OmniCity999
Established Member
is there any online resource that would state what trains are cleared for what lines?
I know that most of the gauging locations for the 153 also applied to the 158, so there was little extra to do to clear for both.
Also, with fewer trains there would have been more available time, so I think that it's been completed ahead of the original schedule. The dry spring must have helped, but that's all over now!
Also as the last that I heard was it would be hay market 158’s on the WHL not Inverness based units
is there any online resource that would state what trains are cleared for what lines?
Ahha I see, thanks for the correctionit would be Corkerhill based 158s for WHL as Haymarket doesnt have an allocation of 158s
Not ever so common. It is unusual or maybe not done at all in the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. It is widespread in France but so is hearing bikes crashing off the hooks as the train stops!This is presumably an issue across Europe, as vertical racks of some sort seem to be common practice (on a random search)?
I imagine the majority of bikes will be lightweight mountain bikes or road bikes, which should hang from the hooks without much trouble. There's a bit of a misconception that hooks can damage wheel rims but assuming the bike can't swing around too much they're not a problem. Hooks aren't so good for heavy things like Dutch Bikes (20kg+ but unlikely to be on the West Highland Line) or touring bikes with loaded panniers, but they can probably be accommodated on a conventional rack elsewhere on the train.Oh dear - stupid bike rack where you have to hang the bike by the front wheel. Why couldn't they have blocked off the windows on one side, installed a proper horizontal bike rack, put the racks for bags and (seemingly) ski equipment above the bike storage and then had the corridor going down the other side?
You'd think they would be able to get this right on a carriage fitted out specifically for this purpose, but no...
Operators are obliged to provide bike capacity are they not?Just no pleasing some people is there? They could of course just not have bothered with any extra accommodation for bikes at all, given that the bikes themselves make zero revenue.
I imagine the majority of bikes will be lightweight mountain bikes or road bikes, which should hang from the hooks without much trouble. There's a bit of a misconception that hooks can damage wheel rims but assuming the bike can't swing around too much they're not a problem. Hooks aren't so good for heavy things like Dutch Bikes (20kg+ but unlikely to be on the West Highland Line) or touring bikes with loaded panniers, but they can probably be accommodated on a conventional rack elsewhere on the train.
Since we're being discouraged from using public transport, I imagine other trains trains will be needing a lot more bike capacity as people use bikes rather than busses to get to and from stations.
726-741 moved last year from Haymarket to Corkerhill to be used on the WHL but that plan was scrappedfrom what I remember, the 153 was the more awkward unit to gauge clear compared to the 158 possibly due to the steps on their bogies!?!
Thanks LOM for further confirmation although be interested to hear from 158725 of their reference material as to why 158’s wouldn’t be cleared anytime soon?
Also as the last that I heard was it would be hay market 158’s on the WHL not Inverness based units, don’t know how that would work as would assume either would still be able to appear anyways but that knowledge would be for ScotRail fleet as it’s their units and diagrams
Of course just because something is cleared doesn’t mean they will just suddenly appear on the line in question
Removing cycle touring panniers is often easier said than done. By the end of one of my trips I had duct tape holding one on because the strap had broken. No way would I take that off on the train. I tend to sit within sight of my bike though anyway.You're probably asked to remove your panniers and store them near your seat, anyway, as that's unattended luggage otherwise.
Most people using a bike to get to the station don't take it to their destination, the vast majority of commuter and other short distance train journeys are smaller place/suburb to city centre, and you don't really need it in the city centre because most of them (London aside) are walkable. In London you've got Bozza bikes (Sadiq cycles?), while some other commuters keep a basic, less desirable to thieves bike at their usual London terminus.
726-741 moved last year from Haymarket to Corkerhill to be used on the WHL but that plan was scrapped
Hmm, that's an interesting point, and risks the internal arrangement being soon made obsolete by the rapid adoption of ebikes.I imagine the majority of bikes will be lightweight mountain bikes or road bikes, which should hang from the hooks without much trouble. There's a bit of a misconception that hooks can damage wheel rims but assuming the bike can't swing around too much they're not a problem. Hooks aren't so good for heavy things like Dutch Bikes (20kg+ but unlikely to be on the West Highland Line) or touring bikes with loaded panniers, but they can probably be accommodated on a conventional rack elsewhere on the train.
