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TPE Mark 5A coaching stock progress

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samuelmorris

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I'm sure it's not an urgent fault with the running of the coaches; could probably be fixed in no time at all on depot.
I'm sure it probably could but such things always provoke the 'if they can't get that right, what else might they have got wrong?' thoughts. That's really rather embarrassing that the unit was sealed in place before anyone thought to check if it was the right way up (unless there actually is a text system on that display that can invert the characters, a possibility but I don't see why)
 

Jozhua

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I'm sure it's not an urgent fault with the running of the coaches; could probably be fixed in no time at all on depot.

Oh god they're gonna squeak more than the MK 3's! It'll be interesting to see how the interiors last, especially with the severe TPE overcrowding they'll doubtlessly be subject to :/
 

SP Man

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The destination blind is a software issue that's turned the writing around (believe it's something to do with it being sent to the 68 and needs to be flipped but it's flipped the other end as well). It's being turned back to allow time at MID to do changes. The systems are being improved and little tweaks needed. I understand that they need to be in service quickly to alleviate overcrowding but personally I would rather they be tested and modified to allow them to give a long service.
 

43055

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3H22 ran over 365 minutes early again today after the run from Carlisle terminated early at Crewe for the third day in a row, I caught up with it at Gatley as it returned to Manchester International Depot. It was again 68032 along with set TP09, I will add in more images shortly when I've edited and uploaded them.

Nice video. Is it me or do the headlights look like they are flashing?
 

notlob.divad

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Nice video. Is it me or do the headlights look like they are flashing?
All super bright LED based headlights do that when filmed. It is the timing of the camera shutter/sampling and the super fast LED flashes. If you film a modern car with LED headlights you will get the same. The same effect gives you the scrolling lines on old cathode ray computer screens and makes it appear the wheels of a car are going backwards.
 

notlob.divad

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The destination blind is a software issue that's turned the writing around (believe it's something to do with it being sent to the 68 and needs to be flipped but it's flipped the other end as well). It's being turned back to allow time at MID to do changes. The systems are being improved and little tweaks needed. I understand that they need to be in service quickly to alleviate overcrowding but personally I would rather they be tested and modified to allow them to give a long service.
Quite. Its commissioning bugs. People want these trains in service, is it not better they get their accumulation miles to find the more serious ones (Brake issues i'm looking at you) rather than worrying about a unit with the text display the wrong way up. It is just a pixel mapping, plenty of time to sort that out.
 

Spartacus

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Quite, I'm sure I've seen 158s in service with the destination showing upside down.
 

Skie

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Does the display indicate they may be thinking about re-opening Downholland station?

/gets coat.
 

Ben Bow

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Looks like today's runs are cancelled completely, if they were ever planned to run at all. So after a week of mileage accumulation, we seem to be back at square one then with zero fault free mileage accumulated. Time is ticking away if 2 sets are to be introduced from May.
 

The_Train

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Looks like today's runs are cancelled completely, if they were ever planned to run at all. So after a week of mileage accumulation, we seem to be back at square one then with zero fault free mileage accumulated. Time is ticking away if 2 sets are to be introduced from May.

It's hardly being 'back at square one is it? As you say, there has been a week of mileage accumulation so we are now well beyond being at square one. Maybe TPE have a schedule that includes 4 days of running followed by a 3 day weekend where the units are used for static training or in the depot for their maintenance team to get their teeth into things. Or maybe TPE have been reading this forum and decided that getting the destination board right is much more important than fault free testing :|

I get that these units are much needed on TPE routes, particularly for those who travel daily during the morning/evening rush. However, I think some people are enjoying the fact that TPE have had some issues as it gives them something to moan about (this part of my response is a general one and not aimed specifically at @Ben Bow by the way). I remember posting on my football teams forum many moons ago, and there were certain people who used to thrive on a defeat and seemed disappointed when (on the odd occasion) we won and this reminds me of that.
 

samuelmorris

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It's hardly being 'back at square one is it? As you say, there has been a week of mileage accumulation so we are now well beyond being at square one. Maybe TPE have a schedule that includes 4 days of running followed by a 3 day weekend where the units are used for static training or in the depot for their maintenance team to get their teeth into things. Or maybe TPE have been reading this forum and decided that getting the destination board right is much more important than fault free testing :|

