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Blackpool - Manchester Electrification

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LNW-GW Joint

LNW-GW Joint

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Am I seeing things on RTT or did 1N40 go via Atherton (and therefore be a DMU)?
No actual times showing Ordsall Lane-Golborne-Wigan, which is usually a tell-tale for a diversion

Dalesrail to Carlisle also apparently cancelled from Blackpool with crew problems.
 
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Loop & Link

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LeylandLen said:
The above is from #7372 .....

Looks like it left MIA at 0833 , and Live Open Rail Data does in fact state it is class 319 EMU, although I stand to be corrected by anyone who actually is on the train or sees it soon.
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Makes no difference what it’s timed for, or what the open data shows. It’s booked for a 158+156.

The DMU’s out today vice EMU’s were all planned, units not in the right place etc.

LNW-GW Joint said:
Am I seeing things on RTT or did 1N40 go via Atherton (and therefore be a DMU)?
No actual times showing Ordsall Lane-Golborne-Wigan, which is usually a tell-tale for a diversion

Dalesrail to Carlisle also apparently cancelled from Blackpool with crew problems.
Click to expand...

1N40 is booked to be a DMU anyway, and will continue to be every Sunday.
 
LeylandLen

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Loop & Link said:
Makes no difference what it’s timed for, or what the open data shows. It’s booked for a 158+156.

The DMU’s out today vice EMU’s were all planned, units not in the right place etc.
Click to expand...

I did not think it was an EMU when I saw it was diverted via Bolton . Just seen it on cam passing Farington , obviously a boring DMU as stated.
 
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spongsdad

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Sad to say that the United Kingdom is bottom heavy. We have a London-centric government and a London-centric economy; moreover the franchising system allows companies like Aviva to stick two metaphorical fingers up to the poor saps who have to ride on their trains. Every new minister should be sent out to somewhere in the sticks and be required to commute into his office for a month. Perhaps there would then be some empathy for those countless thousands who have to put up with this travesty of a rail service every day of their working lives.
 
Joseph_Locke

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Within earshot of trains passing the one and half
Bertie the bus said:
Units not in the right place? Did the new timetable come as a shock to Northern?
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As a user of their offering, just about everything comes as a shock to Northern these days. Dawn, rain, GMT, passengers, wind, timetables, hot weather, royal weddings, cold weather, weekdays, snow, wheelchair users, weekends, darkness, bank holidays, dusk, strikes, possessions, BST, sunspots, football matches, earthquakes, dogs and other trains all seem to induce a state of helpless catatonia amongst their ranks.
 
LNW-GW Joint

LNW-GW Joint

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Joseph_Locke said:
As a user of their offering, just about everything comes as a shock to Northern these days. Dawn, rain, GMT, passengers, wind, timetables, hot weather, royal weddings, cold weather, weekdays, snow, wheelchair users, weekends, darkness, bank holidays, dusk, strikes, possessions, BST, sunspots, football matches, earthquakes, dogs and other trains all seem to induce a state of helpless catatonia amongst their ranks.
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"Sir, Saturdays, despite recurring at regular and easily predictable intervals, always seem to take your railway by surprise...".
Letter from W S Gilbert to the LNWR stationmaster at Harrow and Wealdstone around 1900, complaining about the erratic service.
I think if we just said weekends instead, it could apply to any and all TOCs today. Every weekend and bank holiday.
It's all these improvements of course, infrastructure, new trains and whatnot... ;)
 
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LDECRexile

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I managed to be the second passenger on the first electric train from Blackpool North, thereafter it was all downhill in terms of electric trains I'm afraid. I gave up at Kirkham & Wesham late morning, only to see the second EMU from Blackpool pass as I departed. I never saw the first inbound electric. Ho hum.

Trains being cancelled left, right and centre. There's trouble at 'mill I reckon.

Photos to follow.
 
LDECRexile

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Railrover700 said:
I have now uploaded vids of what I'm pretty sure are the first electric passenger services to and from Blackpool.
1U90 0843 Blackpool N to Airport.
1N42 1043 Airport to Blackpool N.
Also 1F05 1132 Blackpool N to Liverpool LS.
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Aaaaarrrrgh! I could have caught 1N42 from K&W (but I'd have earned a parking ticket.) Drat, drat and double drat. Well done for filming them.
 
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Railrover700

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LDECRexile said:
Aaaaarrrrgh! I could have caught 1N42 from K&W (but I'd have earned a parking ticket.) Drat, drat and double drat. Well done for filming them.
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I nearly gave up as well, but I thought it must be a 319 given the real time data on RTT between Oxford Road and Preston.
 
KashmireHawker

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Ahead of Virgin's first service to Blackpool from Birmingham New Street on June 2nd, I posed the question of a return journey every Saturday afternoon/evening on Twitter and the response (unsurprisingly) = "We don't have any info on this at the moment I'm afraid, but feel free to keep checking back with us!"
 
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HowardGWR

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Nice new lawns at Poulton (photo A172m). Is there someone to keep them mown, I wonder?
 
