Transport for Wales Class 231 / 756 FLIRTs

[StripeyNick]

Am I correct that we're currrently seeing 4 regular 756 diagrams - one on the Treherbert line and the other three on Merthyr-Cardiff-Aberdare? That certainly seems to be the service pattern today anyway.

At the moment, yeah, that's the pattern

 

[Plasmanoodle]

I’ve seen 4 756s in service on the ABA-MER lines on some days. The missing one today is the first service of the day, 1M06, which was a sprinter.

 

[StripeyNick]

7x 756s out today.....105, 106, 107, 114, 115, 116 & 117

 

[MikePJ]

7x 756s out today.....105, 106, 107, 114, 115, 116 & 117

Nice! Getting there with the rollout then... (EDIT - of course, there's international rugby this afternoon, so longer trains may have been prioritised!)

 

[StripeyNick]

Nice! Getting there with the rollout then... (EDIT - of course, there's international rugby this afternoon, so longer trains may have been prioritised!)

Yeah, I hadn't twigged that it could be because of the rugby!!

 

[The_Train]

756109 reported to have entered service today

 

[Cardiff123]

It was a pretty poor day today for availability of 231s and 756s, and as the 153s are being withdrawn for active travel conversions as well, it leaves the remaining 150s to soldier on and cover. Lots of 2 car 150s on Valleys and the VoG lines on the first sunny Saturday of Spring when more people will be out for St David's Day as well is not ideal.

TfW keep boasting about new trains entering service, and yes it's happening, but often the boosterism of the TfW press office doesn't match the reality of passengers experience on the ground

TFW are running sponsored ads boasting about new trains on FB, and in reply to comments from people in the Valleys asking where these new trains are as they are always packed into a 2 car 150, TfW have replied that they have 4 x 756s in service now, with "all 14 of the 756s in service on the Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr lines by Spring 2025".
Well this weekend is the first weekend of Spring. So by the end of May, almost the entire 756 fleet will be in service every day, with no 150s on the Valleys?

Like I said, marketing spiel does not match on the ground reality. Maybe TfW press should keep quiet and rein in their advertising spend until said trains are actually reliably in service every day.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Like I said, marketing spiel does not match on the ground reality. Maybe TfW press should keep quiet and rein in their advertising spend until said trains are actually reliably in service every day.

Going forward they should just say no more about the new trains at all until the outgoing stock is completely gone.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Going forward they should just say no more about the new trains at all until the outgoing stock is completely gone.

I agree. Well it might not matter as, to be honest, they have probably lost all credibility now so nothing they say will be noticed anyway.

 

[56xx]

Going forward they should just say no more about the new trains at all until the outgoing stock is completely gone.

I agree. Well it might not matter as, to be honest, they have probably lost all credibility now so nothing they say will be noticed anyway.

The 231s and in particular lately the 756s have been really welcomed by all my fellow TfW travellers in the Valleys. Rome wasn't built in a day and most accept that it will take time for the full Metro dream to become reality.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

The 231s and in particular lately the 756s have been really welcomed by all my fellow TfW travellers in the Valleys. Rome wasn't built in a day and most accept that it will take time for the full Metro dream to become reality.

I'm sure the Romans didn't put signs up saying it would be built in a day though...

And as for "all my fellow TfW travellers," which I'm sure was aimed at my Manchester location, I was one of those (near Llandaf) until the autumn just gone. And my experience was that I had to endure the two years of overcrowding, noise and constant closures/bustitution, but none of the benefits that were supposed to have been complete when I still had two years left there to enjoy them!

True, my choice to move away before I could see the changes, but my point is that I had to endure a commute from hell every day for two years, while staring daily at signs promising major improvements from 2022 that I never saw. In 2024.

I know these things take time, but TfW are terrible for constantly promising times they then have to change, and then change again. If you're consistently not meeting deadlines, does it not seem a good idea to stop giving these deadlines?

 

[Peter Sarf]

The 231s and in particular lately the 756s have been really welcomed by all my fellow TfW travellers in the Valleys. Rome wasn't built in a day and most accept that it will take time for the full Metro dream to become reality.

My bold. It seems the only ones that did not realise Rome was not built in a day are the ones making the publicity promising things sooner than possible.

As for the 231s and 756s. Probably the best trains TfW have (or even all of the UK). Worth waiting for, definitely, but nobody benefits from the trumpeting and publicity when it is premature.

 

[Dai Corner]

My bold. It seems the only ones that did not realise Rome was not built in a day are the ones making the publicity promising things sooner than possible.

As for the 231s and 756s. Probably the best trains TfW have (or even all of the UK). Worth waiting for, definitely, but nobody benefits from the trumpeting and publicity when it is premature.

I can't disagree. They should spend more on getting the new rolling stock in service and less on advertising.

 

[Bikeman78]

TFW are running sponsored ads boasting about new trains on FB, and in reply to comments from people in the Valleys asking where these new trains are as they are always packed into a 2 car 150, TfW have replied that they have 4 x 756s in service now, with "all 14 of the 756s in service on the Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr lines by Spring 2025".
Well this weekend is the first weekend of Spring. So by the end of May, almost the entire 756 fleet will be in service every day, with no 150s on the Valleys?

How well has the crew training progressed? 13 of the 17 units have worked in service so an extra diagram per week doesn't seem like a massive leap. 150s will have to remain on Pontypridd to to Cardiff Bay and Rhymney to Bridgend for the time being, as there is nothing to replace them immediately. Those two routes require 11 units (assuming four pairs to Bridgend). I have to say that off peak loadings are light. My last two trips to Rhymney, I was the only passenger on board departing from Rhymney.

