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Transport for Wales Class 231 / 756 FLIRTs

Buzz68

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4 Sep 2017
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Caerphilly, South Wales
They aren't that noisy in my experience (from the basically identical Greater Anglia units), no worse than any other DMU. Phone microphones seem to pick up engine noise as being a lot louder than it is - I remember the same of the 195s and 230s.
Thanks, hoping to see one tonight fingers crossed

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Next 231s due February according to the latest Today’s Railways UK due to space constraints at Canton. No mention of the 756s
Ok thanks, I guess they’ll come at a steady interval

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

They could always send the broken 769s to Landore. That d make a bit of room at Canton. Then after a few months drag em over to Sims. Isn't that what happened to the 142s and 143s.
Not sure what will happen to the 769’s but we’ve got them for a bit longer? Yes a lot of the 142/3 went to Simms but more than expected went into perseveration, the last left in October.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

New times in for the TfW 231 test runs to Rhymney. Friday 7 January into Saturday 8 January. Running slightly earlier this time and shown to to be operated by TfW not GBRF.

3R00 21:55 Cardiff Central - 22:59 Rhymney
3R01 23:06 Rhymney - 00:06 Cardiff Central
3R02 00:20 Cardiff Central - 01:24 Rhymney
3R03 01:29 Rhymney - 02:30 Cardiff Central
3R04 02:35 Cardiff Central - 03:39 Rhymney
3R05 03:44 Rhymney - 04:45 Cardiff Central
 
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RailUK Forums

cole_peter5@

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Hi Guys - Do anyone know the coach numbers of the of the 231 and do they the European numbering like the 195/331 Cheers
 

XAM2175

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Hi Guys - Do anyone know the coach numbers of the of the 231 and do they the European numbering like the 195/331 Cheers
They definitely will have European Vehicle Numbers - every mainline registered vehicle in GB is required to have one - but I don't believe they've been published yet.
 

3973EXL

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Hi Guys - Do anyone know the coach numbers of the of the 231 and do they the European numbering like the 195/331 Cheers
Platform 5 list

231001 - 381001 381201 381401 381301 381101
to
231011 - 381011 381211 381411 381311 381111
 

cole_peter5@

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.Thanks very much for the on info on the 231 - up in Cardiff on Tuesday may be luck and catch one ------Thanks again Peter.
 

43096

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Platform 5 list

231001 - 381001 381201 381401 381301 381101
to
231011 - 381011 381211 381411 381311 381111
The allocated EVNs are 95 70 0381 nnn-c where nnn is the last three digits of the vehicle number and c is the check digit calculated in the normal way.
 

cole_peter5@

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Why have we got to have these stupid number, I thought we out Euro now - back to the uk numbers ony.
 

XAM2175

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Why have we got to have these stupid number, I thought we out Euro now - back to the uk numbers ony.

To comply with Regulation 36 of The Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2011:

National vehicle register​

36.—(1) This regulation applies to a vehicle for which there is an authorisation under these Regulations for it to be placed in service.

(2) If the Safety Authority issues an authorisation, the person who applied for the authorisation must apply to the registration entity for it to assign a European vehicle number before the vehicle is placed in service.

(3) The registration entity must assign a unique alphanumeric identification code (a “European vehicle number”) to each vehicle for which an application is made and maintain a register of vehicles (“National Vehicle Register”).

...

(5) Any person who places in service a vehicle must ensure it is marked with the European vehicle number assigned to it.
 

43096

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Why have we got to have these stupid number, I thought we out Euro now - back to the uk numbers ony.
Last time I checked a map, the UK was still in Europe.

In any case, the numbers are only "stupid" if you don't understand them. It's actually a far better system than what we have in the UK, particularly if used properly, like in Switzerland (also not part of the EU).
 

cole_peter5@

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ok sorry i rest my case - its a case of spotting two sets of numbers - simply as that.

Perhaps when you get the full list of EVN numbers, you print a list for everyone. ----- Peter.
 

anthony263

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According to the article in the latest issue of modern railways the class 756s should be running on battery power south of Cardiff Central with the diesel engine topping up the batteries if required.

One point I noted was that the class 756s won't be able to work the rhymney line till a good amount of the route is electrified
 

Kyle2

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2 Sep 2020
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Barry
According to the article in the latest issue of modern railways the class 756s should be running on battery power south of Cardiff Central with the diesel engine topping up the batteries if required.

One point I noted was that the class 756s won't be able to work the rhymney line till a good amount of the route is electrified

Are the fuel tanks too small to run on diesel until the wiring is done?
 

Peter Mugridge

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ok sorry i rest my case - its a case of spotting two sets of numbers - simply as that.

Perhaps when you get the full list of EVN numbers, you print a list for everyone. ----- Peter.
EVN numbers will in about 99.9% of all cases have what we would consider the "normal" number contained in clear within them. It's just a matter of knowing which part of the EVN to look at.
 

