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GWR Turbo cascade progress to Bristol region services

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83G/84D

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Slightly off topic but I have not seen 150001 or 150002 in the Plymouth or Cornwall area in recent weeks. Does anyone know where they have been operating recently?
 
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PHILIPE

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Slightly off topic but I have not seen 150001 or 150002 in the Plymouth or Cornwall area in recent weeks. Does anyone know where they have been operating recently?

Devon Metro most of the time. Since 153s left GWR they can replace a 143/150 + 153 formation. They tend to have a trip to Bristol at the week end..
 

83G/84D

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Thanks, thought that might be the case. Very few diagrams for 150’s on the Cornish main line especially at weekends. Only saw three sets all day yesterday.
 

TJDevon

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Are we now at the stage where no more Turbos will move to Bristol until the Flex trains are operational at Reading - whenever that might be?
Any 166s now left at Reading?
 

JN114

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Are we now at the stage where no more Turbos will move to Bristol until the Flex trains are operational at Reading - whenever that might be?
Any 166s now left at Reading?

In theory, although there may be swaps as to which units are where.

Currently (or at least last weekend when I was last in the office...) 201, 202 and 204 are all plying their trade in the Thames Valley.
 

Parallel

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Currently on a rammed 166 on the Cardiff to Portsmouth corridor. Air conditioning has failed, window hoppers closed and short formed to 3 coaches (missing the 165 so absolutely packed and the guard can’t get through) due to I presume ‘A fault on this train’ (usually the standard reason given for short forms) - Will things ever get better on this route? :(
 

pompeyfan

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Currently on a rammed 166 on the Cardiff to Portsmouth corridor. Air conditioning has failed, window hoppers closed and short formed to 3 coaches (missing the 165 so absolutely packed and the guard can’t get through) due to I presume ‘A fault on this train’ (usually the standard reason given for short forms) - Will anything ever get better on this route? :(

Ah, but we’ve got all those extra seats that no one can fit in!!

If it wasn’t for the dodgy bridge on the Netley road, ‘Castle’ style 2+4/5 HSTs would have been ideal.
 

Parallel

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Ah, but we’ve got all those extra seats that no one can fit in!!

If it wasn’t for the dodgy bridge on the Netley road, ‘Castle’ style 2+4/5 HSTs would have been ideal.

All the seats were occupied but other than by the doors, Turbos offer very poor standing capacity. It wouldn’t surprise me if the overall combined seated & standing capacity was higher on a 3 car 158 with more people being able to cram into the aisles and near the toilets.
 

physics34

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Not sure if its anything to do with this thread but 165104 passed me at Bushley earlier, southbound.
 

Pete_uk

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When these get refurbished, will they put in NICE and comfortable 2x2 seating? They would be VERY nice units then.
 

PHILIPE

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When these get refurbished, will they put in NICE and comfortable 2x2 seating? They would be VERY nice units then.

No. DFT have vetoed it due to their obsession with counting and provision of seats and putting this ahead of customer comfort.
 

Flinn Reed

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I don’t find the doors too bad, it’s made up for by how quickly the external doors open. However they are definitely commuter trains, unlike the 158s which have interiors that seem more intercity than the 800s, and I’m not sure that a commuter interior is what Cardiff-Portsmouth services need.
Perhaps some of the 165s/166s could have been more suitable for Devon/Cornwall local services, with 158s retained on the longer-distance Wessex main line services?
 

