Class 158 air conditioning

[PHILIPE]

Had a GWR HST from Newport to Cardiff this afternoon which was STIFLING.

Then had a 142 from Cardiff to Waun-Gron Park which was also boiling.

Carwyn Jones, Welsh First Minister said during FMs Question Time today that he had had to go to London yesterday and that he had travelled back in an HST with no aircon

 

[superkev]

Do you have a union H&S rep?

I'm not sure if 158's have a dedicated cab cooling system or if it actually operational. Northern s 333, 321, 322 have.
K

 

[GW43125]

Had a GWR HST from Newport to Cardiff this afternoon which was STIFLING.

Open the windows then! Open droplight windows tend to work fairly well (I'm saying this from experience last time I was on an HST where the aircon packed up)

 

[TractiveEffort]

Carwyn Jones, Welsh First Minister said during FMs Question Time today that he had had to go to London yesterday and that he had travelled back in an HST with no aircon

I don't believe him. There may have been one, or possibly two coaches without air on, but I have only once in many years seen a whole HST set with no air con and that was caused by a phase rotation issue, not AC defects.

 

[TractiveEffort]

Double post, ignore

 

[PHILIPE]

I don't believe him. There may have been one, or possibly two coaches without air on, but I have only once in many years seen a whole HST set with no air con and that was caused by a phase rotation issue, not AC defects.

Just read GWR Twitter Feed. Many HSTs without aircon working over the last few days.

 

[D2007wsm]

Just read GWR Twitter Feed. Many HSTs without aircon working over the last few days.

I caught the delayed 1717 HST from Bristol Temple Meads to Worle and the Air Con was not working in coaches K, F, E, D and C. I do not know about the rest of the train.

I was going to catch the 16:54, which again was delayed but when it turned up it was a 158/9 with all of the hopper windows open. What with that and the amount of passengers boarding, I thought it would be better to wait for the HST for a more comfortable journey with a seat and Air Con. How wrong I was.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Do HSTs (Mk3s) also use the Liebherr system or do they use a completely different system?

 

[BestWestern]

The driver does have 2 huge opening windows unlike the guard carting his ticket machine.

The cab windows on a 158 sadly do very little in the way of cooling airflow. And they certainly aren't "huge"!

 

[SpacePhoenix]

The cab windows on a 158 sadly do very little in the way of cooling airflow. And they certainly aren't "huge"!

How much space is there under the cab windows? Is there enough room to be able to retrofit an air con system?

 

[BestWestern]

How much space is there under the cab windows? Is there enough room to be able to retrofit an air con system?

It's mounted on the ceiling on the GWR sets.

*Actually no it isn't, that's 150s! It's on the secondman's side bulkhead, rather.

 

[scotraildriver]

I'm not sure if 158's have a dedicated cab cooling system or if it actually operational. Northern s 333, 321, 322 have.
K

158's as built didnt have any air con in the cab. Only the modified Leibherr units have 2 vents piped from the passenger saloon. There is a cab cooling button but it just puts the whole coach into cool mode. Someone here tried to fail a 158 for no cab air con and they were told "well you couldnt fail a 156 so you cant fail a 158!"

 

[theageofthetra]

158's as built didnt have any air con in the cab. Only the modified Leibherr units have 2 vents piped from the passenger saloon. There is a cab cooling button but it just puts the whole coach into cool mode. Someone here tried to fail a 158 for no cab air con and they were told "well you couldnt fail a 156 so you cant fail a 158!"

Why in 2017 are any drivers driving units with no cab air con? If the driver feels that they are unable to maintain concentration due to unacceptable conditions in their cabs they should be able to refuse to drive it with full support from their union. If enough do something will have to be done. Modern effectice AC systems are not expensive anymore and this issue can easily be sorted.

 

[superkev]

158's as built didnt have any air con in the cab. Only the modified Leibherr units have 2 vents piped from the passenger saloon. There is a cab cooling button but it just puts the whole coach into cool mode. Someone here tried to fail a 158 for no cab air con and they were told "well you couldnt fail a 156 so you cant fail a 158!"

.
Looks like many TOC cavalier attitude to there passengers extends to there staff.
I wonder if a 158 cab at 90mph with the windows down with inaudible to any conversation and air buffetting the ears is safe.
K

 

[BestWestern]

.
Looks like many TOC cavalier attitude to there passengers extends to there staff.
I wonder if a 158 cab at 90mph with the windows down with inaudible to any conversation and air buffetting the ears is safe.
K

No worse than with the windows shut and the gangway door seals shot!

 

[scotraildriver]

There are thousands of cabs without air con. Here in Scotland only the 158,170 ,334 and 380 have it. The rest - 314,318,320,156 don't and never will. The vast majority of BR units don't have it.

 

[Flying Snail]

There are thousands of cabs without air con. Here in Scotland only the 158,170 ,334 and 380 have it. The rest - 314,318,320,156 don't and never will. The vast majority of BR units don't have it.

Aren't the 314 and 318 soon heading to the scrappers, to be replaced by A/C units?

Either way, the existence of non-fitted stock is no excuse for having failed A/C in units that have been designed for A/C cooling.

It is there, it is supposed to be working, if it does not work then it shouldn't be in service.

If the staff (drivers, guards and catering crew) refused to work the units with broken A/c the TOCs would soon be forced to sort the issues.

The only issue really is that they don't consider it important enough to be working on 100% of stock released for service as they do with dozens of other systems on the trains.

Plenty of parts on trains have faults and failings. A/C happens to be relatively brittle on moving vehicles, if it isn't given the correct maintenance and monitoring it will fail, it isn't unigue in this but it does seem to be the biggest system onboard whose failure is considered acceptable to ignore for days/weeks/months.

I know that because it has gone on for so long that it is more difficult for staff to raise the bar and refuse to work failed units but as far as I can see that is the only thing that will change the status-quo.

 

[Mordac]

Aren't the 314 and 318 soon heading to the scrappers, to be replaced by A/C units?

Either way, the existence of non-fitted stock is no excuse for having failed A/C in units that have been designed for A/C cooling.

It is there, it is supposed to be working, if it does not work then it shouldn't be in service.

If the staff (drivers, guards and catering crew) refused to work the units with broken A/c the TOCs would soon be forced to sort the issues.

The only issue really is that they don't consider it important enough to be working on 100% of stock released for service as they do with dozens of other systems on the trains.

Plenty of parts on trains have faults and failings. A/C happens to be relatively brittle on moving vehicles, if it isn't given the correct maintenance and monitoring it will fail, it isn't unigue in this but it does seem to be the biggest system onboard whose failure is considered acceptable to ignore for days/weeks/months.

I know that because it has gone on for so long that it is more difficult for staff to raise the bar and refuse to work failed units but as far as I can see that is the only thing that will change the status-quo.

No plan to replace the 318s, 314s are getting replaced by 385s yes.

 

[scotraildriver]

Just seen an internal notice stating that the 158's are all being fitted with new micropac controllers including remote monitoring and diagnostics so at least someone can see that it's not working!

 

[vikingdriver]

Just seen an internal notice stating that the 158's are all being fitted with new micropac controllers including remote monitoring and diagnostics so at least someone can see that it's not working!

From their comfortable, air conditioned office!