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Greater Anglia Rolling Stock Updates

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eastdyke

eastdyke

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TRIVIA diversion (sorry).

306024 said:
It's like an episode of Countdown. Any suggestions for a 9 letter word using just B to K? Then get Crown Point to shunt it together.
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Using letters only once only a very short form (ie 4 car): BECK, DECK, HECK etc.
But using Countdown rules, and GA licence to use letters more than once, then 8 car is possible: BEDECKED
A 9 car can be achieved by allowing a proper name. I have come across reference to a placename in 18th century Nottinghamshire: BECKHEDGE (no idea where exactly it is/was).
http://nawcat.nottinghamshire.gov.u...&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo=="DD 34/3")
Extract:
In Nottingham Field about 8 acres: at Stones abutting on Beckhedge: on Standhills; by the Stoopes; Windmill headland; Short and Long Hatherne; in Suddale; off south cliffe; in Suddale: above the Hairwong?, at the Elder stile; on top of Fox Hill; at Thompson's Willows: at Savage Leys; at Brick Mill; at New Hedge Nook
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I can't BEFECKED to look any further .... :arrow:
 
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306024

306024

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Great answer! Dictionary corner beckons.....
BECKHEDGE would be a reasonable formation, with the buffet (H) in the middle, one first class (K) next door and the quiet coach (B) at the end. But without an accessible toilet (J) it won't last too long.
 
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chubs

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Shockingly poor journeys on the mk3's this week. The state of the sets is appalling.

I feel sorry for the staff.
 
8

86246

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chubs said:
Shockingly poor journeys on the mk3's this week. The state of the sets is appalling.

I feel sorry for the staff.
Click to expand...

I haven’t noticed that myself this week. Although I’m not sure if there are any nine coach sets in service at present. Certainly often see a first class coach making up the standard class numbers now.

It hasn’t been a good week for the rural services following the departure of 3 170s and the short set. The Felixstowe branch has been suspended for a couple of afternoons and the 17:17 Lowestoft and 17:20 departures from Ipswich yesterday were 153s. With a 755 making overnight appearances on the East Suffolk and Felixstowe this week more promising times are ahead.
 
47421

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Yep, and yesterday morning 3 cancellations from Yarmouth, no trains after 0624 until 0818 and 0846 departure also cancelled

Today 0533 Norwich Camb cancelled as well as one return to Yarmouth and one East Suffolk line job

Lets see if they can manage a full day with no rural cancellations as more 170s disappear
 
dk1

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47421 said:
Yoday 0533 Norwich Camb cancelled as well as one return to Yarmouth and one East Suffolk line job
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Door problems with a 755. A replacement was sought which ran ECS to restart the return 07:00 from Ely. Passengers not too inconvenienced as the following 05:50 EMR service also calls Wymondham & Attleborough.
 
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Roverebbw

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In East Anglia for 5 day there were a few cancel trains on Mon 23 the 1750 Norwich to Lowestoft was cancel replace by bus and taxis . Tuesday the 1047 Lowestoft to Norwich was cancel.also 1717 Ipswich to Lowestoft was cancel
 
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trebor79

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chubs said:
Shockingly poor journeys on the mk3's this week. The state of the sets is appalling.

I feel sorry for the staff.
Click to expand...
Ditto. It's got bad enough for me to start using Attleborough - Kings X via Cambridge rather than Diss - Liverpool Street even though that journey is at least 30 minutes longer.
Trolley service only on Tuesday. I had a cup of tea. It was absolutely stone cold. Didn't have the heart to complain to the very cheerful ladies serving.
At least I can grab a decent cup of tea at Ely or Cambridge on the longer route.
The Mk3s all seem to have a grubby smell, a combination of damp, brake dust and general grime.
86246 said:
I haven’t noticed that myself this week. Although I’m not sure if there are any nine coach sets in service at present. Certainly often see a first class coach making up the standard class numbers now.
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I think all sets are 8 coaches now. I suppose in real life that means just over a sets worth (plus any spares) are out of use, and one vehicle has been robbed from the others to make it up again. Can't be far off the service collapsing if more coaches have to be pulled for faults or exam.
 
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Alfie1014

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Richard Clinnick posted a picture earlier this week of a number of MkIIIs in the new short sidings with FlIRTs and this before we get into leaf fall season!
 
dk1

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Alfie1014 said:
Richard Clinnick posted a picture earlier this week of a number of MkIIIs in the new short sidings with FlIRTs and this before we get into leaf fall season!
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They are better in there as it's not so easily accessible & allows more Flirting space areound the depot.
 
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ivzem

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dk1 said:
Cheers I'd never heard of it. Us poor traincrew have enough acronyms to boil our brains & last us a bloody lifetime.
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I had to look it up myself.
Although luckily it appers as if those four are the only Stadler trains intended for more than one customer that have been given an acronym (maybe besides the South American Light Locomotive, but that's unlikely to be of much importance here).
 
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James James

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trebor79 said:
Just be thankful they didn't plump for Stadlers other product, KISS!
No, really...
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For Sweden they had to rename it back to DOSTO because kiss apparently means pee in Swedish. At least that's what Wikipedia tells us...

(I don't know of many people using the Kiss name to be fair, everyone over here calls them Dosto. And the SMILE generally goes by Giruno...)
 
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Bikeman78

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trebor79 said:
Ditto. It's got bad enough for me to start using Attleborough - Kings X via Cambridge rather than Diss - Liverpool Street even though that journey is at least 30 minutes longer.
Trolley service only on Tuesday. I had a cup of tea. It was absolutely stone cold. Didn't have the heart to complain to the very cheerful ladies serving.
At least I can grab a decent cup of tea at Ely or Cambridge on the longer route.
The Mk3s all seem to have a grubby smell, a combination of damp, brake dust and general grime.

