GWR Class 800

[CMRail]

Yeah it was definitely 800012.

I believe that jimm meant the 9 vice 10 trip. That was the unit on the 5 vice 10, I am unsure about the 9 vice 10 unit.

 

[Mintona]

I believe that jimm meant the 9 vice 10 trip. That was the unit on the 5 vice 10, I am unsure about the 9 vice 10 unit.

There wasn’t a 9 vice 10. There was going to be but the set (802101) wasn’t ready so it became a 5 vice 9 vice 10.

 

[Thatcham Xing]

Loads of GWR short forms today (5 car instead of 9 or 10). What's going on?

Loads of IETs (maybe 15-20, I didn't count exactly) parked at various places around North Pole when I passed at around 1020 this morning.

 

[CC 72100]

To be fair, I don’t recall ever getting 1L51 to stop at Severn Tunnel before - at least never on my watch, so you could still have your first!

Gold stars all round!

 

[Master29]

All this talk of vice. You could never use that word on Underground trains passing Leicester Square without a nudge nudge wink wink say no more. Still, you learn something every day.

 

[spark001uk]

A GWR Twitter reply:-

This means that we have to take some trains out to expedite our driver training, and means the rest of the fleet has to work more than originally intended and can lead to some shortages.

This is due to late electrification and late delivery of the IETs to GWR meaning the period for training having had to be condensed. The HSTs, which they are replacing, still have to go off lease by their contracted date so the training has to be done.

Do you have a link to this tweet perchance?

 

[InterCity:125]

Does anyone know if the 7:00 hull to London service will be the first class 800 in passenger use with lNer?

 

[PHILIPE]

Do you have a link to this tweet perchance?

https://twitter.com/GWRHelp/with_replies?lang=en-gb

 

[kevjs]

Do you have a link to this tweet perchance?

Can't find the exact one you quoted, but there are a few along the following lines:-
https://twitter.com/GWRHelp/status/1036981567363735552

As the electrification was delayed but the trains arrived on schedule this has impacted our training programme, as we can't train drivers on the new trains on section of track that haven't been electrified.

https://twitter.com/GWRHelp/status/1036981756061204480

This means that at the moment we have some 5 car IET sets out to help expedite the training, and it also means other IET sets have to work more than we planned which can also lead to shortages.

https://twitter.com/GWRHelp/status/1036981936248573952

We are working to train all our drivers as fast as we can, and hiring more drivers and driver training managers to better facilitate it. Unfortunately in the meantime it does mean there will be more 5 cars than we would like. -Andy

https://twitter.com/GWRHelp/status/1036981410748424192

Hi Carly and Elizabeth, sorry to hear this has been your experience. It's quite a complicated issue but we planned our driver training on the new trains around the original Network Rail electrification plans, which have since been delayed.

 

[samuelmorris]

That's a good effort by the twitter teams, normally tweet replies are a lot more simplistic than that from other TOCs...

 

[CMRail]

That's a good effort by the twitter teams, normally tweet replies are a lot more simplistic than that from other TOCs...

The people who used to moan on a daily basis over twitter to GWR have now reduced or asked in a polite manager thanks to the ‘banter’ of the current Social Media team.

 

[83G/84D]

Sorry if asked before but is there an unreserved carriage on a Class 800/802 and what carriage is the quiet coach (if there is one).

 

[cactustwirly]

Sorry if asked before but is there an unreserved carriage on a Class 800/802 and what carriage is the quiet coach (if there is one).

The quiet is coach A on all sets, and also G on 10 car sets.
From what I have worked out, that 5 cars have no unreserved coach, and the second set on 10 cars is unreserved

 

[Rail Blues]

The quiet is coach A on all sets, and also G on 10 car sets.
From what I have worked out, that 5 cars have no unreserved coach, and the second set on 10 cars is unreserved

I'm surprised the quiet coach has been incorporated into new trains, it seems an idea that has had its day and dates back to when mobile phones were new and people would get needlessly huffy over someone having a conversation on a phone (why it was deemed any more annoying than anyone talking to a travelling companion I don't know) and whatnot. I've booked the quiet coach in the past to get work done and it didn't appear appreciably quieter and most other people in there were families who the seat booking software had assigned to the quiet carriage.

 

[swaldman]

The quiet is coach A on all sets, and also G on 10 car sets.
From what I have worked out, that 5 cars have no unreserved coach, and the second set on 10 cars is unreserved

That sounds to me like "we can't be sure there *will* be a second set, so we'll put all the reservations in the first five". Which is probably sensible at present. I wonder whether it will change in the future.

 

[83G/84D]

Thanks for the replies. On a HST I pick coach F as it is usually unreserved and near the buffet car but as a IET doesn’t have on I’ll try coach A.

