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

[dk1]

How is the driving arranged for this sort of thing ? Presumably the 387 drivers wouldn't have route knowledge out to Bristol, so do they need a 2nd driver to handle the route knowledge aspects ?

Wonder how they get round the Covid issue? Would normally have to be in a ‘bubble’ with the 2nd person in the cab if unable to social distance.

 

[Failed Unit]

I see a couple of conflicting (but not mutually exclusive announcements from LNER)

They expect things to improve tomorrow but disruption to last all weekend.

looks like us passengers planning to use bi-modes should still pray.

 

[kez19]

I see a couple of conflicting (but not mutually exclusive announcements from LNER)

They expect things to improve tomorrow but disruption to last all weekend.

looks like us passengers planning to use bi-modes should still pray.

That generally affects me up north as I am led to believe that’s the sets we use, hopefully it’ll improve in the next week or so!

Surely if LNER still has the bi-mode Intercity ie 125 or closest too, they could return in place of Azuma?

 

[Pete_uk]

The upside is an improvement in comfort...

Yes, I noted how smooth and quite the 166(?) and 158 were on my two five minute trips yesterday. The 158 had very nice seats.

 

[Failed Unit]

That generally affects me up north as I am led to believe that’s the sets we use, hopefully it’ll improve in the next week or so!

Surely if LNER still has the bi-mode Intercity ie 125 or closest too, they could return in place of Azuma?

No. I don’t think they could even hire XC sets anymore as the drivers don’t sign anymore. I guess if we see any bi-modes tomorrow we might get an indication. The Leeds to Aberdeen service is a 5 car bi-mode and pretty much the only one in use. Odd they haven’t started that in York and used a 9-car iep. I guess demand is still low.

 

[dk1]

That generally affects me up north as I am led to believe that’s the sets we use, hopefully it’ll improve in the next week or so!

Surely if LNER still has the bi-mode Intercity ie 125 or closest too, they could return in place of Azuma?

Been over 6 months so all drivers would require a refresher at the very least although most would no doubt have them removed from their route cards.

 

[adc82140]

Out of interest, if a driver's traction knowledge has expired, at what point is it considered that a refresher wouldn't be appropriate but instead complete training as if they have never driven that traction?

 

[Annetts key]

Not including the two sets that suffered from impact damage (animals), it’s looking like two 9 cars should be back in service today. One being used between Newport and Reading. The other will form a shuttle between Reading and Exeter.
There may be more returned to service during the day.

 

[357]

There's a lot of talk about drivers needing to sign to drive hired in trains.

Is there a "wet hire" market that exists with adequate route knowledge, etc?

If there is stock available, and staff who sign the route and traction, there's no reason there couldn't be. It's been done before.

For example - ScotRail could wet lease to LNER for services that run on the same routes in Scotland, if they had stock and staff available.

Also, a long standing one that may have stopped now, was the last London Midland train out of Euston on weekday evenings would be operated by a London Overground driver and unit. @bengley might have more details about the exact arrangement/train

 

[Annetts key]

Is there any truth a 12 car 387 is on a test run to Bristol parkway tommorow?

It looks like a lot of the work to enable 387s to run to BPW has been done. I believe this test train (and there may be others) is to check that it will platform okay.

If everything goes to plan, then the 387 services could if needed be extended to BPW.

 

[Bungle]

Out of interest, if a driver's traction knowledge has expired, at what point is it considered that a refresher wouldn't be appropriate but instead complete training as if they have never driven that traction?

I’d be interested to know this as well. Comparisons with aviation were drawn earlier in the thread. In our world, it’s from 3 years after type-rating expiry that an entire new type-rating must be undertaken.

 

[Dan G]

Not including the two sets that suffered from impact damage (animals), it’s looking like two 9 cars should be back in service today. One being used between Newport and Reading. The other will form a shuttle between Reading and Exeter.
There may be more returned to service during the day.

So I guess we're looking at a train every three to four hours from Exeter to Reading (or vice versa)? Then catching a 387 if you want to go on to Paddington.

What intermediate stops do the shuttle services make?

 

[dk1]

If there is stock available, and staff who sign the route and traction, there's no reason there couldn't be. It's been done before.

For example - ScotRail could wet lease to LNER for services that run on the same routes in Scotland, if they had stock and staff available.

Also, a long standing one that may have stopped now, was the last London Midland train out of Euston on weekday evenings would be operated by a London Overground driver and unit. @bengley might have more details about the exact arrangement/train

That can be done if as you say staff & stock are available. Never comes cheap doing it like that. I recall figures of £35k a week for the use of 68s on one diagram GA locals. On top of that all GA drivers for those had to be booked on too to sit spare as it was their work.