It would be a shoe-in on the Heart of Wales line. I seem to recall that West Midlands have run 170s coupled to 153s between Hereford and Birmingham, and if so there is no reason why it should not work at a technical level with the replacement HoWL stock. I am sure the HoWL community rail partnership must be aware of Scotrail's innovation.Looks smart kind of wish tfw done it on some of their services in Pembrokeshire and the heart of Wales line
I'm more concerned about the strength required to lift bikes into the racks (and possibly adoption of ebikes as @squizzler says). There is this misconception that nobody could possibly want to travel with a bike who isn't particularly strong, but in reality bikes represent an efficient, enjoyable and easy means of travel, even for those who aren't.I imagine the majority of bikes will be lightweight mountain bikes or road bikes, which should hang from the hooks without much trouble. There's a bit of a misconception that hooks can damage wheel rims but assuming the bike can't swing around too much they're not a problem. Hooks aren't so good for heavy things like Dutch Bikes (20kg+ but unlikely to be on the West Highland Line) or touring bikes with loaded panniers, but they can probably be accommodated on a conventional rack elsewhere on the train.
Why anyone would want to travel the WHL in a boiling hot, noisy, claustrophobic 158 over a 156 is a mystery to me. Getting out of 158s into 156s has been a relief for me with the recent hot weather. And from a drivers viewpoint the braking on a 158 on the WHL will be a nightmare. The timetable will be in tatters as drivers creep around on wet days trying not to go into a slide.158s for the WHL was a franchise commitment. Abellio asked for a waiver but were turned down. But now we're on emergency funding, who knows.
I actually have the opposite opinion. I find the 156s to be far noisier and the seats on the 158s more comfortable. Also the 156s seem to ride rougher but that might just be me.Why anyone would want to travel the WHL in a boiling hot, noisy, claustrophobic 158 over a 156 is a mystery to me. Getting out of 158s into 156s has been a relief for me with the recent hot weather.
If they are to remain in service without a PRM TSI derogation then they will have to unfortunately.Will the 153s get the awful, bright, flickering, migraine inducing PIS system as now fitted to the refurbished class 156s?
I cannot sit in a 156 facing it and have not risked my once often 3hr journey to Oban in one since they were installed.
I was on an East Midlands 158 back in March and noticed how much better their system was with easy on the eye words moving smoothly across the screen. I think it was an LCD rather than an LED screen. You could easily read a book/ look out window etc without being distressed by the screen. I guess Scotrail went for the cheap version!If they are to remain in service without a PRM TSI derogation then they will have to unfortunately.
The system you are referring to is called TrainFX and the displays are notoriously flickery and unreliable.
Of course it's possible they'll go with a better PIS solution but I find it very unlikely.
In a 150 there are a few positions you can sit where you can't see a PIS screen, I don't know if it's the same on a 156.
156s are way noisier that 158s. overall id take a 156 over a 158 any day or even better, a 170Why anyone would want to travel the WHL in a boiling hot, noisy, claustrophobic 158 over a 156 is a mystery to me. Getting out of 158s into 156s has been a relief for me with the recent hot weather. And from a drivers viewpoint the braking on a 158 on the WHL will be a nightmare. The timetable will be in tatters as drivers creep around on wet days trying not to go into a slide.
Why anyone would want to travel the WHL in a boiling hot, noisy, claustrophobic 158 over a 156 is a mystery to me. Getting out of 158s into 156s has been a relief for me with the recent hot weather. And from a drivers viewpoint the braking on a 158 on the WHL will be a nightmare. The timetable will be in tatters as drivers creep around on wet days trying not to go into a slide.
Why anyone would want travel on the WHL in a 156 fitted with ironing board seats over a 158 is a mystery to me.Why anyone would want to travel the WHL in a boiling hot, noisy, claustrophobic 158 over a 156 is a mystery to me. Getting out of 158s into 156s has been a relief for me with the recent hot weather. And from a drivers viewpoint the braking on a 158 on the WHL will be a nightmare. The timetable will be in tatters as drivers creep around on wet days trying not to go into a slide.
Why anyone would want travel on the WHL in a 156 fitted with ironing board seats over a 158 is a mystery to me.
It is Scotland, not the Sahara...If they fitted a totally new aircon/air cooling system (or openers to all windows) to the 158 which was capable of maintaining a temperature of no more than 21 degrees regardless of what it was like outside I'd agree, particularly if it was one of the excellent Inverness units. As it is, I'd rather a 156 than a sauna.
It is Scotland, not the Sahara...
Are ScotRail fitting all of their 156's with ironing boards or just the ones that still have the original ashbourne's?The 156s seem to offer better views but more airy. The new seats on 156s are not comfortable for long journeys.
All of them; didn’t they all have the original seats still anyway?Are ScotRail fitting all of their 156's with ironing boards or just the ones that still have the original ashbourne's?
ScotRail 156s never had anything elseAre ScotRail fitting all of their 156's with ironing boards or just the ones that still have the original ashbourne's?