I get that these units are much needed on TPE routes, particularly for those who travel daily during the morning/evening rush. However, I think some people are enjoying the fact that TPE have had some issues as it gives them something to moan about (this part of my response is a general one and not aimed specifically at @Ben Bow by the way). I remember posting on my football teams forum many moons ago, and there were certain people who used to thrive on a defeat and seemed disappointed when (on the odd occasion) we won and this reminds me of that.
I think the point being made was that if the runs were cancelled for a technical issue, the miles covered aren't 'fault-free' therefore the fault free mileage count is still 0. Whether this is actually the case or not, I don't know. Arguably, even if the counter is still at 0 but faults have been revealed, that is still progress, just not as fast as people would like.
 

krus_aragon

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All super bright LED based headlights do that when filmed. It is the timing of the camera shutter/sampling and the super fast LED flashes. If you film a modern car with LED headlights you will get the same. The same effect gives you the scrolling lines on old cathode ray computer screens and makes it appear the wheels of a car are going backwards.
With LEDs, it's the use of pulse-width modulation to vary the brightness of the LED (even though it is only ever On or Off at any particular moment).
 

The_Train

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I think the point being made was that if the runs were cancelled for a technical issue, the miles covered aren't 'fault-free' therefore the fault free mileage count is still 0. Whether this is actually the case or not, I don't know.

But do we know for sure that any units have had to reset the fault free running mileage back to zero? Or are we just assuming that because some test runs have been curtailed early that there must be a problem with the unit?

Arguably, even if the counter is still at 0 but faults have been revealed, that is still progress, just not as fast as people would like.

Precisely this and this makes the above points irrelevant in a sense. The whole point of testing is to locate any potential issues that could cause problems when in service and get them corrected so everything runs smoothly when passengers do indeed get to use them.
 

samuelmorris

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But do we know for sure that any units have had to reset the fault free running mileage back to zero? Or are we just assuming that because some test runs have been curtailed early that there must be a problem with the unit?
I believe the latter, in lack of any factual evidence.
 

InOban

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What counts as a fault for 'fault-free' running? I wouldn't count an upside down destination board since the train could operate perfectly well with no destination board.
 

Bertie the bus

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It's hardly being 'back at square one is it? As you say, there has been a week of mileage accumulation so we are now well beyond being at square one. Maybe TPE have a schedule that includes 4 days of running followed by a 3 day weekend where the units are used for static training or in the depot for their maintenance team to get their teeth into things. Or maybe TPE have been reading this forum and decided that getting the destination board right is much more important than fault free testing :|
Nothing that is happening has anything to do with TPE and nor are they calling the shots. TPE won't accept the trains until they have completed their requisite fault free running mileage. CAF are responsible for them until then and Freightliner are providing the drivers.

As for whether the fault was due to the destination board, that comment was almost certainly made in jest.
Precisely this and this makes the above points irrelevant in a sense. The whole point of testing is to locate any potential issues that could cause problems when in service and get them corrected so everything runs smoothly when passengers do indeed get to use them.
Fault free running isn't testing. They've been testing them, if you include that done at Velim, for about 1 year now. Fault free running is - we've tested them and now we just need to go through the formalities of handing them over, therefore if every run is curtailed due to faults there is no way that can be considered progress or viewed in a positive way.
 

SP Man

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No fault with unit today, unfortunately last minute driver sickness.
No major issues with them mostly little software tweaks. Paths are in if needed, sometimes it returns not due to faults but for other reasons. Once the first couple get completed I would suspect the others will go through much quicker as the tweaks have been ironed out.
 

The_Train

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Nothing that is happening has anything to do with TPE and nor are they calling the shots. TPE won't accept the trains until they have completed their requisite fault free running mileage. CAF are responsible for them until then and Freightliner are providing the drivers.

I made a similar point a while back about this having nothing to do with TPE and I was shot down by those who want to jump on the 'everything is TPEs fault' bandwagon. Believe me I fully understand the process of the acceptance of a product. Maybe these people who think CAF should have done everything before shipping them to the UK should ask a car salesperson if they will conduct 4000 miles of testing on a car they want to buy before they accept it.

As for whether the fault was due to the destination board, that comment was almost certainly made in jest.

Yes it was and a little dig at those turning this into such a big deal.

Fault free running isn't testing. They've been testing them, if you include that done at Velim, for about 1 year now. Fault free running is - we've tested them and now we just need to go through the formalities of handing them over, therefore if every run is curtailed due to faults there is no way that can be considered progress or viewed in a positive way.