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IanXC

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yorkie said:
Sorry but I don't understand your post, so that has made me confused too.
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Its all in relation to the ongong discussion of a pdf timetable that appeared to show a midnight arrival on Sunday of a service from Liverpool - which its seems was in fact a Sunday departure arriving on Monday.

Bertie the bus said:
Units not in the right place? Did the new timetable come as a shock to Northern?
Click to expand...

Saturday presumably had the end of day arrangement of units as per the previous timetable, Sunday starts assuming the post Blackpool electrification timetable and you assume that the two can map one to one?
 
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Bertie the bus

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IanXC said:
Saturday presumably had the end of day arrangement of units as per the previous timetable, Sunday starts assuming the post Blackpool electrification timetable and you assume that the two can map one to one?
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I can't believe I'm even bothering to reply to this but what a professional, competent company would do is put in STPs to move the units to where they should be for the start of service. That really shouldn't need explaining.
 
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IanXC

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Bertie the bus said:
I can't believe I'm even bothering to reply to this but what a professional, competent company would do is put in STPs to move the units to where they should be for the start of service. That really shouldn't need explaining.
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Presumably GTRs 3 week 'transition timetable' would be preferable to 1 days alterations?

So you want to put STPs in yesterday (which couldn't be after close of service due to box opening times and crew availability), and cancel the last trains of the day to re-position the units ready for Sunday morning?
 
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Class 170101

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Depending on service plan and crew route availability it may have been possible to run 319s vice DMUs this weekend (both Saturday and Sunday) to re-position units to Blackpool North without resorting to massive STP variations. However I wouldn't be surprised given how short notice this has been in terms of the base timetable being written and then re-written that some work has just been pushed out without perhaps much thought as to whether it could be covered or not.
 
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I can confirm that 390013 is en route to Blackpool in passenger service for the naming ceremony at lunchtime. It is running service 1P92 and if anyone wants to jump on board it departs Warrington Bank Quay at 10:56, Wigan North Western at 11:12 and Preston at 11:33. Should be a perfect day for photos.
The return journey departs Blackpool at 13:02.
 
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keith1879

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IanXC said:
Presumably GTRs 3 week 'transition timetable' would be preferable to 1 days alterations?

So you want to put STPs in yesterday (which couldn't be after close of service due to box opening times and crew availability), and cancel the last trains of the day to re-position the units ready for Sunday morning?
Click to expand...

As a passenger I simply want my train operator to run the trains it said it would run - at the times it promised. If there had to be a special transition timetable for the first weekend then fine. If the transition was managed by simply cancelling trains until everything was in the right place then sorry - but not acceptable.
 
LeylandLen

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SansHache said:
I can confirm that 390013 is en route to Blackpool in passenger service for the naming ceremony at lunchtime. It is running service 1P92 and if anyone wants to jump on board it departs Warrington Bank Quay at 10:56, Wigan North Western at 11:12 and Preston at 11:33. Should be a perfect day for photos.
The return journey departs Blackpool at 13:02.
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I am pleased to say I caught this train from Preston; not many on in coaches A, B,C ..
Obviously it was non-stop to BPN. The last time I did that journey, a few weeks ago, I went both ways by Rail Replacement bus, so a much improved and quicker experience !
After a short delay, there was the Official naming of 390013 Blackpool Belle. Short speeches by a VIP from Virgin , a man from Blackpool Heritage who was also a Virgin train driver,and a female Councillor (I never was good with names, sorry ) pus the Blackpool town crier with bell and many o-yeys and a small gathering of about 30, some media . Some nice fish and chips followed with ice cream ....thanks Virgin West Coast ! Then back at 1302 to Preston.
 
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reg

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Bolton-short run of masts from nw end of Plat 5 to Newport st has now got its earth wire.Will forward pic.
P.S. Just noticed platform 3 has also acquired earth wire
 
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LDECRexile

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I'm reight chuffed wi' Reg's shots showing the first ever wires up between Lostock and Salford Crescent.

I've added them to his album here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157671732263863

I went by train to Blackpool North yesterday for the Pendolino (re)naming. I've written a narrative in the captions to the photos I took. The presentation was a smashing do. Getting there was less impressive, but Northern did get me there not too late and got me to and from Wigan Wallgate on time to the second (with ticket checks, too). The bigger picture is that, in Monty's timeless phrase, somebody needs to get a grip. I don't believe Northern are entirely to blame, but they are responsible. I have a lot of sympathy for the staff at all levels who are doing their best in trying circumstances. I would welcome being shown that platform talk of drivers going out of their way to screw things up is neither fair nor true.

For me personally my day was made by three Northern guards who exemplified the customer service ethos, two are described in the photocaptions, the third was at Wallgate where the platform indicators showed that the Kirkby train was due from the west-facing bay. The train actually came in on the westbound through platform, I twigged what was going on and heard a distant announcement that it was the Kirkby train. I didn't see a lady standing patiently at the bay, but the guard did and went over to her and asked if she wanted the Kirkby train, which she did. Not world-shattering, just a nice everyday touch.

I've added my shots and Reg's to the Combined Volume here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157661069863633

Thank you Reg.
 
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