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TFW Stock Shortages

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ValleyLines142

ValleyLines142

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Brissle Girl said:
Ok, but your post said the first City Line was a 153 and that they cancelled subsequent services from that diagram. That seems to be a little different to what happened.
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Apologies, I obviously wasn't clear. But you can see the level of disruption caused.
 
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Stephen Lee

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I afraid the Class 153 in WMT will be displaced by the time when Class 196s were delivered and entered service since when Class 230s and Class 172/0 were deployed in Leamington-Coventry-Nuneaton and Marston vale line(+Chase line electrification), Class 153s are now working as back-up units of Class 170 in Birmingham-Hereford and Snow hill lines
 
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PHILIPE

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Stephen Lee said:
I afraid the Class 153 in WMT will be displaced by the time when Class 196s were delivered and entered service since when Class 230s and Class 172/0 were deployed in Leamington-Coventry-Nuneaton and Marston vale line(+Chase line electrification), Class 153s are now working as back-up units of Class 170 in Birmingham-Hereford and Snow hill lines
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Just wondering how this concerns TFW shortages. Pardon me for pointing it out.
 
anamyd

anamyd

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PHILIPE said:
Just wondering how this concerns TFW shortages. Pardon me for pointing it out.
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Transport for Wales is supposedly getting 4 153s from West Midlands Trains, which would mean up to 22 153s at a time if the 8 ex-Arriva Trains Wales ones, 5 ex-Great Western Railway ones, 5 ex-Greater Anglia ones and 4 ex-West Midlands Trains ones are all counted. This was apparently reported in tomorrow's RAIL 890, which was out early in digital form.
 
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Cardiff123

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PHILIPE said:
Just wondering how this concerns TFW shortages. Pardon me for pointing it out.
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Because the latest issue of RAIL magazine says that TfW will be recieving 4 x 153s from WMT in addition to the 5 from GA
 
Esker-pades

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Cardiff123 said:
Welsh media have picked up on the Class 769 non-arrival, although this article doesn't tell forum members anything we don't already know

BBC News - Additional south Wales Valley lines trains delayed
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-50151983
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Text from the article to comply with forum rules:
BBC said:
Refurbished trains to boost capacity on the Valley lines have been delayed "until early 2020".

The Porterbrook-built Class 769 trains were due to have been delivered to Transport for Wales (TfW) last spring.

The rolling stock firm said the five trains have been held up by engineering and supply chain issues.

A source close to the company said the project, involving converting older trains to use diesel and electricity, has presented engineering challenges.

Plaid Cymru wants assurances taxpayers will not pay for the cost of the delays.

Porterbrook has apologised and said the trains are "currently going through their final acceptance programme".

A spokesperson said it continues "to actively work with our supplier Wabtec to ensure that these trains are delivered to TfW as soon as possible".

Plaid leader Adam Price said: "With fare payers already at a loss, taxpayers should be given assurances that the contract signed with the train provider has penalty clauses and a cancellation point built into it."

At First Minister's Questions on Tuesday, Mr Price asked Mark Drakeford whether passengers would be compensated for the delays in getting the rolling stock on line.

Mr Drakeford said there would be reductions in fares in parts of the network when Transport for Wales makes an announcement in January.
Image caption Pacers will continue to be used on the Valleys Lines while TfW waits for the new trains

A spokesperson for TfW, which took over running Wales' train services a year ago, could not confirm when the trains will be operational, but said, "once we have successfully received the trains, they will undergo stringent safety and engineering checks to ensure they are ready for service".

"We will then commence driver training and we hope to introduce the Class 769s in early 2020".

The same trains have been tested successfully in the North of England, where they reached speeds of up to 100mph when in diesel-mode.

Transport for Wales will introduce other trains (Class 153) as well as retain some of the old Pacer trains and Cass 37 loco-hauled trains in order to ease capacity problems while they wait for the new Class 769 trains.

Richard Clinnick from Rail UK magazine said "delays to the rebuilt Class 769s have been caused by supply chain issues as well as engineering problems."

"There is a wider industry issue regarding shortage of rolling stock, and TfW is in the same situation as several other operators reliant on new and cascaded trains.

"These Class 769s were designed to boost capacity, and eventually when they arrive, that is what they will do, but TfW has to get them first."
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ValleyLines142

ValleyLines142

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Chaos on the 0804 Radyr to Coryton this morning. Single 153 already full and standing from Fairwater. Dangerously overcrowded by Waun-Gron Park and two got left behind. At Ninian Park nobody could board. Passengers asking people to move right the way down inside the carriage and then getting sh***y with each other because they have to squash all the way in.

I don't want to be told that there's a shortage of stock and blah blah blah. I get it. But that is not how a TOC should operate. Especially on a service that only runs at a half-hourly frequency.

Because of the overcrowding on board, it gradually lost more and more time and got into Cardiff Central six minutes late. By the time everybody had got off, it was almost ten minutes late. Then the 0826 to Merthyr came in. Four car Pacer, I thought great. Oh no, it splits at Cardiff. Front two for Merthyr, rear two for Bargoed. By the time the overcrowded pair of Pacers split, it lost more time. Then there's loads that stay onto Queen Street, Cathays and Trefforest. It just doesn't work. Apparently, it's down to TfW 'protecting the fleet' and 'improving the timetable'. I think not.....

