State of GWR’s IETs

[Blindtraveler]

Park bench metal bar very much in evidence of all the 12:06 kings cross to Lincoln today, yes I know this is off topic but someone asked up thread here other operators units were suffering so I thought I'd give an answer

 

[ChrisHogan]

Another problem with GW IETs is the increasing number of sets with broken toilets. Today's JourneyCheck lists about twenty trains with one or more out of use toilets.

 

[FGW_DID]

Another problem with GW IETs is the increasing number of sets with broken toilets. Today's JourneyCheck lists about twenty trains with one or more out of use toilets.

Doesn't necessarily mean they are broken. Toilets might just be locked out as they're full or have run out of water. The units wont get flushed & tanked until they return to a depot with the appropriate CET facilities.

I once travelled between Reading & Oxford on a 5 car, I was in the vestibule near one of the toilets. The toilet may as well have had a revolving door on it, it was that well used!!

 

[Benjwri]

Another problem with GW IETs is the increasing number of sets with broken toilets. Today's JourneyCheck lists about twenty trains with one or more out of use toilets.

I haven’t seen broken IET toilets in JourneyCheck in a while, to me the sudden appearance suggests a singular depot had an issue meaning they couldn’t empty them last night, and therefore some are out of use today.

 

[CapitalStar378]

I've been on GWR IETs where the toilets were not locked but the flushes were not working and the toilets were close the overflowing. Had to walk 3 carriages to get a functioning loo. Not good at all and it seems to be quite normal now.

 

[py_megapixel]

To add some balance to this thread, I had 800030 on Friday. The windows were perfectly clean, my seat cushion was intact and the ride was fine.

 

[Bluejays]

Sizeable number of uat toilets out of use, with red tape and signs put on at depot. Running around for days or weeks with toilet out of use, really not good enough

 

[Class172]

To add some balance to this thread, I had 800030 on Friday. The windows were perfectly clean, my seat cushion was intact and the ride was fine.

The unit I travelled on at least at first glance appeared to be in good condition, though I did have a rather unpleasant surprise when the first seat I tried had a collapsed base so hit the metal framework within as I sat down.

 

[Parallel]

I had my first experience of using a seat with a sunken base, noticing the metal bar a couple of weeks ago - it was fairly uncomfortable but I’ve always found the seats fairly uncomfortable on the IETs as if I’m sitting up straight, the top of my shoulders rest where the head rest is which pushes them forward and gives bad posture. Better if I slouch a bit but not great for your lower back.

Toilets being out of service seem to be more frequent too. I was on a 5 car IET with the coach A toilet out of use, and twin cubicles opposite each other also taped out of use further down in another carriage. Issues with toilets don’t seem to be a new thing though, when I regularly commuted by train a few years ago, it was common to have 1 or 2 toilets locked out of use on the 158s. Some of the smaller toilets on the three-car 16x have also been out of use for years, though it does look like they’ve started replacing the toilets now.

 

[irish_rail]

I had my first experience of using a seat with a sunken base, noticing the metal bar a couple of weeks ago - it was fairly uncomfortable but I’ve always found the seats fairly uncomfortable on the IETs as if I’m sitting up straight, the top of my shoulders rest where the head rest is which pushes them forward and gives bad posture. Better if I slouch a bit but not great for your lower back.

Toilets being out of service seem to be more frequent too. I was on a 5 car IET with the coach A toilet out of use, and twin cubicles opposite each other also taped out of use further down in another carriage. Issues with toilets don’t seem to be a new thing though, when I regularly commuted by train a few years ago, it was common to have 1 or 2 toilets locked out of use on the 158s. Some of the smaller toilets on the three-car 16x have also been out of use for years, though it does look like they’ve started replacing the toilets now.

I think this bit is spot on . For anyone who is not the specified correct height that the seat is designed for they are forced to either hunch forward, or else slouch down in order to avoid the strange seat shape . Perfect for a 5"7 person, but less so for everyone else. I guess we are stuck with the seats and bad posture for the life of the train, but the sunken seat bases must be addressed by Hitachi.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I don't know if we'll be stuck with them for the trains entire lifespan, unless of course somebody is going to do us all the enormous favor of scrapping them in the next few years, let's be honest, the three nine zero fleet is being re seated upon refurbishment as were the HST vehicles in their day

But the number of nonfunctioning toilets that show up even on station announcements is really quite horrifying and I'm sure I saw mention of it on line somewhere the other week when I was playing trains out that way

 

[Horizon22]

Found a few awful toilets with the vinyl/lino bubbling up by the sink recently with a load of rust by the doors.

Also I think a seat cushion had collapsed and I could feel the metal horizontal bar along the bottom. Not at all comfortable Seems to have been gradual but over past year or so got rapidly more noticeable / worse.

