I too was on that. Very annoyed because it killed off my plans for the day. Went up to Worcester, and oh look the one I planned to catch there is cancelled too. Both due to staffing issues. I think I have had more failures at getting 800s now than I have had successes. So pretty good of a train.

 

[Wychwood93]

I too was on that. Very annoyed because it killed off my plans for the day. Went up to Worcester, and oh look the one I planned to catch there is cancelled too. Both due to staffing issues. I think I have had more failures at getting 800s now than I have had successes. So pretty good of a train.

'That's life'.......... etc. It only seems like last week when things go somewhat pear shaped and you look on RTT and see that if you had travelled the next day all would have worked well. Hindsight is great but foresight is better!

 

[D1009]

Evening out in Weston by IET. But 18.20 ex BRI caped so got 150s instead. On 21.34 WSM BRI. 800 029/010. Not going well. 9 min stop at Weston Milton. Now stopped before Worle Jn. Chances of making Severn Beach line connection?!

Is 029 the highest numbered one in passenger service? The highest one I've seen is 027, and that was about 3 weeks ago

 

[Sean Emmett]

Is 029 the highest numbered one in passenger service? The highest one I've seen is 027, and that was about 3 weeks ago

I may have scribbled unit numbers down wrongly as chatting to mate at Weston and dashing for connection at T M. Happy to be corrected.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I had 800 029 for haulage yesterday ( 12th ) so yes it is in service.

 

[Butts]

Well if Hitachi Class 800 are the future of Rail - count me out

Travelled from Newport to Swansea 1st Class today and it was somewhat akin to substituting the usual "Parker Knoll" seat for a deckchair !!

I appreciate this thread is 228 pages long and am not sure if this "quality crash" has been mentioned before. Lord knows what it's like in cattle if the ambience and comfort has dropped so far at the upper end.

Luckily return journey was in the "normal conveyance"

Have GWR acknowledged (and how can they fail to concur) that the 1st Class Experience has been dealt a devastating blow moving from Armchairs to Dining Chairs ?

 

[Mag_seven]

Have GWR acknowledged (and how can they fail to concur) that the 1st Class Experience has been dealt a devastating blow moving from Armchairs to Dining Chairs ?

DfT chose the seats not GWR.

 

[Butts]

DfT chose the seats not GWR.

I am not on Twitter but I assume GWR have a twitter account.

Has there been any unfavourable comparison between the existing HST 1st Class and the 800.

It's not nitpicking (is it the elephant in the room?) - the gulf in comfort and space is considerable as I'm sure anyone who has experienced it will attest to.

 

[387star]

I am not on Twitter but I assume GWR have a twitter account.

Has there been any unfavourable comparison between the existing HST 1st Class and the 800.

It's not nitpicking (is it the elephant in the room?) - the gulf in comfort and space is considerable as I'm sure anyone who has experienced it will attest to.

strange that GWR did such a fantastic job on their HST First Class to then downgrade it in spectacular fashion... of course the recent upgrade was a result of reducing first class capacity

Is the dispute regarding buffets over? I presume so

I also understand a TE and a Guard have to be rostered for a double set

 

[PHILIPE]

DfT chose the seats not GWR.

People complain all the time on GWR Twitter re the seats, especially their hardness. GWRs reply by saying "They are ergonomically designed". I keep telling them they are NOT ergonomically designed because the word refers to "comfort"