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GWR Class 158s being reformed into 2-cars

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sftfan1909

sftfan1909

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GWR have begun reforming their 3-car 158s into 2-car formations, starting today with 158769 made up of 52769 + 57769 previously of 158960. From what I understand, some will be kept as 3 cars and will work with the 2 cars on the remaining Portsmouth 158 diagrams from December. The rest will be working on the Devon metro. 158749 and 158767 should be the next two out, made from 158961 and the remaining coach from 158960.
 
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Parallel

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Thank you for the info. There seemed to be a lot of 4 car 150 formations on the Devon Metro when I was there a few weeks ago, will the 2 car 158s in Devon be doubled up? They will also probably be quite slow on the Avocet line with stops every couple of minutes and doors at the end of the coach but I guess they're working towards the retirement of their 8 Pacers.
 
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PHILIPE

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sftfan1909 said:
GWR have begun reforming their 3-car 158s into 2-car formations, starting today with 158769 made up of 52769 + 57769 previously of 158960. From what I understand, some will be kept as 3 cars and will work with the 2 cars on the remaining Portsmouth 158 diagrams from December. The rest will be working on the Devon metro. 158749 and 158767 should be the next two out, made from 158961 and the remaining coach from 158960.
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There will be 7 x 3 Cars when the reforming is complete including 3 on the Barnstaple route. The others will be 2 Car and will be working mainly in the West of England sharing services to Penzance with GT1s and not necessarily on the Devon Metro which should be 150/2s. (mostly pairs) working between Exmouth and Paignton.
 
Apedlar12

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PHILIPE said:
There will be 7 x 3 Cars when the reforming is complete including 3 on the Barnstaple route. The others will be 2 Car and will be working mainly in the West of England sharing services to Penzance with GT1s and not necessarily on the Devon Metro which should be 150/2s. (mostly pairs) working between Exmouth and Paignton.
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Brighton will also see use of the 3 cars until turbo clearance is given I believe...
 
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MotorcycleAlan

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3 + 2 seating on Portsmouth (or even worse Brighton) to Cardiff is totally unsuitable, so it is either a cheap via Reading ticket for me, or the car. Split ticketing at Reading works well thankfully.
 
HamworthyGoods

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MotorcycleAlan said:
3 + 2 seating on Portsmouth (or even worse Brighton) to Cardiff is totally unsuitable, so it is either a cheap via Reading ticket for me, or the car. Split ticketing at Reading works well thankfully.
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However 3+2 seating is more comfortable than no seating (ie standing) so like the Waterloo to Portsmouth 2+2 v 3+2 debate very much has both cons and pros.

Until Metro West enhancements to bring extra capacity into Bristol it probably overall is the best solution, the Pompey to Cardiff route being one to juggle many purposes in the same was as 166s always have done, London to Oxford/Newbury commuter but also Network Expresses London to The Cotswolds in their early days, hence why some 2+2 seating with tables is provided in the middle coach.
 
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Mitchell Hurd

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Will 2-coach 158's be enough to work along side 4-coach HST's? Really the more sensible idea would be to have 3-coach 158's working along side short HST's.

Then again, maybe 2-coach 158's is enough because of their length. Certainly is more capacity than the 2-coach 143's by roughly 35 seats and the 2-coach 150's by I presume 20 seats.
 
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Mitchell Hurd

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HamworthyGoods said:
However 3+2 seating is more comfortable than no seating (ie standing) so like the Waterloo to Portsmouth 2+2 v 3+2 debate very much has both cons and pros.

Until Metro West enhancements to bring extra capacity into Bristol it probably overall is the best solution, the Pompey to Cardiff route being one to juggle many purposes in the same was as 166s always have done, London to Oxford/Newbury commuter but also Network Expresses London to The Cotswolds in their early days, hence why some 2+2 seating with tables is provided in the middle coach.
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I agree - more than double the seats in the 5-car Turbos is better than reduced seats in 2 and 3-car 15x stock. If I was needing to sit, I'd choose a seat in a Turbo than a packed 158!
 