 

[sonic2009]

So I guess we're looking at a train every three to four hours from Exeter to Reading (or vice versa)? Then catching a 387 if you want to go on to Paddington.

What intermediate stops do the shuttle services make?

Realtime Trains - 1C77 1035 London Paddington to Exeter St Davids

Realtime Trains provides live realtime running information for the Great British railway network using open data.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Appears one running through from Paddington to Exeter.

 

[gg1]

Approximately 20 80xs are being released today for GWR. This will seemingly be throughout the day but the intention is to build up to 1tph Paddington - Swansea and approximately 1tph Reading - Exeter St Davids. Diagrams are being prepared overnight.

I'd have thought Paddington to Cardiff would be a more sensible use of what are very limited resources, with TFW handling the connections for stations to Swansea.

 

[Dan G]

Realtime Trains - 1C77 1035 London Paddington to Exeter St Davids

Realtime Trains provides live realtime running information for the Great British railway network using open data.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Appears one running through from Paddington to Exeter.

So Pewsey is getting trains again. Or one, at least!

 

[OldNick]

I'd have thought Paddington to Cardiff would be a more sensible use of what are very limited resources, with TFW handling the connections for stations to Swansea.

Is this to do with train driver/crew depots?

 

[Jamesrob637]

Realtime Trains - 1C77 1035 London Paddington to Exeter St Davids

Realtime Trains provides live realtime running information for the Great British railway network using open data.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Appears one running through from Paddington to Exeter.

Slightly off-topic but that's a weird schedule. 22min Paddington to Reading is going some. Then it calls at various shacks between Reading and Taunton yet skips Tiverton Parkway. Suppose you could just change easily at Taunton for Tiverton.

 

[DriverEight]

No longer on current BBC News Homepage. Yesterday's news being today's chip papers, etc.

Yesterday's news? So far today (Thursday), it's been mentioned regularly in BBC radio 2 travel bulletins, 2 every hour from 06.00 in the morning until 19.00. at night. During Ken Bruce's show, that's an average of 8 million people hearing it, hitting a peak of 10 million. It mentions GWR, LNER & TPE by name, reporting "ongoing disruption to sevices". I've been off work for a few days, so I haven't been listening as often as usual, but it's a fairly safe bet they've been reporting it since the problems began. That's hardly yesterday's news.

 

[TRAX]

Today’s tweet from Detachi.

 

[Nicholas43]

GWR have emailed their contacts as follows:

The Rail Delivery Group and Hitachi Rail have just issued this statement confirming that all investigations on their UK Class 800 (IET) fleet are complete, and that a significant number of Intercity Express Trains can be safely put back into passenger service.
We are now working on what this will mean for GWR timetables for the rest of this week and going forward. Advice for today remains not to travel on our long distance routes. I will update you again when we have the details on that. I thought it important however to share the good news about trains coming back into service as soon as it was released.
Finally, can I say a personal thank you for all the messages of support and goodwill, particularly those that recognised the hard work of our staff. We have had tremendous support from other rail operators, from Network Rail and from the Department for Transport, and despite operating with less than a handful of long distance trains, between us, we have managed to keep a limited service going. We are all very glad though that we can now start to bring IETs back into service.
Mark
Mark Hopwood CBE | Managing Director | Great Western Railway
Milford House | 1 Milford Street | Swindon | SN1 1HL

For immediate release – Thursday 13 May 2021

Hitachi Rail and rail industry agree service recovery plan to get trains back

Hitachi Rail, train operators, and government have agreed, with oversight from the Office of Rail and Road, a service recovery plan to safely reintroduce more 800 Series and 385 Series trains to the network.

The fleet of 800 series trains was removed from service as a precaution at the weekend when cracks were found on some trains.

Following extensive safety checks on their trains, Transpennine Express, Hull Trains and ScotRail have been able to operate services across all of their routes since last weekend.

After further rigorous safety checks involving ORR’s HM Railway Inspectorate, GWR and LNER will now begin reintroducing trains with a more regular service for passengers. Trains on some routes may be less frequent than usual and train availability could vary, for a number of reasons, so passengers should continue to check with the operators before they travel.

Passengers are being advised to check the latest travel advice from their train operator. Eligible passengers are also being encouraged to claim refunds.

Service Recovery Plan

The service recovery plan follows joint work between Hitachi Rail, train operators and the regulator around the safe return to service of some trains. Since discovering the faults, Hitachi Rail engineers and independent experts have completed rigorous tests and research to gain a clearer understanding of the cracking issue.

Based on the work undertaken to understand the issue, and after extensive engagement, Hitachi Rail and train operators, working with the rail regulator, have put in place suitable criteria for the trains to meet before they can re-enter service.

