could just as easily be making sure lubricants and fluids don't dry out or leak and that seals and insulation don't/doesn't deteriorate through lack of use.
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GWR Class 769 information. (Units no longer with GWR - Off Lease March 23)
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TT-ONR-NRN
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Like SWR 458/4s, you mean?
The_Train
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Bit late to this wibble party (although it did offer some laughs on board the HST farewell) but didn't Brodie's at Kilmarnock undertake the contract to refurb the GA 317s a few years back and I think they have done work to other English based units when required as well. Not sure a unit heading to Scotland for maintenance automatically means it will finish up with Scotrail 
Realtime Trains | 5Q08 0945 Long Marston to Kilmarnock (Barclay Sdgs) | 03/10/2023
Real-time train running information for 5Q08 0945 departure from Long Marston to Kilmarnock (Barclay Sdgs) on 03/10/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk
37884 with 769922 in tow on todays Long Marston to Kilmarnock.
nerosrmc@gmail
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do we yet know when the passenger Class 769 trains will be in service with GWR?
fgwrich
Established Member
Simply… Never. They won’t be joining GWR, that project is dead and buried.
nerosrmc@gmail
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Are there plans for new trains on reading to Gatwick line soon?
Anonymous10
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In short no remains 16xAre there plans for new trains on reading to Gatwick line soon?
nerosrmc@gmail
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what is 16x?
py_megapixel
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The current fleet of trains - classes 165 and 166
nerosrmc@gmail
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what Is the difference between 165 and 166? I have looked but cant seem to find it
fgwrich
Established Member
The 165s have opening windows along the coach + Air Cooling, the 166s are supposed to have Air Conditioning (which rarely works). The latter is also supposed to have better soundproofing, though there's not a lot in it to be honest. All of the 166s should now be found in the Bristol and Exeter area's. 165s are spread across Reading, Bristol and Exeter.
nerosrmc@gmail
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thx
Turbos are only allocated to Reading or SPM.
leomartin125
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The 769 project (for GWR at least) was a mighty failure. The units being Tri-Mode had a plethora of technical issues, plus I even heard of union issues with cab design. After many years of trying, it was just an endless stream of money being spent on a project that never worked out. Pity they haven't realised that with the 701s but that is another story...
As for new trains between Reading and Gatwick, GWR have no plans to replace the fleet of 165/166 that operate on the route (to public knowledge at least...). The complexity lies with the fact that it is only partially electrified between Reading and Gatwick, with frequent areas where third rail is missing such as between Shalford and Reigate. This meant that any 165/166 successor would have to be Bi-Mode or even Tri-Mode in order to cope with the route, that toggled with the fact that new 3rd rail is not laid anymore, meant that NR won't fully electrify the route with 3rd rail and there is no one train that is both 3rd rail and diesel (apart from the failed 769/9). The only Tri-Mode trains on order now are the Class 93 for Rail Operations Group which are OLE, Diesel and Battery Power. In short, the only answer now would be to either source a unit that runs fully on diesel, albeit with significantly reduced emissions to the current stock, or to find a 3rd rail unit that also has battery power and enough to work on the North Downs without assistance. Cue the 379 (which has proven battery power and can be fitted with 3rd rail similar to the 387 units), however I am guessing that after the last 'experiment' failed (769), they simply will not commit to another. Perhaps it will be 165/166 forever, or at least till the franchise is renewed and a long term idea is proposed.
There is a plan for GWR fleet replacement which might see off the Turbos in the early 2030s - https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/gwr-project-churchward.252768/
Where you involved with the 769 project? The only reason the 769s hadn't entered service was because there weren't any drivers trained in their use. That was all down to the Union issues that you allude to but even that had been resolved - training was due to commence only for the current IA to commence which scuppered those plans. By this stage the DfT and GWR were looking to cut costs. The 769s sat around without anyone to drive them were a prime target hence why they were returned, when the lease period expired, without turning a wheel in service.
As for the 'experiment' failing and the 769s not working, you do realise there was an initial 6 units that had been made ready for service. I'm not saying they weren't without their issues and some units were better than others but they were 'ready'.
leomartin125
Member
Thanks for explaining the real reason, good to get an insight rather than 'hearsay'. Not exactly sure why you didn't bother explaining this prior to my post, but thankful nonetheless. It's a pity the 701s seem to be going through the same vicious circle, if it is indeed union issues that are preventing their entry into service too (perhaps you know?).
Good question, I seem to recall one went up to Kilmarnock Brodie Engineering for some reason, perhaps they do have a future. Given the only other 769s left that aren't Northern were with Rail Operations Group for their 'Orion' project, they could go anywhere. Perhaps someone does know...
It all has been explained prior to your post. It's understandable you haven't read over 3,000 posts, but perhaps you could try to be more polite when people are helping you out with that?
The situation with those is different in an awful lot of ways. I won't expand here because there's a thread to discuss this already: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...ins-for-south-western-railway.148717/page-235
Wyrleybart
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I may be wrong but I think two 769/9s were take to Brodies - separately, and am still intrigued
warwickshire
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Yes that is correct, was two moves, but unsure of numbers though, same here, any updates will be most welcome, thank you.
D365
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Brodies LinkedIn was very coy about this - no explanation of the purpose of the 'visit'...
Snow1964
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The only clue to replace of 165s on Reading-Gatwick was on a recent DfT upcoming projects spreadsheet which included reference to dc battery EMUs for GWR routes. The only place GWR would need these is Reading -Gatwick, as all its other lines are 25kv, or would require dual voltage battery units eg Cardiff-Portsmouth.
The timescale indicated on DfT sheet is 2029-2031
There was also a forum thread on it
GW 769s to Scotrail?
Could they be used on the Largs branch in poor weather when the juice has to be turned off at Saltcoats to prevent arcing? They don't turn the power off during high tides/poor weather! They just don't run any trains now. You won't be seeing 769s in ScotRail service as they don't fit into the...
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Ciderking
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In the latest Modern Railways it mentions two ex GWR units 769935 and 949 are being converted to parcels units by Porterbook.
Class15
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Here we go again!
Anonymous10
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Perhaps they've been deemed as more flexible as they can use 3rd rail?
Jamesrob637
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Can't they just put third rail through North Camp and Shalford bits? It's not hundreds of miles and it's hardly an isolation section, joining on to many other networks en-route.
HamworthyGoods
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You could but there’s a couple of very big hoops to jump through:
1) convince ORR of the safety aspects as they have concerns about new third rail. They haven’t said totally no but need a lot to convince them.
2) funding, this will be an even bigger hurdle. Third Rail needs substations to power it, neither of these grow on trees. The Railway isn’t exactly flush at the moment.
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