Greater Anglia Rolling Stock Updates

[Wivenswold]

I do enjoy the comments about this being worse than the old days/British Rail/Network South East/First Great Eastern/Anglia days.

I'm not belittling the horrific delays and stock shortages, but reading traffic reports from the 70s and 80s and things have changed very little except there are fewer collisions and all-out strikes these days. "Another bad week on the GEML....." starts the Railway Observer Eastern Region section, throughout the decades.

 

[chubs]

You'd have thought the mk2's and DBSO's were only fit for the scrapyard after they were withdrawn from Anglia yet they've managed to eek another decade and a half out of them.

With that said I'm not too bothered, the short forms and cancellations aren't good at all but give it 6 months and we will have the best fleet in the country.

 

[trebor79]

With that said I'm not too bothered, the short forms and cancellations aren't good at all but give it 6 months and we will have the best fleet in the country.

I think you're suffering from the same optimism as GA management. The 745s were meant to all be in service by the end of this year. There are none in service, and they haven't even all been delivered yet.

The service is degrading day by day, as more and more of the existing stock either goes off lease or become unusable for want of maintenance. Meanwhile the new stuff isn't coming on stream quickly enough (or at all) to replace it.

What if in 6 months time we're still looking forward to the best fleet in the country?

The 755s are great on the rural lines. I'm not convinced yet by 745s on the GEML but look forward to trying them out.

 

[samuelmorris]

What if in 6 months time we're still looking forward to the best fleet in the country?

We will be, there will be minimal if any 720s in service by then, even if all the Stadlers are sorted.

 

[F Great Eastern]

With that said I'm not too bothered, the short forms and cancellations aren't good at all but give it 6 months and we will have the best fleet in the country.

6 Months?!?!

The 720s are not even close to being ready and I would be surprised if we see more than a handful in service and from the way things are going it looks quite likely that there might not be any at all and if I had a bet I'd bet on none.

We haven't even seen Stadler trains turn a wheel in service on the vast majority of the network or be cleared for it by Greater Anglia.We've also not seen the 745s turn a wheel in service and the 755 roll-out hasn't gone well, good reviews but no use if the trains are constantly being pulled out of service with nothing to replace them and the roll-out has grinded to a halt after a promising start.

The fact is that unless the speed of rollout of the 755 increases in the coming weeks there is a winter of discontent ahead and the rural lines are going to be decimated unless they can somehow manage to stop units leaving the fleet for pastures new as it's at breaking point at the moment.

 

[86246]

We will be, there will be minimal if any 720s in service by then, even if all the Stadlers are sorted.

If they manage to get any 720s in service in six months time they will have done very well.

 

[Shunter_69]

11 755/4’s now accepted into service. 755/3 testing has commenced.
Training on the Bi-modes is underway at Ipswich I believe so things should start to improve.

 

[F Great Eastern]

11 755/4’s now accepted into service. 755/3 testing has commenced.
Training on the Bi-modes is underway at Ipswich I believe so things should start to improve.

Needs to be pretty damn quick with the amount of locals now being cancelled and largee amounts of short forms and the farcical situation on the Sudbury line this week which shows no sign of easing.

 

[Terry Tait]

What about the wasted 317/7s on London Overground, intercity layout and universal toilets shuttleing up and down to Chingford, madness.

 

[RailWonderer]

The 360's in particular are a great unit. It's a shame they didn't buy more of those and have at least a uniform fleet of trains running north of shenfield.

They ordered them to replace the last of the 312s. I imagine had First won a long term franchise instead of NX being granted it and neglecting it for 8 years, north of Shenfield would be all 360 (and possibly 344).

 

[F Great Eastern]

They ordered them to replace the last of the 312s. I imagine had First won a long term franchise instead of NX being granted it and neglecting it for 8 years, north of Shenfield would be all 360 (and possibly 344).

They wanted to order 25, however the SRA forced them to cut the order to 21.