Apedlar12

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Mitchell Hurd said:
Will 2-coach 158's be enough to work along side 4-coach HST's? Really the more sensible idea would be to have 3-coach 158's working along side short HST's.

Then again, maybe 2-coach 158's is enough because of their length. Certainly is more capacity than the 2-coach 143's by roughly 35 seats and the 2-coach 150's by I presume 20 seats.
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It should be 4 car class 158s made up of 2x 158/0 which is why some of the 158/9s are being reformed.
 
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GrahamD83

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PHILIPE said:
There will be 7 x 3 Cars when the reforming is complete including 3 on the Barnstaple route. The others will be 2 Car and will be working mainly in the West of England sharing services to Penzance with GT1s and not necessarily on the Devon Metro which should be 150/2s. (mostly pairs) working between Exmouth and Paignton.
Click to expand...

Surely having 7x 3-car will leave a spare single car?
 
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Flinn Reed

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Parallel said:
Thank you for the info. There seemed to be a lot of 4 car 150 formations on the Devon Metro when I was there a few weeks ago, will the 2 car 158s in Devon be doubled up? They will also probably be quite slow on the Avocet line with stops every couple of minutes and doors at the end of the coach but I guess they're working towards the retirement of their 8 Pacers.
Click to expand...
Some 158s do currently appear on the Avocet Line, but this is only as some Exmouth services currently continue to Barnstaple. After the timetable change in December, all Exmouth services will go to Paignton using 150s (though with some 143s initially), while Barnstaple services will terminate at St James Park and use 158s. The door layout of the 158s works on the Tarka line as the majority of passengers travel the full route between Exeter and Barnstaple.
 
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Flinn Reed

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sftfan1909 said:
GWR have begun reforming their 3-car 158s into 2-car formations, starting today with 158769 made up of 52769 + 57769 previously of 158960. From what I understand, some will be kept as 3 cars and will work with the 2 cars on the remaining Portsmouth 158 diagrams from December. The rest will be working on the Devon metro. 158749 and 158767 should be the next two out, made from 158961 and the remaining coach from 158960.
Click to expand...
Will the remaining Portsmouth services eventually fully convert to turbos once fleet cascades are completed?
 
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pompeyfan

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Flinn Reed said:
Will the remaining Portsmouth services eventually fully convert to turbos once fleet cascades are completed?
Click to expand...

I hope not, at the moment there’s lots of 4/5 car 158 or 150+158 floating about. Crew are happier, trains are more comfortable etc

that said, I think the route (& Brighton’s) are meant to go full turbo from December.
 
ValleyLines142

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So, I believe the formations are:

158745
158749
158750
158767
158769

Plus 158763+158766 which were original 2 cars anyway.

Then 158954-158959?
 
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Mitchell Hurd

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Flinn Reed said:
Will the remaining Portsmouth services eventually fully convert to turbos once fleet cascades are completed?
Click to expand...

I believe that's the plan from the December 2019 timetable change in that 5-car Turbos will take over GWR's Portsmouth routes. If I'm honest, 5-car Turbos will be extremely useful - more useful than a 5-car 15x for events like the Bath christmas market!
 
cactustwirly

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Mitchell Hurd said:
I believe that's the plan from the December 2019 timetable change in that 5-car Turbos will take over GWR's Portsmouth routes. If I'm honest, 5-car Turbos will be extremely useful - more useful than a 5-car 15x for events like the Bath christmas market!
Click to expand...

But I don't think there will be enough turbos for that, so some diagrams are likely to stay 158 until the 769s eventually enter service
 
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PHILIPE

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cactustwirly said:
But I don't think there will be enough turbos for that, so some diagrams are likely to stay 158 until the 769s eventually enter service
Click to expand...

The Turbos are expected from LTV following 387s becoming available after the Heathrow and Crossrail alterations. That is another story and has it's own thread.
 
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