 

[chargesmith]

It was a pretty poor day today for availability of 231s and 756s, and as the 153s are being withdrawn for active travel conversions as well, it leaves the remaining 150s to soldier on and cover. Lots of 2 car 150s on Valleys and the VoG lines on the first sunny Saturday of Spring when more people will be out for St David's Day as well is not ideal.

TfW keep boasting about new trains entering service, and yes it's happening, but often the boosterism of the TfW press office doesn't match the reality of passengers experience on the ground

TFW are running sponsored ads boasting about new trains on FB, and in reply to comments from people in the Valleys asking where these new trains are as they are always packed into a 2 car 150, TfW have replied that they have 4 x 756s in service now, with "all 14 of the 756s in service on the Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr lines by Spring 2025".
Well this weekend is the first weekend of Spring. So by the end of May, almost the entire 756 fleet will be in service every day, with no 150s on the Valleys?

Like I said, marketing spiel does not match on the ground reality. Maybe TfW press should keep quiet and rein in their advertising spend until said trains are actually reliably in service every day.

Progress is not linear, and when has marketing of any product or service ever matched reality?

 

[Cardiff123]

How well has the crew training progressed? 13 of the 17 units have worked in service so an extra diagram per week doesn't seem like a massive leap. 150s will have to remain on Pontypridd to to Cardiff Bay and Rhymney to Bridgend for the time being, as there is nothing to replace them immediately. Those two routes require 11 units (assuming four pairs to Bridgend). I have to say that off peak loadings are light. My last two trips to Rhymney, I was the only passenger on board departing from Rhymney.

The difference from Rhymney is trains are half hourly, with 4 car 231s planned to work all diagrams aside from to Bridgend.

Cardiff to Barry to Bridgend is stuck at 1tph, 2 car 150s for the foreseeable future, as TfW shelved plans to increase to 2tph. And there's only one diagram that is regularly (but not always) a pair of 150s. Maybe as more 756s are introduced this Spring, including on Penarth - Coryton/Caerphilly, more pairs of 150s can work on the VoG until they are withdrawn, but I'm not optimistic.

TfW will be really tested on Saturday 15 March. The last match of the 6 nations for Wales will be at home in the Principality stadium against England. Cardiff city centre will be absolutely heaving. All it needs is enough 231s and 756s to fall over (as obviously happened last Saturday) and 2 car 150s will be holding the fort, no doubt with passengers left behind at stations.

 

[56xx]

756 113 into passenger service this afternoon Cardiff Central - Merthyr Tydfil

 

[The_Train]

I make that just 101 and 110 left to enter service from the 756/1 fleet then?

 

[StripeyNick]

I make that just 101 and 110 left to enter service from the 756/1 fleet then?

That's what I have down as still to work

 

[Rhydgaled]

TfW will be really tested on Saturday 15 March. The last match of the 6 nations for Wales will be at home in the Principality stadium against England. Cardiff city centre will be absolutely heaving. All it needs is enough 231s and 756s to fall over (as obviously happened last Saturday) and 2 car 150s will be holding the fort, no doubt with passengers left behind at stations.

Presumably the majority of the England fans will be using GWR services rather than TfW (including 12-car class 387s, or are they limited to 8-car on Cardiff services?) so the TfW 150s would be 'holding the fort' only on TfW valleys routes, not in general? That said, what do GWR typically provide on services to Bristol on match days?

 

[Cardiff123]

Presumably the majority of the England fans will be using GWR services rather than TfW (including 12-car class 387s, or are they limited to 8-car on Cardiff services?) so the TfW 150s would be 'holding the fort' only on TfW valleys routes, not in general? That said, what do GWR typically provide on services to Bristol on match days?

Don't underestimate how busy the Cardiff & Valleys local routes will be on 15 March. Cardiff city centre will be absolutely heaving with rugby fans for the final and biggest match of the tournament, most of which will be locals.

 

[Dai Corner]

Don't underestimate how busy the Cardiff & Valleys local routes will be on 15 March. Cardiff city centre will be absolutely heaving with rugby fans for the final and biggest match of the tournament, most of which will be locals.

And there are English rugby fans in the Midlands and north who might want to catch TfW trains to Cardiff.

I believe 387s are limited to 8 cars in south Wales.

 

[craigybagel]

England is always the busiest game - both in terms of Welsh travelling to see the match (either at the stadium or in a city centre bar) and English traveling in to watch. Even when Wales are playing England in Twickenham it's a busy day in Cardiff!

 

[800301]

And there are English rugby fans in the Midlands and north who might want to catch TfW trains to Cardiff.

I believe 387s are limited to 8 cars in south Wales.

12 cars are unable to serve Newport because NR can’t be bothered to change a PIBS beacon so currently they have an incorrect release pattern.

 

[56xx]

First day in passenger service for 756 101 today

 

[John R]

First day in passenger service for 756 101 today

Will there be room in 101 I wonder…

 

[nigelsporne]

So with nearly all of the 756/1s now ready has the daily number in service changed from the 4 or 5 units previously reported in this thread?

 

[56xx]

101 103 105 107 108 109 & 113 started today but 103 was taken out of service quite early for some reason. 6 left.
103 due to be replaced with 117 so 7 then.

 

[StripeyNick]

As of today there are 8 diagrams for the 756s. 115 went out/was meant to go out but I think it failed

 

[Cardiff123]

TfW are now saying that the "new trains" on the Coryton/Caerphilly - Penarth services will be introduced "later this summer", "as they are not quite ready yet".

They will also be running Penarth - Caerphilly trains fast/non-stop between Queen St - Caerphilly from 24 March

Better not send anymore 150s or 153s to SIMS just yet........

Coryton and Penarth line services

Our services on the Coryton and Penarth lines haven’t been good enough.

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