I have never experienced anything like it. A regular passenger on the City Line this morning apparently yesterday asked a guard why there are so many City Line cancellations, only to be told that 'the City Line isn't a priority compared to other lines'. Great imagine there from TfW! I don't understand it.

I've decided that when I'm in at 9am I'll be leaving on the 7am train to ensure I actually get on. Because I'm not dealing with that again.
 
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Cardiff123

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TfW are saying the the media (and in that article) that 'some' Pacers will remain in service into 2020, implying that they'll be getting rid of some, maybe the 142s.
I don't see how they can afford to let go of any.
 
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PHILIPE

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To add to woes this evening 4 x Pacers and a 175 are having to be used to work vice out of service LHCS to Rhymney and the Premier service to Holyhead
 
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Brissle Girl

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Cardiff123 said:
TfW are saying the the media (and in that article) that 'some' Pacers will remain in service into 2020, implying that they'll be getting rid of some, maybe the 142s.
I don't see how they can afford to let go of any.
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Because if they get the full dozen 2 and 3 car 170s in service in December then that should enable some of the Pacers to go yet still leaving more stock than now to improve resilience in terms of availability day to day.
 
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Cardiff123

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Brissle Girl said:
Because if they get the full dozen 2 and 3 car 170s in service in December then that should enable some of the Pacers to go yet still leaving more stock than now to improve resilience in terms of availability day to day.
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But with the kind of peak time overcrowding that DanTrainMan185 has described, is it really advisable for TfW to be getting rid of any Pacers until all 9 of the 769s are in daily service? Even if there are Pacers sitting in Canton sidings during the day, a 142+153 on a peak time City line service, will be better than the rammed single 153 DanTrainMan185 described this morning.
 
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Chris217

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Cardiff123 said:
But with the kind of peak time overcrowding that DanTrainMan185 has described, is it really advisable for TfW to be getting rid of any Pacers until all 9 of the 769s are in daily service? Even if there are Pacers sitting in Canton sidings during the day, a 142+153 would be better than the rammed single 153 DanTrainMan185 described this morning.
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Agree 100%
But dont forget let's not use any common sense otherwise someone will moan lol
 
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Adlee Turner

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Does anyone have any photos of class 150245 since it’s been damaged? I understand that it was seen at Canton but wondered if it was going to be moved for repairs because of its extensive damage?
 
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Brissle Girl

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Chris217 said:
Agree 100%
But dont forget let's not use any common sense otherwise someone will moan lol
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You don’t need 30 or so additional vehicles (which is what the class 170s will bring) to bring more capacity and solve shortforming issues, particularly when replacing a pacer with a 150 in itself delivers a 30% increase in capacity.

I’d expect a few token withdrawals at the very least, although as TfW has already made clear, many will be remaining pending the 769 introduction.

Whether or not all the 170s will be in use come the new timtetable is a moot point though.
 
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stj

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The Railway keeps getting the blame for overcrowding but its the same on the roads Councils keep allowing new housing to be built but no provision for transport expansion.Maybe we need to live and work in the same area like it used to be.
 
sftfan1909

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DanTrainMan185 said:
Then the 0826 to Merthyr came in. Four car Pacer, I thought great. Oh no, it splits at Cardiff. Front two for Merthyr, rear two for Bargoed. By the time the overcrowded pair of Pacers split, it lost more time.
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I catch this service to college. The first time it showed as splitting at Cardiff, it turned up as a 2 car, leaving 30 people behind at the third stop..
 
ValleyLines142

ValleyLines142

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Adlee Turner said:
Does anyone have any photos of class 150245 since it’s been damaged? I understand that it was seen at Canton but wondered if it was going to be moved for repairs because of its extensive damage?
Click to expand...

I will try and get a picture of it next time I go past Canton. There was an engineer in the cab this morning.
 
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PHILIPE

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Cardiff123 said:
But with the kind of peak time overcrowding that DanTrainMan185 has described, is it really advisable for TfW to be getting rid of any Pacers until all 9 of the 769s are in daily service? Even if there are Pacers sitting in Canton sidings during the day, a 142+153 on a peak time City line service, will be better than the rammed single 153 DanTrainMan185 described this morning.
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If we had a 142/143+153 we would have a more than valuable carriage too many. The 153 could be used by running more pairs on Maseteg/Cheltenhams or Ebbw Vales than there already are pending their deployment in the north.
 
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Bikeman78

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Cardiff123 said:
But with the kind of peak time overcrowding that DanTrainMan185 has described, is it really advisable for TfW to be getting rid of any Pacers until all 9 of the 769s are in daily service? Even if there are Pacers sitting in Canton sidings during the day, a 142+153 on a peak time City line service, will be better than the rammed single 153 DanTrainMan185 described this morning.
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It's common for all three Radyr to Coryton diagrams to be 153s at the moment. They should all be Pacers or 150s. They all do at least one busy run in both peaks. With so many short forms coming down from Pontypridd, people from Radyr are almost filling the city line trains before they set off.

At the moment, Cheltenham trains are often cancelled to provide units for the valleys. The arrival of the 170s will provide a better service to Cheltenham because they won't be able to be pinched to run elsewhere. But it won't free up many units to replace Pacers.
 
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