You seem to be very defensive against my posts which are supposed to be in defence of the process TPE are taking. However, I would argue that fault free running is still a form of testing. It is still a test of the unit to ensure it runs smoothly over a set amount of mileage.

And why can't finding faults be a sign of progress? I would suggest that finding an issue and correcting it is a step closer to getting the fault free mileage complete and getting it into service
 

nicolaboo

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At the rate of the above accumulation, (I could walk 500 miles seemingly quicker than a Nova3 can be put into service), of 500 miles already done in a day - 4,500 for the initial sets could be easily achieved within a fortnight.
Therefore the first two sets could have done that by mid-Feb, from this point.
Could the supposed two initial set to run the Liverpool - Scarborough, be called as done by this point and be accepted over for driver/route training, or are TPE waiting until the whole fleet has clocked up their fault-free running before taking them (and their costs) on board?
 

Bertie the bus

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You seem to be very defensive against my posts which are supposed to be in defence of the process TPE are taking. However, I would argue that fault free running is still a form of testing. It is still a test of the unit to ensure it runs smoothly over a set amount of mileage.

And why can't finding faults be a sign of progress? I would suggest that finding an issue and correcting it is a step closer to getting the fault free mileage complete and getting it into service
I'm not being defensive at all. All I'm doing is pointing out everything you have said is rose tinted glasses stuff and bears no relation to reality.
 

The_Train

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I'm not being defensive at all. All I'm doing is pointing out everything you have said is rose tinted glasses stuff and bears no relation to reality.

But my point was supposed to defend TPE and the process they are undertaking against those people on here continually moaning about 'delays'. Maybe I didn't come across as I was meant to :s
 

Ben Bow

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Why the need to "defend" TPE? They are but interested bystanders in the current process. TPE's actions can be judged when they actually receive a fully commissioned set and the ball is then in firmly their court, so to speak. TPE are doing what they can in the meantime, they are well on with crew training on class 68 locomotives for example, but until the stock is at a point where it can be handed over, there is a limit to what they can do. I imagine there is huge pressure on CAF to get the Caledonian Sleeper fleet into service as they are even more delayed than the TPE mk.5's.
 

Sleeperwaking

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Fault free running isn't testing. They've been testing them, if you include that done at Velim, for about 1 year now. Fault free running is - we've tested them and now we just need to go through the formalities of handing them over, therefore if every run is curtailed due to faults there is no way that can be considered progress or viewed in a positive way.

Fault free running is supposed to "shake" out all the little issues you wouldn't necessarily find otherwise. You can cycle a door 1000 times with a unit static in a factory or depot and it'll work fine, then run 250 miles using a normal service stopping pattern and find that suddenly it doesn't work anymore. If the faults are fixed and don't re-occur, that sounds like progress to me (although not ideal). If it's always the same fault, then not. Inasmuch that it is supposed to identify things that weren't picked up via the other tests, FFR feels like a test to me. It's not a formality, it's a critical part of train acceptance.
 

AndrewE

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Why the need to "defend" TPE? They are but interested bystanders in the current process.
Except that they are not blameless. They committed to running MkIII loco-hauled stock as an interim measure and just haven't bothered to do it. If they had there would have been 2 longer l/h trains and 2 DMUs running as 2x3-cars for a year or more now, plus drivers and guards familiar with working locos and coaches and only needing conversions to different stock when it finally arrives.
 

Ben Bow

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Indeed, TPE have made plenty of mistakes, and they are ultimately responsible for choosing CAF to supply the coaches. However in terms of the current process, if a freightliner driver going sick caused today's runs to be cancelled for example, then that is completely outwith their control. Given the length of time spent at Velim on test it is surprising, and disappointing, that issues are still being found getting on for a year later.
 

Kyle Allsopp

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Transpennine Express Nova 3+DRS Class 68 No.68032 at Carlisle with a Milage accumulation run

Please have a look at the video of the set at Carlisle
 

sprinterguy

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Transpennine Express Nova 3+DRS Class 68 No.68032 at Carlisle with a Milage accumulation run

Please have a look at the video of the set at Carlisle
Nice video, thanks for posting. Gives the opportunity for a good look at the coaching stock.

It's great to see TPE 'playing' with proper grown-up trains rather than dinky diesel units now. :smile: Their entry into service really can't come soon enough.
 
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