CAF Civity for TfW: News and updates on introduction.

[childwallblues]

197043 is on the Blaneau branch today.

 

[SuperLuke2334]

197043 is on the Blaneau branch today.

It's 012 on the branch. 043 is showing as taking over 0743 Llandudno to MIA from Chester.

 

[Jez]

Confirmed 197043 entered service this afternoon driver posted a photo of it on Facebookat Chester, photos on the class 197 group . 1st of the next batch of 197s to enter service

Excellent news. Hopefully not long before we see them finally enter service in Carmarthen/Swansea.

I was chatting to a member of TFW staff whilst on the train this week and they didn't seem to have a good opinion on the 197s! The conversation came about as I mentioned it was nice to be on a 175 again and i then mentioned the 197s. Their words were 'they are no better than the 150s!' Of course everyone has their opinion but I thought it was an interesting point of view from a member of staff.

 

[The_Train]

Excellent news. Hopefully not long before we see them finally enter service in Carmarthen/Swansea.

I was chatting to a member of TFW staff whilst on the train this week and they didn't seem to have a good opinion on the 197s! The conversation came about as I mentioned it was nice to be on a 175 again and i then mentioned the 197s. Their words were 'they are no better than the 150s!' Of course everyone has their opinion but I thought it was an interesting point of view from a member of staff.

Did they elaborate on why they felt that though?

 

[Jez]

Did they elaborate on why they felt that though?

Not really. And I didnt really like to ask them too much! I was more interested in finding out when they might start in passenger service on Carmarthen-Cardiff rather than their opinions on the fleet themselves. I was told it was meant to be last month but been delayed now. So nothing I didnt already know as it was always supposed to be from the May TT. I didn't expect any inside information to be fair but thought id be cheeky and ask lol!

 

[The_Train]

Not really. And I didnt really like to ask them too much! I was more interested in finding out when they might start in passenger service on Carmarthen-Cardiff rather than their opinions on the fleet themselves. I was told it was meant to be last month but been delayed now. So nothing I didnt already know as it was always supposed to be from the May TT. I didn't expect any inside information to be fair but thought id be cheeky and ask lol!

If you don't ask, you don't get
No probs, just intrigued as to what it is that makes people think how they do. It's easy to make a throwaway opinion but not always easy to back it up. I'd happen to agree that I'll always prefer sprinter stock to the new stock, but my reasoning (as an enthusiast) will be very different to someone who works the trains on a daily basis

 

[Caaardiff]

They're reliability is questionable lately. The same with Northern 195s and WMT's 196s. Although they are fresh, new and a better environment inside, many opinions fall back to cheap build and unreliability. I've also heard mentioned that the reliability of the toilets is poor, not great considering on 2 cars there's only 1.

 

[Jez]

If you don't ask, you don't get
No probs, just intrigued as to what it is that makes people think how they do. It's easy to make a throwaway opinion but not always easy to back it up. I'd happen to agree that I'll always prefer sprinter stock to the new stock, but my reasoning (as an enthusiast) will be very different to someone who works the trains on a daily basis

Yes I agree, the opinions of staff will be for very different reasons to that of enthusiasts like us.

Even though the layout to the 197 is quite similar to a 150 with the doors in the same place etc I see a 197 as a massive upgrade to a 150. Whether its an upgrade from a 175 I'm not as sure about, I find it difficult to compare them like for like as they are very different units. But I definitely think a 197 is far better than any of the Sprinters including a 158.

They're reliability is questionable lately. The same with Northern 195s and WMT's 196s. Although they are fresh, new and a better environment inside, many opinions fall back to cheap build and unreliability. I've also heard mentioned that the reliability of the toilets is poor, not great considering on 2 cars there's only 1.

Yes perhaps I just see the clean new train and not see the same things as staff members do!

 

[Krokodil]

I was chatting to a member of TFW staff whilst on the train this week and they didn't seem to have a good opinion on the 197s! The conversation came about as I mentioned it was nice to be on a 175 again and i then mentioned the 197s. Their words were 'they are no better than the 150s!' Of course everyone has their opinion but I thought it was an interesting point of view from a member of staff.

I've often described them as "150s on steroids". I mean, they're an improvement on 150s bit that's not a high bar.