Flinn Reed

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Which services in the Bristol area still use class 150s, 158s or 255s (rather than 165s/166s)?
 

swt_passenger

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Perhaps some of the 165s/166s could have been more suitable for Devon/Cornwall local services, with 158s retained on the longer-distance Wessex main line services?
They didn’t have anything like enough 158s to increase the length to 5 car though...
 

jmbill

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An interesting news article on the Cornwall Railway Society website (dated 30th May 2019) in a post about Cowley Bridge. Mention is made about the cancelled testing of 165s in Devon during May. Supposedly there was overnight testing planned all the way west to Plymouth, including the Barnstable, Exmouth and Paignton lines.

http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/latest-input--news--old-pictures-etc/30th-may-2019

I know a Turbo has done an Exeter run at least once in recent times. But I was surprised to hear GWR were already giving consideration towards imminent running of Turbos in Devon and Cornwall. I was under the impression Bristol was very DMU depleted and it would be several years before Turbos would be available or ever needed west of Taunton?
 

PHILIPE

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An interesting news article on the Cornwall Railway Society website (dated 30th May 2019) in a post about Cowley Bridge. Mention is made about the cancelled testing of 165s in Devon during May. Supposedly there was overnight testing planned all the way west to Plymouth, including the Barnstable, Exmouth and Paignton lines.

http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/latest-input--news--old-pictures-etc/30th-may-2019

I know a Turbo has done an Exeter run at least once in recent times. But I was surprised to hear GWR were already giving consideration towards imminent running of Turbos in Devon and Cornwall. I was under the impression Bristol was very DMU depleted and it would be several years before Turbos would be available or ever needed west of Taunton?

In fact, a Turbo had a daily working to Exeter during High Summer last year.
 

Parallel

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Route clearance plans including west of Plymouth have been known for some years, (although they’re perhaps running a bit late), but there should be little surprise that Penzance and certain branches were included.

There’s a list from 2018 here:
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...l-region-services.146681/page-18#post-3479316
Thank you for posting that. Interesting that Gunnislake and St Ives are included but Falmouth is not. I would’ve thought Falmouth would have been the easiest to clear due to longer Class 158 stock having worked there previously.
 

Parallel

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It looks like the 06:00 Portsmouth to Cardiff has now gone over to Turbo operation. Plus, we’re only on the second day of said operation and the service has been short formed from 5 coaches to 3 (no 165) Train is wedged. Service was previously booked 158 with 150 strengthening from Westbury (when it was available)
 

pompeyfan

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It looks like the 06:00 Portsmouth to Cardiff has now gone over to Turbo operation. Plus, we’re only on the second day of said operation and the service has been short formed from 5 coaches to 3 (no 165) Train is wedged. Service was previously booked 158 with 150 strengthening from Westbury (when it was available)

Since when? last week it was a 158
 

supervc-10

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Well if today (18/6/19) is the first day of operation, and @Parallel says it's the 2nd day of operation, then presumably it started yesterday (17/6/19)! :lol:

I'm very much in 2 minds about the use of the Turbos on this route. It badly needs the capacity, but at the same time, 3+2 commuter trains for potentially very long journeys isn't really acceptable. Longer 158s would have been preferable IMO, but would still be struggling with capacity and dwell times. Ah well. I'd personally prefer a seat on a 166 than standing (or being left behind!) on a 158!
 

PHILIPE

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It looks like the 06:00 Portsmouth to Cardiff has now gone over to Turbo operation. Plus, we’re only on the second day of said operation and the service has been short formed from 5 coaches to 3 (no 165) Train is wedged. Service was previously booked 158 with 150 strengthening from Westbury (when it was available)

A Turbo finishes up at Fratton the night before instead of a 158 means it has to work a Fratton starter the next morning as simple as that. Anything can happen to cause a swap.
 

Tim456

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GWR should be providing new trains for all its services.
I think we’d all like to see that. The question is who is going to pay for them?

Do I think the Turbos are ideal replacements for the 158s on the Cardiff-Portsmouth line? Not really, but they do bring with them the extra capacity desperately needed on this line.

I think if you were to ask most passengers getting a seat would be high on their list of priorities.
 

bastien

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I think we’d all like to see that. The question is who is going to pay for them?
Perhaps we could use the same Magic Financing Tree that's enabling SWR to replace brand-new trains with even newer ones?
 
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