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GWR Class 800

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CharlesR

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2 800s: Cheltenham to Paddington and return. Same Train Manager based at Reading both ways ironically.

Both had working reservations.
The one from Cheltenham has it displaying the information internally and externally however their were no announcements, nor did the TM make many announcements about platform lengths causing issues at Stonehouse, Stroud and Kemble. Increased dwell time at stations between Swindon and Paddington on the way back however not outbound, I believe we were on diesel when I looked at Paddington. Only one host on the way back so he had to deal with First Class and then go and do the Standard trolley (nine car formation)

I still have no issues with the trains.. And why people still go on about the seats is beyond me..
 
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PHILIPE

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Was there not a spare 5 car at Stoke Gifford that they could have had waiting at Bristol Parkway to attach to 1L90? I also note that World Cup Cricket was taking place in Cardiff with Sri Lanka v New Zealand. Not sure when the crowds would have been at Cardiff Central waiting to return home.

I think that such a move would have ended in chaos and heavy delay by the time passengers had been informed, collected their belongings and transferred to the other unit.

Edit:- Typo fat fingers amended
 
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Nippy

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We had a driver call and thank us the other day, he managed 22m 10s Reading to Padd. Said it was his fastest yet.
 

Nippy

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We tried last night with the last up HST. Moved stuff etc, it was One Engine Only. That's that then!
 

Railperf

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We tried last night with the last up HST. Moved stuff etc, it was One Engine Only. That's that then!
Really? Shame that. I was hoping for at least one fast run aboard the last HST.
P.s the fastest we have recorded 800 is a 21:40 start to stop on the down.
Today trying a Penzance to London 2 x 5 car 802. Was on all 6 engines departing Penzance and seemingly performing well. Seat reservations working..but strange to see traffic lights on and paper reservations in the front 5 coaches. Only traffic lights in the rear 5 coaches. Seems to hold the speed more consistently up and down the hills..and interesting to hear the engine modulating up and down in response. I like the fact there are more window seats compared to the HSTs.
 
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samuelmorris

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Perhaps because they are backside-numbingly awful?
Not everybody finds that to be the case. I do, and of the small sample of people I've spoken to, more think they're bad than otherwise, but even objectively-questionable seats can still be perfectly acceptable for some, it depends on how you find firm seating. For some people's backs, a plastic chair with no upholstery (which is essentially what 800 seats are) is ideal.
 

Ethano92

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Perhaps because they are backside-numbingly awful?

Not for everyone as said. After reading the comments people have made on them I was looking forward to seeing just how bad they are for myself and was pleasantly surprised. I don't think they're suitable for plymouth/Penzance, Swansea, Hereford etc but they are for shorter routes such as Bristol TM, Cardiff, Oxford.

It's all subjective and although I think almost everyone agrees they could be better, when you're not solely focusing on the seats and getting on the train with the mindset "these seats are awful, HSTs were better" etc they're not horrible.
 

tasky

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Just to add a diversity of voices on the class 800 seats, I have no problem with them, and did Paddington > Penzance return recently. It was on the bank holiday weekend when the route was diverted via Bristol, as well - so longer than usual. Don't notice anything unusual about them, and that's with me deliberately looking out for something because of all the comments I've read on here.
 

Railperf

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On a 9-car 802 that had to make an additional stop at Ivybridge. The seat reservations have now all extinguished and passenger information screen is blank bar the coach number and time. It seems that in the process of setting up the SDO for Ivybridge..they have somejow reset the system.
Another note..some 800s seem to suffer some underfloor clanging and banging underneath negotiating tight curves. A bit like a badly aligned exhaust under a car. Something hanging under there ends up touching the passenger shell creating a loud vibration through the sidewall of the coach. This transfers to the other side of the coach when the train negotiates a reverse curve.
 

Railperf

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1A75 5.05 Penzance to Paddington delayed by almost 2 hours in the Totnes area due to a fault. Does anyone have any more info?
 

II

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On a 9-car 802 that had to make an additional stop at Ivybridge. The seat reservations have now all extinguished and passenger information screen is blank bar the coach number and time. It seems that in the process of setting up the SDO for Ivybridge..they have somejow reset the system.