The service recovery plan includes thorough inspections by specialist teams before trains leave the depot. Trains will only re-enter service if they meet agreed safety criteria. Working with Hitachi Rail, the rail regulator will continue to carry out rigorous oversight to ensure robust processes are being followed.

Over time, trains will be subject to a Forward Repair Plan, which will ensure the long-term continued safe running of the fleet.

Andrew Barr, Group CEO of Hitachi Rail, said:

“Today’s agreement sets out our joint plan for the phased reintroduction of our trains into service, which will continue to deliver the highest possible safety standards. Safety remains our number one priority, and we and our partners have worked round the clock to agree an approach that allows the return of trains to service where they have been deemed safe.

“With our service recovery plan now underway, the operators will begin reintroduction of trains as they are individually approved and deemed safe. We would like to thank our partners for their ongoing support as we work collectively to reintroduce more trains into service.”

Robert Nisbet, director of nations and regions at the Rail Delivery Group, said:

“The safety of passengers has been the absolute focus for each of the organisations involved in making decisions about these trains over recent days. After some incredibly hard and detailed work, Hitachi’s engineers have worked with train operators and the rail regulator to safely bring some trains back into service. Over the coming days we will be able to get passengers on the affected routes moving again, but for now passengers should continue to check before they travel.”

HM Chief Inspector of Railways at the Office of Rail and Road, Ian Prosser CBE said:

“We’ve engaged with Hitachi and the train companies to oversee their development of a safe and suitable plan.

“We’re also continuing to provide the rigorous oversight needed to make sure the right checks are being carried out so that the trains are able to re-enter passenger service safely.”

Mark Hopwood, GWR Managing Director, said:

“Our customers have shown great patience over the past couple of days, and I am grateful for their understanding as we have worked with Hitachi to allow trains to return safely. This news will allow us to run some additional services today and reintroduce more consistent robust timetables for customers after the weekend.

“The industry has come together to help support those travelling – with other operators allowing each other’s tickets to be used on their networks; adding in extra shuttle services to help move people; and in sharing rolling stock to provide it to those who need it most.”

David Horne, LNER Managing Director, said:

“I am pleased we have been able to work as an industry to agree a service recovery plan with Hitachi and industry partners that will allow trains to return safely to our route. We are continuing to work together to begin the return of Azuma trains into service from next week. Customers should continue to check before they travel with LNER and I apologise for the disruption caused.”

ENDS

 

[ashkeba]

I am intrigued by this "approach that allows the return of trains to service where they have been deemed safe."

Could it be catch nets over the lifting points to avoid them becoming 100+mph missiles if the crack became a split during service?

 

[swt_passenger]

Today’s tweet from Detachi.

View attachment 96156View attachment 96157

Isn’t view 1 showing the area, (ie the red rectangle), above the yaw damper bracket? I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure the lifting pocket is the other end…

 

[hwl]

Isn’t view 1 showing the area, (ie the red rectangle), above the yaw damper bracket? I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure the lifting pocket is the other end…

Spot on they have got it wrong

 

[Flange Squeal]

According to a tweet by the BBC South Transport Correspondent Paul Clifton, 14 of GWR’s have today been deemed available for traffic.

Yesterday @GWRHelp had 1 of its 93 @HitachiRailENG trains available. Today it has 14. It needs 85 available to work the timetable. The train operator says it will increase over the coming days, but a normal timetable is some distance off.

https://twitter.com/paulcliftonbbc/status/1392789087803817984?s=21

 

[hwl]

I am intrigued by this "approach that allows the return of trains to service where they have been deemed safe."

Could it be catch nets over the lifting points to avoid them becoming 100+mph missiles if the crack became a split during service?

It might have been better to say "Allowing those with small cracks and no imminent risk of components falling off combined with daily inspection to monitor cracks and their growth rates to return to service"

 

[reddragon]

I am intrigued by this "approach that allows the return of trains to service where they have been deemed safe."

Could it be catch nets over the lifting points to avoid them becoming 100+mph missiles if the crack became a split during service?

A sort of gaffer tape solution lol?

 

[ValleyLines142]

I think there's more than 3 stuck away from a Hitachi depot.

800021 is dumped outside Metz Way in Gloucester.

 

[ScouserGirl]

800021 is dumped outside Metz Way in Gloucester.

There is one stuck at Exeter too

 

[BayPaul]

Whilst I understand the issue but it still a kick in the teeth for us regardless, I understand we have Scotrail services to Edinburgh which are frequent to Edinburgh, but pending for me in my situation in a few weeks time, I hope I ain’t left high and dry? As I have already have reservations for the trains to then call it last minute cancellation/rebook it’s going to be a nightmare for me hence why I would hope at least the LNER Intercity bio-modes would temporarily replace the Azuma for us

LNER's intercity bi-modes ARE Azumas. Their only other trains are electric-only