Merseyrail 777 discussion

karlbbb · 13 Jun 2025

Now that the introduction of all units has been completed (and introduction thread closed), it seems worthwhile to open a new thread for ongoing discussions and issues relating to the 777s. For example, I believe we still have 777004 out of service as it has been cannibalised for parts for a number of months now.

Additionally, the operation of 8-car formations south of Liverpool Central has not begun, due to delays in trackside equipment (now in place). Driver training for SDO is ongoing, with empty 8-car trains running between Kirkdale depot and Liverpool South Parkway daily. To this end, the reversion of services to Southport <-> Hunts Cross and Ormskirk <-> Central currently shows on RTT as happening on w/c Monday 4th August. Are we still expecting this to be realistic, or will it be pushed back again?

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tfw756rider · 15 Jun 2025

Hi,

So the date of first entry to service of Class 777 (according to Wikipedia) was the 23/1/23 - can anyone in here provide me with separate dates of first entry to service of subclasses 777/0 and 777/1 please?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jun 2025 ==

tfw756rider said:
Hi,

So the date of first entry to service of Class 777 (according to Wikipedia) was the 23/1/23 - can anyone in here provide me with separate dates of first entry to service of subclasses 777/0 and 777/1 please?

Would I be right in saying that the 23/1/23 was the date that subclass 777/0 entered service, and that the 5/10/23 was the date that subclass 777/1 entered service (the latter based on Headbolt Lane railway station's opening date)?

theblackwatch · 16 Jun 2025

tfw756rider said:
Would I be right in saying that the 23/1/23 was the date that subclass 777/0 entered service, and that the 5/10/23 was the date that subclass 777/1 entered service (the latter based on Headbolt Lane railway station's opening date)?

Yes - 777049 (23/01) and 777142 (05/10) were the first of each sub-class.

tfw756rider · 16 Jun 2025

theblackwatch said:
Yes - 777049 (23/01) and 777142 (05/10) were the first of each sub-class.

Many thanks!

TheSel · 19 Jun 2025

It is being reported today on BBC (link here) that:

"There will be extra train capacity in place to cope with increased demand when Everton play their first home game of the season at their new stadium, the Liverpool City Region mayor has said."

...

"Steve Rotheram has promised to double capacity on some Merseyrail services after facing criticism after a test event in March saw a high level of demand.

He said he would "squeeze every single ounce out of the capacity in the network we've got"."

...

""There were problems with people hours before trying to get into town and we only had four carriage trains on," Mr Rotheram said.

"So there will be eight carriages from an earlier start."

How realistic is it that 8 car formations will appear anywhere other than on services north of Liverpool Central by that date (23 August 2025)?

jamesst · 19 Jun 2025

TheSel said:
It is being reported today on BBC (link here) that:

"There will be extra train capacity in place to cope with increased demand when Everton play their first home game of the season at their new stadium, the Liverpool City Region mayor has said."

...

"Steve Rotheram has promised to double capacity on some Merseyrail services after facing criticism after a test event in March saw a high level of demand.

He said he would "squeeze every single ounce out of the capacity in the network we've got"."

...

""There were problems with people hours before trying to get into town and we only had four carriage trains on," Mr Rotheram said.

"So there will be eight carriages from an earlier start."

How realistic is it that 8 car formations will appear anywhere other than on services north of Liverpool Central by that date (23 August 2025)?

There should be some on Southports, Hunts Cross and Ormskirks by then

MR-507508 · 20 Jun 2025

RTT is now showing the current set-up (Hunts Cross to Ormskirk, Liverpool Central to Southport) until at least the start of October. This has recently been updated, with it previously showing the start of August for reverting back.

karlbbb · 23 Jun 2025

MR-507508 said:
RTT is now showing the current set-up (Hunts Cross to Ormskirk, Liverpool Central to Southport) until at least the start of October. This has recently been updated, with it previously showing the start of August for reverting back.

Certainly disappointing. There are daily runs of empty 8-car trains from Kirkdale to South Parkway and back - are there really that many drivers who still haven't been trained on SDO?

jamesst · 23 Jun 2025

karlbbb said:
Certainly disappointing. There are daily runs of empty 8-car trains from Kirkdale to South Parkway and back - are there really that many drivers who still haven't been trained on SDO?

You've no idea how short of drivers they are, resource are miracle workers

Liverpool 507 · 23 Jun 2025

jamesst said:
You've no idea how short of drivers they are, resource are miracle workers

Is this the reason why this has been pushed back?

jamesst · 24 Jun 2025

Liverpool 507 said:
Is this the reason why this has been pushed back?

Pretty much

Northerngirl · 25 Jun 2025

Just seen 150 & 029 are coupled at Kirkdale at the moment (first /1 & /0 pair?), as well as another pair with "train on test" barriers in the doors

childwallblues · 25 Jun 2025

Northerngirl said:
Just seen 150 & 029 are coupled at Kirkdale at the moment (first /1 & /0 pair?), as well as another pair with "train on test" barriers in the doors

I saw 140 coupled to a /0 a couple of months ago on Kirkdale Depot and assumed that it was a shunt movement.

MR-507508 · 25 Jun 2025

Have 2 battery units (7771's) ever been coupled together and ran in passenger service as an 8 Car?
I guess 8 Cars are highly unlikely to feature on the Headbolt Lane line?

jamesst · 26 Jun 2025

MR-507508 said:
Have 2 battery units (7771's) ever been coupled together and ran in passenger service as an 8 Car?
I guess 8 Cars are highly unlikely to feature on the Headbolt Lane line?

No, there's no plans for 8 cars on the Headbolt line

childwallblues · 26 Jun 2025

I saw 4 x 777/1 (777140/42/46/48) in dervice yesterday and all had X in the window.

Tramfan · 26 Jun 2025

Northerngirl said:
Just seen 150 & 029 are coupled at Kirkdale at the moment (first /1 & /0 pair?), as well as another pair with "train on test" barriers in the doors

A lot of the /1s seemed to have non-multi stickers in the cabs that I saw yesterday. The one with the barriers in the doors did the Kirkdale to Liverpool South Parkway run in the afternoon (012+016)

M28361M · 26 Jun 2025

There seems to have been another software update, as the train I was on earlier (didn’t get the number, sorry) had some of the Julie Berry announcements, such as “please move down the train”, replaced by a male voice.

Bayum · 26 Jun 2025

karlbbb said:
Now that the introduction of all units has been completed (and introduction thread closed), it seems worthwhile to open a new thread for ongoing discussions and issues relating to the 777s. For example, I believe we still have 777004 out of service as it has been cannibalised for parts for a number of months now.

Additionally, the operation of 8-car formations south of Liverpool Central has not begun, due to delays in trackside equipment (now in place). Driver training for SDO is ongoing, with empty 8-car trains running between Kirkdale depot and Liverpool South Parkway daily. To this end, the reversion of services to Southport <-> Hunts Cross and Ormskirk <-> Central currently shows on RTT as happening on w/c Monday 4th August. Are we still expecting this to be realistic, or will it be pushed back again?

Why has a train already been cannibalised for parts? Are they in such short supply already?

childwallblues · 27 Jun 2025

Bayum said:
/Why has a train already been cannibalised for parts? Are they in such short supply alread

Bayum said:
Why has a train already been cannibalised for parts? Are they in such short supply already?

On Tuesday 777004 was outside the depot in the sidings next to the running lines. Is this an indicator that the unit is ready to return to service?

Merseyrail 777 discussion

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