If you don't ask, you don't get
No probs, just intrigued as to what it is that makes people think how they do. It's easy to make a throwaway opinion but not always easy to back it up. I'd happen to agree that I'll always prefer sprinter stock to the new stock, but my reasoning (as an enthusiast) will be very different to someone who works the trains on a daily basis

I can rant on for hours about each little bit of poor design on the things.

 

[JakeMurphy]

Big big news - 197110 is entering service on 1K50 0857 Chester to Crewe. First 3 car to do so.

 

[SuperLuke2334]

Big big news - 197110 is entering service on 1K50 0857 Chester to Crewe. First 3 car to do so.

Excellent news!!

 

[JakeMurphy]

It doesn’t stop there - 197112 is entering service as well on 1D48 1500 Crewe - Chester

 

[SuperLuke2334]

It doesn’t stop there - 197112 is entering service as well on 1D48 1500 Crewe - Chester

Oh even better!

 

[sd0733]

Should start seeing the remainder of the extras start entering service now after the issues were overcome, slightly quicker than originally thought. Upto a fleet of 38 units should be relatively quick then after that it'll be one unit per week accepted into service. Tomorrow sees the extra Cardiff diagram which brings the first workings on Crewe-Shrewsbury and some strengthening of existing diagrams.

 

[anthony263]

Here are the diagrams for 110 and 112 today.

 

[SuperLuke2334]

Should start seeing the remainder of the extras start entering service now after the issues were overcome, slightly quicker than originally thought. Upto a fleet of 38 units should be relatively quick then after that it'll be one unit per week accepted into service. Tomorrow sees the extra Cardiff diagram which brings the first workings on Crewe-Shrewsbury and some strengthening of existing diagrams.

Brilliant news!!

 

[Techniquest]

Fantastic news all round! I'm looking forward to a return to North Wales next month, not sure when it will be but all being well it will probably be mid-August. Too much else to do in the meantime!

 

[anthony263]

Think that 110 and 112 will be welcomed as they offer extra capacity to the two carriage units and allow some two carriage units to run in pairs

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

As well as the first 3-car 197s, it's a rich mixture of stock from Holyhead today, including 10-car 221s (but only to Crewe) and a 6-car sprinter setup of 2x158 and 2x153 on the 1430 to Manchester Airport.

 

[william.martin]

Not going great for 197110 today

Realtime Trains | 1D13 0925 Crewe to Holyhead | 02/07/2023

Real-time train running information for 1D13 0925 departure from Crewe to Holyhead on 02/07/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[Cambrian359]

Are 197-100s grouped as all 3 cars or?

 

[FrodshamJnct]

Are 197-100s grouped as all 3 cars or?

197/0s are 2 car sets.
197/1s are 3 car sets.

 

[AJDesiro]

Are 197-100s grouped as all 3 cars or?

197/0s are 2 car. 197/1s are all 3 cars, some /1s will also have first class/standard premium seating inside (I have no idea what TfW are going for on the first class front).
EDIT: Seems @FrodshamJnct beat me to it!

 

[Topological]

Anyone know what happened with 197110

Seems to have been on time from Crewe and then left Chester 30 late but then kept to the planned journey time all the way to Holyhead. Did RTT not update the allocation and the 30 minutes late departure was actually a different unit?

 

[anthony263]

197043 supposed to be working with 110 later

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Can we believe a 7-car set on the 1931 Holyhead-Crewe?
RTT shows 197 011/009/112.

112 is en route from Chester on time at Flint.

 

[GWVillager]

Anyone know what happened with 197110

Seems to have been on time from Crewe and then left Chester 30 late but then kept to the planned journey time all the way to Holyhead. Did RTT not update the allocation and the 30 minutes late departure was actually a different unit?

Probably the latter scenario. A similar thing happened at Holyhead the other day, and it was that.

 

[sd0733]

17 booked passenger diagrams for 197s tomotrrow, 14 2 car and 3 3 car diagrams. Obviously that's what's booked, not necessarily what turns up.

 

[Jez]

17 booked passenger diagrams for 197s tomotrrow, 14 2 car and 3 3 car diagrams. Obviously that's what's booked, not necessarily what turns up.

Will some of those 2 cars be doubled up or is it 14 individual 2 car diagrams?

 

[SuperLuke2334]

Will some of those 2 cars be doubled up or is it 14 individual 2 car diagrams?

The same number of diagrams are LTP, so presuming these remain the same, there will be some doubled services.