 

[Shunter_69]

Needs to be pretty damn quick with the amount of locals now being cancelled and largee amounts of short forms and the farcical situation on the Sudbury line this week which shows no sign of easing.

Sudbury’s are planned to be 153 only from this week. I assume that’s related to removing the equipment that tells the signaller where they are from the 156’s ready for refurbishment and attaching to the 755/3’s

 

[F Great Eastern]

Sudbury’s are planned to be 153 only from this week. I assume that’s related to removing the equipment that tells the signaller where they are from the 156’s ready for refurbishment and attaching to the 755/3’s

That's not what Greater Anglia are saying. They are saying that it is because of a shortage of rolling stock and train faults meaning they cannot use anything longer.

Paying customers are being subject to sardine like conditions and some unable to board apparently, this is not acceptable, surely if it was because of the reasons you say, they'd come out and say that directly.

There's talk of it being converted to a bus operation like Felixstowe often is if the unit shortage gets much.

 

[Shunter_69]

Just my assumption.

 

[86246]

That's not what Greater Anglia are saying. They are saying that it is because of a shortage of rolling stock and train faults meaning they cannot use anything longer.

Paying customers are being subject to sardine like conditions and some unable to board apparently, this is not acceptable, surely if it was because of the reasons you say, they'd come out and say that directly.

There's talk of it being converted to a bus operation like Felixstowe often is if the unit shortage gets much.

The regulars got their information about the 153s replacing the 156s from the train crew. No warning or explanation from GA that this would be the case and the Twitter team are seemingly unaware.

Are any buses being provided at peak times ? In the past on weekdays they have used buses if a 153 was in use for the day.

 

[dk1]

The regulars got their information about the 153s replacing the 156s from the train crew. No warning or explanation from GA that this would be the case and the Twitter team are seemingly unaware.

Are any buses being provided at peak times ? In the past on weekdays they have used buses if a 153 was in use for the day.

Apart from the usual booked buses on standby across GA, there are back up ones to support the Scud at peak times on the Sudbury branch.

 

[Wivenswold]

I think even during the peaks a 153 will suffice for now on the Sudbury service. It's not nice making passengers stand but it's fairer on a short run than sticking 153s on Ipswich to Peterborough services.
Once the 745s are in service that will free up 3 x 321s and a cascade of 379s from the Stansteds on the West Side could release a few 317s for GEML services. By then rolling stock shortages will be a distant memory for rural passengers. The 720s can then be given some space to get driver training and fault finding sorted.

Unlike less lucky passengers elsewhere we do at least have better days coming.

 

[samuelmorris]

I think even during the peaks a 153 will suffice for now on the Sudbury service. It's not nice making passengers stand but it's fairer on a short run than sticking 153s on Ipswich to Peterborough services.
Once the 745s are in service that will free up 3 x 321s and a cascade of 379s from the Stansteds on the West Side could release a few 317s for GEML services. By then rolling stock shortages will be a distant memory for rural passengers. The 720s can then be given some space to get driver training and fault finding sorted.

Unlike less lucky passengers elsewhere we do at least have better days coming.

The pain is yet to come for us regular GEML passengers when 720s with sub-2000 MTIN start replacing 5-figure 321s and 360s...

 

[Class 170101]

The only way 365s could help GA is by 365s operating on GN instead of 387s then moved across to GA as cover. However I am sure that there are issues with that idea.

 

[yorkie]

Just a gentle reminder that this thread is for actual Greater Anglia Rolling Stock Updates.

Any suggestions or ideas must be posted in the Speculative Ideas section please.

Thanks.

 

[Aaron Hayward7]

The pain is yet to come for us regular GEML passengers when 720s with sub-2000 MTIN start replacing 5-figure 321s and 360s...

What does MTIN stand for?

 

[Railperf]

What does MTIN stand for?