 

[CC 72100]

The quiet is coach A on all sets, and also G on 10 car sets.
From what I have worked out, that 5 cars have no unreserved coach, and the second set on 10 cars is unreserved

Not at all - you get a lot of reservations for coach J, which is the middle vehicle of the second set. It seems to be one of the most common places to have reservations.

I would still head for G or H though (in the 2nd set) for more unreserved seats.

 

[Dai Corner]

Not at all - you get a lot of reservations for coach J, which is the middle vehicle of the second set. It seems to be one of the most common places to have reservations.

I would still head for G or H though (in the 2nd set) for more unreserved seats.

Yes, I remember chatting to passengers who had reservations in J as we stood in the vestibule of a short formed IET (and probably boring them with an explanation of why!)

 

[CMRail]

You get some heavily reserved carriages and some lightly reserved with coach G being fully unreserved. Only downside is that it is the Quiet Carriage. First Class is coach L.

 

[Master29]

I'm surprised the quiet coach has been incorporated into new trains, it seems an idea that has had its day and dates back to when mobile phones were new and people would get needlessly huffy over someone having a conversation on a phone (why it was deemed any more annoying than anyone talking to a travelling companion I don't know) and whatnot. I've booked the quiet coach in the past to get work done and it didn't appear appreciably quieter and most other people in there were families who the seat booking software had assigned to the quiet carriage.

It wasn`t just about mobiles though was it. Remember walkmans and the annoying wasp in your ear sounds. Thankfully you don`t get that anymore. I have grown used to mobile conversations over time but you still get the "run me through them figures again", luv types speaking to the rest of the coach as well or the repeated hello`s when you go through tunnels but otherwise I think I`ve cracked it. However I think the quiet coach needs to remain.

 

[Hedgehog1977]

Hi there,
Prob completely the wrong place for this but here goes.....
Does anyone know if the new Class 800 trains are working on the PAD - PNZ route yet? Specifically on the 18:03 Friday night down service next week? I've got a reservation in coach H... Being a regular user I've never seen a coach H on the down service... GWR twitter informs me that it'll be 'one of the new trains'.
.....

 

[JN114]

Hi there,
Prob completely the wrong place for this but here goes.....
Does anyone know if the new Class 800 trains are working on the PAD - PNZ route yet? Specifically on the 18:03 Friday night down service next week? I've got a reservation in coach H... Being a regular user I've never seen a coach H on the down service... GWR twitter informs me that it'll be 'one of the new trains'.
.....

The 800s (or more strictly primarily the West of England Class 802 sets) have entered service on Cornish services; yes.

A Coach H reservation would imply 80x; however there have been some delays in the introduction, so draft diagrams produced at the usual 12 weeks out and used as a basis for opening reservations don’t 100% line up with what type of stock is allocated; so you could well get either.

 

[Hedgehog1977]

Thanks JN114.
I assume if it's a old HST my reservation just gets transferred to a different coach number?

 

[Clarence Yard]

I can guarantee it won't be a cl.802. The introduction of new stock for the 1803 has been put back twice from the original date of the 20th August and is now not going to happen until at least the 24th September.

GWR Twitter (and GWR reservations) are obviously still working from a very out of date plan.

 

[Hedgehog1977]

Thanks Clarence Yard. I better get onto GWR and get them to sort me out a reserved seat in A-F then.

 

[uxm]

The class 802 is going to be used for the summer london to pembroke dock special service instead of the class 800.

 

[D1009]

The class 802 is going to be used for the summer london to pembroke dock special service instead of the class 800.

Do you have a source for that info?

 

[83G/84D]

Hi there,
Prob completely the wrong place for this but here goes.....
Does anyone know if the new Class 800 trains are working on the PAD - PNZ route yet? Specifically on the 18:03 Friday night down service next week? I've got a reservation in coach H... Being a regular user I've never seen a coach H on the down service... GWR twitter informs me that it'll be 'one of the new trains'.
.....

The plan as I understand it was that there would be limited class 800 workings to Devon and Cornwall this Autumn on Sundays only but that may have changed.

All weekday services were planned for two Class 802 sets.

 

[uxm]

Do you have a source for that info?

Yes, a gwr driver that I spoke to said that they are planning to maybe use 802s in the Pembroke dock summer service as it has to run on diesel for a long time and the gradients change. And also that some hsts may do a service from cardiff to penzance

 

[JN114]

Yes, a gwr driver that I spoke to said that they are planning to maybe use 802s in the Pembroke dock summer service as it has to run on diesel for a long time and the gradients change. And also that some hsts may do a service from cardiff to penzance

So we’ve gone from “are going to be used” to “someone I know said maybe they’ll be used”.

IETs will have to be used on Pembrokes if they continue next Summer; there won’t be any full length HSTs by then. NR have route cleared them, they just need platform validation done beyond Carmarthen. I’m not convinced the gradients justify pulling 802s off their West of England work to spend all day going to West Wales and back; they’re not that severe.