Entire 800/801/802 fleet stood down for safety checks

[dk1]

LNER have done very well today with only a handful of cancellations.

 

[Jamesrob637]

That's most likely - take a hit today to get things into place for a dependable service from.Monday.

Fine under more normal circumstances but Sunday travel has picked up just as much as, if not a little more than Monday travel.

 

[RPI]

If it's anything like my TOC, you are bubbled with the other person, PCR test to enter the bubble and regular lateral flow tests to remain in it. I imagine GWR will be along the same lines, certainly won't be a free for all. People can meet indoors for work but employers should be making the environment as covid-safe as possible. I think though that you are suggesting in a more social way so no you can't. 17th May is when you you will be able to meet indoors.

Also, social distancing is still meant to be observed, this can be difficult in the cabs of certain trains

 

[Bounds Green]

I’d say that’s more than a crack!!!!!!

 

[Annetts key]

The depot will be full, and at capacity, it will sit there until such time it can be moved to depot to be checked

When I walked past it yesterday, the engines had been left running!

 

[dk1]

I thought we had moved to 2 unrelated indoors in latest Covid changes, and it goes upto 6 next week

Rather suggests have moved on from specific bubbles.

The agreement with ASLEF is that two people who are in the same bubble may enter the cab at the same time with all the necessary weekly/daily testing. That hasn’t changed. Social distancing between the two is impossible in cab.

 

[syorksdeano]

If there are plenty of HSTs that could be crewed by GWR staff as far as Reading - then it begs the question why this isn't being done already, then use the Electrostars from Reading to London.

I think most of the HST's look like this now

 

[Ianno87]

Fine under more normal circumstances but Sunday travel has picked up just as much as, if not a little more than Monday travel.

OK, so what should GWR have done better then, given the cirumstances and short notice?

 

[800001]

Lner units founds with cracks

Class 800/1:
800101
800102
800103
800108
800109
800110
800111
800112
800113

Class 800/2
800201
800203
800205
800206
800209

Class 801/1
801102
801108

Class 801/2
801201
801226
801230

 

[357]

Surely wibble. The unions are not going to allow GWR to bring in stuff driven by part time drivers with frankly poor route knowledge when plenty of HSTs around that could be used at least as far as Reading driven and crewed by GWR staff.

I think most of the HST's look like this now

My comments about "If there are so many HSTs available" were in response to the posting by @irish_rail

 

[dk1]

Leisure travel is supposed to be picking up faster than the M-F commuters going back to the "office". There was talk ( somewhere) of moving engineering works - or what ever it is called these days to midweek not to upset the leisure market.

That used to happen a lot in Ireland. Used to make me laugh but was quite sensible when you consider the amount of Friday-Monday passengers on many of their longer distance routes.

 

[millemille]

I’d say that’s more than a crack!!!!!!

Is that not a screen grab of one of the photo's from last month's NIR for the yaw damper bracket? The issue that has grounded the fleets is being reported as cracks in the jacking point/lifting pocket, a different - but possibly related - issue.

Anyone posting photo's needs to be very careful to ensure that they are correct as the media view this website.

 

[170TurboFan]

Lner units founds with cracks

Class 800/1:
800101
800102
800103
800108
800109
800110
800111
800112
800113

Class 800/2
800201
800203
800205
800206
800209

Class 801/1
801102
801108

Class 801/2
801201
801226
801230

Or some could be OOU for regular maintenance. 800209 did make an appearance yesterday AFAIK along with 800101. However 800101 was swapped with 801211 at Doncaster.

Are TPE going to make more use of their sets of class 68 + mark 5A coaches during the current crisis?

I believe they now have the majority of their fleet back with only two not serviceable. Hull Trains have their whole fleet back.

 

[syorksdeano]

I’d say that’s more than a crack!!!!!!

Clearly it is a crack, but to a average passenger (i.e me), I would say that it looks more like cracked paintwork

 

[LordCreed]

It seems that what would once have been Swindon-Cheltenham Turbo services, then extended to London with IETs, has now been curtailed to Swindon-Gloucester, with Turbos again. I understand why it can't run through to London with IETs, but what's the reason for not going all the way to Cheltenham? Is there a broken IET stuck in the reversing siding there, or does it somehow reduce the number of diagrams needed (therefore allowing Turbos to work elsewhere)?

The extension to Cheltenham does provide quite a bit of extra connectivity so I'm surprised it's not been kept.

Swindon - Cheltenham requires 3 units to provide an hourly service. Swindon - Gloucester can be done with 2 units.

 

[robbeech]

That's most likely - take a hit today to get things into place for a dependable service from.Monday.

Who actually takes the hit though. In reality? Who is it? Is it the staff who will be paid? Is it the company who will be paid in penalties? Is it the company who won’t let people use their tickets so are making them buy new flexible ones at several times the price in some cases, as that is NOT a hit, that’s a profit.