Envoy

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So, what happens when the 756’s go from Cardiff Central to Bridgend via Barry, Rhoose and Llantwit Major - all non wired? Will that route have to be 755’s?
 

Dai Corner

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So, what happens when the 756’s go from Cardiff Central to Bridgend via Barry, Rhoose and Llantwit Major - all non wired? Will that route have to be 755’s?
The 755s are the Greater Anglia version. TfW will only have 756s. Hopefully the engineers have done their sums correctly and they'll leave the wires north of Queen Street with batteries fully charged and enough Diesel, even at the end of the day, to get to Bridgend and back.

There will a lot of charge/discharge cycles due to the intermittent electrification. I wonder if the batteries will wear out quite quickly.

If I was in charge I'd have 37418 on standby in the Vale just in case!
 

Envoy

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The 755s are the Greater Anglia version. TfW will only have 756s. Hopefully the engineers have done their sums correctly and they'll leave the wires north of Queen Street with batteries fully charged and enough Diesel, even at the end of the day, to get to Bridgend and back.

There will a lot of charge/discharge cycles due to the intermittent electrification. I wonder if the batteries will wear out quite quickly.

If I was in charge I'd have 37418 on standby in the Vale just in case!
Many thanks for response. It is regrettable that Network Rail don’t at least electrify from Queen Street to Cogan and Ninian Park as I don’t think any low bridges are involved.
 

Bletchleyite

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EVN numbers will in about 99.9% of all cases have what we would consider the "normal" number contained in clear within them. It's just a matter of knowing which part of the EVN to look at.

If they are shown in the correct format (rather than the string of numbers TPE use, say) it is underlined, e.g. 95 70 0381 001-1
 

Meerkat

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Many thanks for response. It is regrettable that Network Rail don’t at least electrify from Queen Street to Cogan and Ninian Park as I don’t think any low bridges are involved.
Having an electric route into Canton would give a bit more flexibility for dealing with failures! But looks like a lot of complicated trackwork.
Will there be battery charging leads at Canton so they leave fully charged at the start?
 

anthony263

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From what I've read the 756s will run.on battery power but the one diesel engine on each unit will be keeping the batteries topped up
 

Signal_Box

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Many thanks for response. It is regrettable that Network Rail don’t at least electrify from Queen Street to Cogan and Ninian Park as I don’t think any low bridges are involved.
Network Rail no longer own or have any control of Cardiff Queen Street.

QS will be remodelled, TfW have said it’s due to the “complex” track layout at QS which means it won’t be electrified….

Your correct that there aren’t any low bridges to interfere with OLE but the wires will stop North of QS North junction as the electrical interference may disrupt the university equipment close to the line.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Having an electric route into Canton would give a bit more flexibility for dealing with failures! But looks like a lot of complicated trackwork.
Will there be battery charging leads at Canton so they leave fully charged at the start?

Wiring into Canton (TFW) would involved extremely complex OLE coming off Central station, at the moment it all terminates and routes across to the far side of the formation. You’d need to wire 6/7/8 from anchor points / run offs towards Queen Street up the viaduct, and across the valleys side or Cardiff West Junction, along the Barry and City lines towards Grangetown and Ninian Park to allow for run offs, not to mention Canton itself.

A slightly easier in terms of additional wire would be into Canton (pullmans) since brought by TfW.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

The 755s are the Greater Anglia version. TfW will only have 756s. Hopefully the engineers have done their sums correctly and they'll leave the wires north of Queen Street with batteries fully charged and enough Diesel, even at the end of the day, to get to Bridgend and back.

There will a lot of charge/discharge cycles due to the intermittent electrification. I wonder if the batteries will wear out quite quickly.

If I was in charge I'd have 37418 on standby in the Vale just in case!

When 418 or it’s sisters rescue 769s it’s at 5mph to clear the line, using the tight lock adaptor attached to the draw hock.

The 231s and the other new units have another type of coupler so whether they’d be able to clear the failed unit is another thing unless a portable crew fitted (not fitted fitted) adaptor is provided.

But a Vale of Glamorgan thunderbird is a good idea.
 
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Signal_Box

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Raises a question....
What are the margins on battery like - are they going to restrict the chances of the next train rescuing a failure?

Also there’s a rather hilly section which will eat up those batteries between Barry and Bridgend.
 

supervc-10

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From what I've read the 756s will run.on battery power but the one diesel engine on each unit will be keeping the batteries topped up
Sounds a bit like the 'e-Power' hybrid system Nissan are using in some cars
 

Buzz68

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It seems the 231 test runs to Rhymney this weekend 7/8 January are cancelled and new dates scheduled for the 14/15 January.

 

D6975

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EVN numbers will in about 99.9% of all cases have what we would consider the "normal" number contained in clear within them. It's just a matter of knowing which part of the EVN to look at.
Aren't the numbers in two different sizes? ISTR that the 'normal' number is in the regular size while the 'extra' EVN digits are in a much smaller size.

95 70 0381 001-1
 

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