Six units are required to operate Wigan NW to Stalybridge and Alderley Edge, the routes being interworked at WGN. Realistically, when will six 769s be available for use? If the routes have to be worked independently, that will of course cost a unit.Not the whole story. Liverail shows changes en route and traction type. From looking at a few examples, the Wigan NW to Alderley Edge workings have two changes en route, at Bolton and Manchester Piccadilly. For both the Wigan to Bolton and Piccadilly to Alderley legs, the data is:
No, the Wigan - Stalybridge workings are timed as Sprinters throughout, in both directions.
The timings can be adjusted if necessary to enable continued use of 15x's. The 769s can surely be introduced progressively, one diagram at a time, as units and trained crews become available. No need to end the interworking.Six units are required to operate Wigan NW to Stalybridge and Alderley Edge, the routes being interworked at WGN. Realistically, when will six 769s be available for use? If the routes have to be worked independently, that will of course cost a unit.
769431 and 769424 are currently at either end of Allerton Depot. A good view of 431 canbe be got from any service running between LPY and HNX.Six units are required to operate Wigan NW to Stalybridge and Alderley Edge, the routes being interworked at WGN. Realistically, when will six 769s be available for use? If the routes have to be worked independently, that will of course cost a unit.
Do we have any more certainty as to when these units can enter service in terms of any further testing required before that can happen?769431 and 769424 are currently at either end of Allerton Depot. A good view of 431 canbe be got from any service running between LPY and HNX.
I was wondering if it was close enough April to be considered towards the end of March yet. Perhaps, as part of the mods, they have already set the clocks on the units to BST so they’re waiting until tomorrow.The latest Railway Herald reports that mainline 769 testing has been officially pushed back to 'towards the end of March'.
Perhaps best believed once it's seen.
It certainly is.It must be incredibly frustrating for the people who are trying to use these services daily.
On which topic, does anyone know how much extra training will be needed for train crew to operate the 769s over and above the 319s? Presumably, a short conversion course?Do we have any more certainty as to when these units can enter service in terms of any further testing required before that can happen?
It must be incredibly frustrating for the people who are trying to use these services daily.
Given testing/training on the new units seems to have been halted due to the coupler issues (details on the new stock thread). I would have thought there would be a bit more of a push to get these units moving instead. Everything about these stock introductions seems absolutly baffling surounded by a can't do attitude by the companies and institutions involved. It must be incredibly frustrating for the people who are trying to use these services daily.
The problem is they are focused around:Given testing/training on the new units seems to have been halted due to the coupler issues (details on the new stock thread). I would have thought there would be a bit more of a push to get these units moving instead. Everything about these stock introductions seems absolutly baffling surounded by a can't do attitude by the companies and institutions involved. It must be incredibly frustrating for the people who are trying to use these services daily.
Please can you provide a link to the appropriate thread/post? Have tried to find but can't seem to locate it! Thanks!
No, the 195s are planned for Windermere, with 158s being used from the May timetable change until the 195s are ready.Is it the intention whenever they actually go into service to be used on the windermere brach?
No they're tempary until the 331's enter service.Are these prospective 769s being pressed into shorttersh service?
No, they're old Thameslink trains on temporary lease from Porterbrook. That's actually a few of them I believe. There is one which still have first class seats in from old First Capital Connect days as I travelled on it last month to Manchester Airport.Have seen a few unrefurbished 319/4s in plain logo-less white livery operating Blackpool-Manchester services in recent weeks.
Are these prospective 769s being pressed into short-term service?
Have seen a few unrefurbished 319/4s in plain logo-less white livery operating Blackpool-Manchester services in recent weeks.
Are these prospective 769s being pressed into short-term service?
No they're tempary until the 331's enter service.
The saga as to when the Class 769s enter service continues. They will only be a small fleet after all.
Two other alternatives may have been better:-
(a) Have ordered eight extra 3 car Class 195s which would have made the fleet more uniform.
(b) I am aware that Manchester Leeds electrification has been postponed. As an interim, Manchester Victoria to Stalybridge and Wigan North Western to Lostock Junction could be electrified eliminating the need for 369s and allowing standard Class 319s, 323s (or whatever other EMUs Northern has to hand) to be used on Wigan North Western to Alderley Edge and Wigan North Western to Stalybridge services.
Option (b) would have seemed the most logical as we are only talking of short distances of electrification to enable full EMU use over the said routes.
The saga as to when the Class 769s enter service continues
Might have been 319217 which is now with LNWRI saw a 319 motor car on an Alleys heavy haulage Lorry on the M40 25/3/19 I believe it was going from Long Marston to Wolverton. Can anyone give me any gen.
Thanks,
Nat
Thanks for that.Might have been 319217 which is now with LNWR
Apparently the project proved to be a bit more complex than the original spec of ‘strap a diesel engine onto an EMU’ written on a discarded burger wrapper.Wasn't the idea behind these trains when they were ordered in Spring 2017 that they would be a 'quick fix' and cheaper and faster to build than new-build trains?
It's nothing to do with the 769s though is it, since by definition they're for different routes. Nor having 769s would place added strain on the diesel fleet, not the electric. More DMUs would be needed, not 323s.According to an informal Northern source (Don Coffey's YouTube channel) the 323s are due to be repainted in Northern livery and receive PRM mods soon. Suggests they are staying for the long haul. Has this been officially confirmed yet? Again suggests 769 work is not going well.