I think all sets are 8 coaches now. I suppose in real life that means just over a sets worth (plus any spares) are out of use, and one vehicle has been robbed from the others to make it up again. Can't be far off the service collapsing if more coaches have to be pulled for faults or exam.
Click to expand...

The two sets I had a fortnight ago were both fine. Roger Ford reckons they are the eighth most reliable fleet in the UK so if you think they are bad, spare a thought for the rest if us!
 
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samuelmorris

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Bikeman78 said:
The two sets I had a fortnight ago were both fine. Roger Ford reckons they are the eighth most reliable fleet in the UK so if you think they are bad, spare a thought for the rest if us!
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I think that figure will probably be coming down now as these issues anecdotally seem to have got a lot worse in the past few months, however with the issue mostly being the coaches, a short-form with first class in the wrong place / non-existent won't trigger a TIN to my knowledge, so 'most reliable intercity fleet' could still be valid, even if they are a mess. It's easy to forget how unreliable the rest of the country's express fleets are.
 
Railperf

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Having what could be my last runs on a Class 90 hauled train today. Some strange Mk3 rakes out there
A London train was seen with its customary 1st and 2nd 1st class coaches..and an additional first class coach down the rake in 6th position.
My Northbound run has been one of the most sprightly ever
0 t0 60mph in 75 to 80s from each start
Though the start from Diss was the slowest with quite a bit of bumping - so guessing a fair bit of wheelslip lol! Are these IC70 seats. If so reasonably comfy..i like the fact that the low backs give you a good view along the carriage. Red seats and trim in LNER / Virgin style would make these more appealing to sit in. The grey makes it all a bit drab. For all the people that say these have had their day ..it is all in the standard of the refurbishment. All that is lacking is an electronic seat reservation system, a decent PIS and electronic doors. Otherwise still a pleasant place to sit for several hours.
.
 
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Bikeman78

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samuelmorris said:
I think that figure will probably be coming down now as these issues anecdotally seem to have got a lot worse in the past few months, however with the issue mostly being the coaches, a short-form with first class in the wrong place / non-existent won't trigger a TIN to my knowledge, so 'most reliable intercity fleet' could still be valid, even if they are a mess. It's easy to forget how unreliable the rest of the country's express fleets are.
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A short form can result in a TIN but more likely on stopping/urban trains. It unlikely that one missing coach on a Norwich set will result in three minutes overtime at a station. I can't be bothered to dig out my old Modern Railways but I think the 90s MTIN was around 50000 in January. That equates roughly to a fault every five days assuming 1000 miles per set per day. For comparison, the GN 313s were more like one fault per day when all 44 were in traffic. Most 158 fleets are on two faults per day.
 
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samuelmorris

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Bikeman78 said:
A short form can result in a TIN but more likely on stopping/urban trains. It unlikely that one missing coach on a Norwich set will result in three minutes overtime at a station. I can't be bothered to dig out my old Modern Railways but I think the 90s MTIN was around 50000 in January. That equates roughly to a fault every five days assuming 1000 miles per set per day. For comparison, the GN 313s were more like one fault per day when all 44 were in traffic. Most 158 fleets are on two faults per day.
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58323 on the MAA (up from 56312 the previous year) and 62530 for that month, so pretty consistently in the upper 50s. They do, however, have a very high DPI of 43.2, something I've experienced personally with an evac at Harold Wood from a 12-car 321 formation due to a 90+ minute delay from one failing between there and Brentwood. Nonetheless it's a respectable score.
 
Railperf

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Railperf said:
Having what could be my last runs on a Class 90 hauled train today. Some strange Mk3 rakes out there
A London train was seen with its customary 1st and 2nd 1st class coaches..and an additional first class coach down the rake in 6th position.
My Northbound run has been one of the most sprightly ever
0 t0 60mph in 75 to 80s from each start
Though the start from Diss was the slowest with quite a bit of bumping - so guessing a fair bit of wheelslip lol! Are these IC70 seats. If so reasonably comfy..i like the fact that the low backs give you a good view along the carriage. Red seats and trim in LNER / Virgin style would make these more appealing to sit in. The grey makes it all a bit drab. For all the people that say these have had their day ..it is all in the standard of the refurbishment. All that is lacking is an electronic seat reservation system, a decent PIS and electronic doors. Otherwise still a pleasant place to sit for several hours.
.
Click to expand...
Haha no wonder it was a fast one...'tin rocket' 90001 on the rear. That loco is extraordinarily fast! Feels like it has 1000hp more than the rest!
 
Alfie1014

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samuelmorris said:
58323 on the MAA (up from 56312 the previous year) and 62530 for that month, so pretty consistently in the upper 50s. They do, however, have a very high DPI of 43.2, something I've experienced personally with an evac at Harold Wood from a 12-car 321 formation due to a 90+ minute delay from one failing between there and Brentwood. Nonetheless it's a respectable score.
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Happy to be corrected is the figure for the 90s just the loco, or does it include faults accrued on the DVTs (our indeed the other coaches?) If not then it as I perceive it under estimates the overall reliability of the whole train set. Which when you add in the permanent short formations resulting in standing from Manningtree in the peaks gives a completely different perspective of reliability to the passenger than the lorded figures.
 
dk1

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Railperf said:
Haha no wonder it was a fast one...'tin rocket' 90001 on the rear. That loco is extraordinarily fast! Feels like it has 1000hp more than the rest!
Click to expand...
Top little pocket rocket that one. Been like it for a couple of years but fleet can't explain why. Was the reason drivers suggested it be used for the Ni90 launch.
 
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