 

[supervc-10]

I'm 6'2 and I can't say I've had any issues with the seats beyond feeling hard, and the metal bars of course. Never noticed the metal bars on some LNER and TPE units (802s and 397) but I have on GWR ones.

 

[PG]

Found a few awful toilets with the vinyl/lino bubbling up by the sink recently with a load of rust by the doors.

Makes you wonder if there is more rust developing unseen in inaccessible areas?

 

[supervc-10]

Well, they're aluminium bodied, so I'd hope that the bodyshells aren't rusting!

 

[Anonymous10]

I'm 6'2 and I can't say I've had any issues with the seats beyond feeling hard, and the metal bars of course. Never noticed the metal bars on some LNER and TPE units (802s and 397) but I have on GWR ones.

I've never noticed the metal bar but I do make a point of having a cushion or something soft to use as a backrest awful padding and design imo.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 May 2023 ==

Well, they're aluminium bodied, so I'd hope that the bodyshells aren't rusting!

Aluminium does however chorode

 

[fgwrich]

Found a few awful toilets with the vinyl/lino bubbling up by the sink recently with a load of rust by the doors.

Also I think a seat cushion had collapsed and I could feel the metal horizontal bar along the bottom. Not at all comfortable Seems to have been gradual but over past year or so got rapidly more noticeable / worse.

Remembers comments from the early days by Jo Johnson about hard seats getting softer over time...

 

[Mikey C]

The 222 seats have/had a similar issue with the metal bar, but they were a LOT older at the time, so that suggests that not only are the IET seats of dubious comfort, they aren't durable either, which from a contractual pov is even more of a failing.

 

[YourMum666]

Tbh these issues seem to be on the GWR IETs which are horribly maintained, the TPE and LNER IETs are in quite good shape

 

[Blindtraveler]

L n e r are not immune from metal bar issues either, I've discovered a couple recently and I bet there are more but people aren't posting them as this is not an lner topic

 

[penguin8967]

Another problem with GW IETs is the increasing number of sets with broken toilets. Today's JourneyCheck lists about twenty trains with one or more out of use toilets.

With 10 toilets on a 9 car train, having one out of use really isn’t that disastrous

 

[Blindtraveler]

I think the point being made here is that it's usually significantly more than just one

 

[Towers]

The toilets issue is interesting as SWR have been suffering something of a toilet pandemic for months now! Many, many Desiros out on a daily basis with limited availability of lavs. I wonder if there’s some sort of background issue going on somewhere?

 

[Blindtraveler]

Is there a shortage of the required lotions and potions needed for the cleaning or maintenance or descouring of tanks?

I hardly think it can be the toilet equipment itself, ships have had retention or vacuum flush systems for years and aircraft also without the same seemingly enormous failure rate

 

[Anonymous10]

Is there a shortage of the required lotions and potions needed for the cleaning or maintenance or descouring of tanks?

I hardly think it can be the toilet equipment itself, ships have had retention or vacuum flush systems for years and aircraft also without the same seemingly enormous failure rate

Or is there not enough capacity or time to empty them all?

 

[Benjwri]

L n e r are not immune from metal bar issues either, I've discovered a couple recently and I bet there are more but people aren't posting them as this is not an lner topic

The seat cushions aren’t a maintenance issue. My guess would be that they are worse on GWR because the trains are used differently. The GWR IETs tend to be heavier loaded and also make far more stops. I would guess the seat cushions degrade per compression rather than by length of time. As journeys are likely shorter in average on GWR, they will have been used far more and therefore degraded quicker.

 

[Irascible]

I eagerly await the inevitable replacement of the cushion with a plain metal seat base.

Ignoring ant ideas about comfort, did they just get the seat spec entirely wrong & not fully consider wear, just like the wheels? lordy.

 

[ChrisHogan]

With 10 toilets on a 9 car train, having one out of use really isn’t that disastrous

But two out on a 5-car set could be.

 

[trebor79]

I eagerly await the inevitable replacement of the cushion with a plain metal seat base.

Ignoring ant ideas about comfort, did they just get the seat spec entirely wrong & not fully consider wear, just like the wheels? lordy.

Different seats were originally specified. DfT changed them to the current spec to save some cost, Hitachi were horrified and protested vociferously but we're overruled. Told to me by an insider.

 

[Mikey C]

Different seats were originally specified. DfT changed them to the current spec to save some cost, Hitachi were horrified and protested vociferously but we're overruled. Told to me by an insider.

Whoever it was at the DfT who specified those seats should be punished, by having their office chair replaced by a knackered IET seat, and being forced to sit on it all day.