"Miles per Technical INcident causing a delay of more than 3 minutes. So any sort of train issue mechanical/software that prevents the train from moving causing a 3 minute delay or more. This could be as simple as train brakes not releasing - door interlock issues - coupling /uncoupling issues - train won't take power - doors won't open or close etc. Even if the fault is overcome and the train gets moving - and suffers no more issues - the fault is logged if it caused any delay of 3 mins or more.
I had a short 'classic' HST at Newton Abbot recently that seemed to have a power issue. Driver could not seem to get any traction power after changing ends. After a delay of 10 mins or so, the fault finally rectified and we were on the move. After that, it ran faultlessly to Penzance. But that fault would have been logged as a TIN (technical incident). The number of faults are divided into the miles run by that fleet.

 

[samuelmorris]

*Miles per technical incident, not minutes.

 

[NoMorePacers]

Is there any online source for the MTIN figures? I'd just like to take a look.

 

[samuelmorris]

Is there any online source for the MTIN figures? I'd just like to take a look.

They're published in Modern Railways Magazine, which is a paid publication, I'm not sure if there's anywhere they're made freely available. Very little is pertinent to GA yet, as figures for all fleets nationally are only posted annually, the only fleets we get a monthly update on are 'new trains' so fleets delivered within the last 3 years - GA's first entry in there was the 755s as the data posted this month is from, August I think? At 1868 It's as poor as you'd expect for the first month in service for a new fleet, but still notably not that far behind some of the worst Pacer/Sprinter fleets out there, and also notably well in excess of two other fleets that have existed for a while (9-car 345s and WMR 230s).

 

[anamyd]

i don't think i've ever know a 170 to suffer engine failure either. They seem to be one of the most reliable DMU'S ever introduced.

The only two I know of (nationally) are one of the earliest /1s in late 1998 (when only two 170s had been built) - teething problems, and one with a fire because a 172 engine had been fitted

 

[Geswedey]

I think even during the peaks a 153 will suffice for now on the Sudbury service. It's not nice making passengers stand but it's fairer on a short run than sticking 153s on Ipswich to Peterborough services.
Once the 745s are in service that will free up 3 x 321s and a cascade of 379s from the Stansteds on the West Side could release a few 317s for GEML services. By then rolling stock shortages will be a distant memory for rural passengers. The 720s can then be given some space to get driver training and fault finding sorted.

Unlike less lucky passengers elsewhere we do at least have better days coming.

Now I have retired I can assure you that GA have standby buses when there is a 153 on the Sudbury line but customers would rather get on train and then whinge about overcrowding because the train is quicker meanwhile the bus has few if any passengers onboard,

 

[dk1]

Now I have retired I can assure you that GA have standby buses when there is a 153 on the Sudbury line but customers would rather get on train and then whinge about overcrowding because the train is quicker meanwhile the bus has few if any passengers onboard,

I'm not sure why we are hearing so much from the Gainsborough commuter brigade. The rest of the Anglian local routes are suffering too. It's only a handful of trains on this route that require more than 1 coach so from an operational point of view it's a sensible move. Everyone is in it together.

 

[greaterangrier]

Sorry to just suddenly change the subject but I've just noticed that on the new Class 720s, Greater Anglia have put seats in the doorways. The seats are in 2+1 config so 6 seats per doorway. 2 doors per coach and 5 coaches. So 10 doors overall multiplied by 6 means that 60 of the seats are just fold-up doorway blocking seats.

 

[dubscottie]

The only two I know of (nationally) are one of the earliest /1s in late 1998 (when only two 170s had been built) - teething problems, and one with a fire because a 172 engine had been fitted

You are forgetting that every single 170 engine had to be replaced at one point. I cant recall the exact number involved but it was several hundred.

Edit- It was in 2001 and involved all Turbostars built at that point.

From the Glasgow Herald 12/11/2001

"SCOTRAIL'S flagship fleet of Turbostar trains, dogged by breakdowns and other problems since its introduction, is to have all 78 engines replaced.

The services are between Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness, and involve all the Mercedes engines on the 26-strong Turbostar fleet at a cost of nearly (pounds) 4m to the manufacturer. "