I’d say that’s more than a crack!!!!!!

When is a crack more than a crack?

 

[VP185]

10 GWR IET sets were suppose to be available today. Overnight, this has been reduced to 5 IETs.
I suspect it’ll reach a total withdrawal of the entire GWR IET fleet.

 

[adc82140]

Do some people really think that Mark Hopwood is sat in a big leather chair, stroking a cat, saying "I don't want to run any trains, mwahahaha. That'll annoy them"

It's really quite childish.

 

[ScouserGirl]

Do people really think that Mark Hopwood is sat in a big leather chair, stroking a cat, saying "I don't want to run any trains, mwahahaha"

It's really quite childish.

I believe Mark Hopwood isn't a happy man at all. In fact he is furious.

 

[Ianno87]

Who actually takes the hit though. In reality? Who is it? Is it the staff who will be paid? Is it the company who will be paid in penalties? Is it the company who won’t let people use their tickets so are making them buy new flexible ones at several times the price in some cases, as that is NOT a hit, that’s a profit.

I repeat. What. Is. Your. Alternative?

 

[ExRes]

Or perhaps the 'hit' is what peoples bodies will take if one of these cracks causes a massive failure, I'm sure everyone would be oh so pleased that the TOCs involved carried on regardless so as not to cause any inconvenience

 

[py_megapixel]

I think you'll find who is taking the hit. The poor B....dy customers/passengers, who have paid good money out for tickets,as usual.

Still, it's unhelpful to antagonise the TOCs in this way.
Some of them have poor reputations, many of which are deserved. But in this specific case - they really cannot do any better than they are currently.

Do you really think Great Western management is in state of absolute joy about not having to bother with those pesky train things today? Because if they were, then they could easily have just cancelled everything, across the entire network, and used this as an excuse.

The passengers would lose out even more if they put the trains into service and it resulted in a catastrophic failure causing serious injury.

 

[55002]

Lner units founds with cracks

Class 800/1:
800101
800102
800103
800108
800109
800110
800111
800112
800113

Class 800/2
800201
800203
800205
800206
800209

Class 801/1
801102
801108

Class 801/2
801201
801226
801230

so 800 101 was allowed to travel from Inverness to Doncaster yesterday unchecked And crack was found at Carr depot?

 

[robbeech]

I repeat. What. Is. Your. Alternative?

Let people use yesterday’s tickets today, or tomorrow, or up to the 16th like other operators are doing.

passengers have done nothing wrong and they’re being rinsed for hundreds of pounds extra to fix the railways problems. As usual.

The problem exists, we can do nothing about that. There aren’t enough buses and taxis, it would be ridiculous to expect that. But give passengers the option to defer travel on their current tickets and you’ll immediately see less demand today. Tell them if they don’t travel today they can get a refund and but a new ticket for tomorrow, at twice, three times the price, and you’ll get people wanting to travel today.

 

[Ianno87]

Let people use yesterday’s tickets today, or tomorrow, or up to the 16th like other operators are doing.

passengers have done nothing wrong and they’re being rinsed for hundreds of pounds extra to fix the railways problems. As usual.

Although it looks like GWR's disruption is likely to extend well into next week, so perhaps not the most prudent thing to offer with little guarantee that things will be back to normal (as opposed to LNER who are only running a slightly reduced service today)

 

[millemille]

When I was doing my chartership one of my mentors was a very experienced, very well respected, fleet manager who went on to become a TOC ED before he retired.

He gave me three very sage, and in this case apposite, mantras by which to work - as a rolling stock engineer - by.

1. Don't go looking for a problem until you know what you are going to do when you find it.
2. Never assume you've got one problem.
3. Only ground a fleet if you know how you are going to put them back in to service, if you ground them without knowing how to get them back into service it'll be the end of your career in the railway.

Given he'd had to ground two large fleets in his career I took it that he knew of what he spoke....

 

[yorkie]

I repeat. What. Is. Your. Alternative?



Ditto.

Please can people answer that question here: IET's grounded - what would you run?

Thanks!

 

[MadCommuter]

The problem is that as soon as you start advertising a rail replacement bus service, everyone will still decide to travel. The bus will then end up full, and you'd need to start running duplicates. Instead of needing just a few buses, you'd start needing a fleet of them.

Buses need social distancing too, increasing the demand for buses further.

 

[robbeech]

Although it looks like GWR's disruption is likely to extend well into next week, so perhaps not the most prudent thing to offer with little guarantee that things will be back to normal (as opposed to LNER who are only running a slightly reduced service today)

So making the passengers pay for the railway’s failure becomes acceptable then?
This IS the railway attitude it seems.

 

[800001]

so 800 101 was allowed to travel from Inverness to Doncaster yesterday unchecked And crack was found at Carr depot?

I should rephrase my initial post. The units I posted are units with cracks and also under going maintenance. 800101 is not one of the units with cracks.
Apologies for confusion.