The PIS/reservation system are linked. The PIS system itself is pretty flexible, but one thing you can't do is add a stop. You can remove stops, or alter your start location, but you can't add stops. So it's possible that the original headcode (and associated reservation file) were deleted during the journey and a 'generic' headcode added which included Ivybridge? There would be nothing stopping the original headcode being re-instated at the next booked stop after Ivybridge and the reservation file should then reload too. Some staff are yet to pick up on all the subtle nuances of the system though, so they might just have left the generic headcode in the system.
 

Envoy

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1L42 Carmarthen to London - only 5 coaches. Seems to me that if you are heading for a train that has come from west of Swansea, it may well only have 5 coaches! (Same thing happened on Saturday with the afternoon Pembroke Dock to London). I was on 1L42 last September - again only 5 coaches with people standing from Swindon. Have they surely not figured out how to join 2 trains in Swansea after all this time?
 

-Colly405-

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1L42 Carmarthen to London - only 5 coaches. Seems to me that if you are heading for a train that has come from west of Swansea, it may well only have 5 coaches! (Same thing happened on Saturday with the afternoon Pembroke Dock to London). I was on 1L42 last September - again only 5 coaches with people standing from Swindon. Have they surely not figured out how to join 2 trains in Swansea after all this time?
Saturday morning 1L52 was fine (0938 CMN-PAD) 2x5 east of SWA. So, yes, they have "figured it out"...
 

Railperf

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I watched a 2x5 set uncouple at Plymouth without any issues. One set remained at plymouth while the other carried on to Penzance. Was pretty full in standard class. Interesting the announcements being made (I was in the rear 5 cars) about needing to move to the front 5 coaches at Plymouth.

It would have been helpful for the station display and staff announcements on the platform at stations before Plymouth to direct Penzance passengers to the front 5 coaches in the first place. Nothing indicated this train would split at Plymouth until we were approaching Plymouth.
 

samuelmorris

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The PIS/reservation system are linked. The PIS system itself is pretty flexible, but one thing you can't do is add a stop. You can remove stops, or alter your start location, but you can't add stops. So it's possible that the original headcode (and associated reservation file) were deleted during the journey and a 'generic' headcode added which included Ivybridge? There would be nothing stopping the original headcode being re-instated at the next booked stop after Ivybridge and the reservation file should then reload too. Some staff are yet to pick up on all the subtle nuances of the system though, so they might just have left the generic headcode in the system.
Can this not be patched? Criticising the PIS on these units seems to almost be taboo in this thread, but I find it disappointing that something which is standard practice, even if less common than removing stops, wasn't considered with this.
 

Mintona

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The PIS/reservation system are linked. The PIS system itself is pretty flexible, but one thing you can't do is add a stop. You can remove stops, or alter your start location, but you can't add stops. So it's possible that the original headcode (and associated reservation file) were deleted during the journey and a 'generic' headcode added which included Ivybridge? There would be nothing stopping the original headcode being re-instated at the next booked stop after Ivybridge and the reservation file should then reload too. Some staff are yet to pick up on all the subtle nuances of the system though, so they might just have left the generic headcode in the system.

I remember the first time I got a stop order, it was for Severn Tunnel Jn. There’s no need to re-enter a new or generic headcode, it’s easy enough to just select a new station on the TMS. So I stopped at Severn Tunnel Jn, selected the correct station and platform and released the doors. It wasn’t until I arrived at the next station (Bristol Parkway) that I noticed the extra stop had thrown the rest of the route out of the TMS. No headcode, reservations or anything. So I then had to spend around 30-45 seconds at Bristol Parkway re-entering the route headcode, selecting the correct station etc. before being able to release the doors.

The next time I got a stop order (for Keynsham) I was ready for it. I stopped at Keynsham, manually selected the station and platform and released the doors. Whilst passengers were boarding I re-entered the original headcode, and selected my current station as Bristol Temple Meads, so the reservations and PIS were off for around 1 minute and then fired up again announcing ‘the next stop will be Bath Spa’ as intended. Upon arrival at Bath everything was normal again and I was able to release the doors immediately upon stopping.

I would really like to have the ability to add stops to a route, or create my own route. There are times it would be useful.
 

Bletchleyite

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The PIS is rubbish - cheap and nasty, flickery and old fashioned. It really should have had a system of the quality of the Class 700 fitted, hopefully such a system will be retrofitted.

I don't know who on earth specified what they got, but in the event of an unexpected door release at a station not listed the only sensible way to deal with it is to completely ignore it (so a manual announcement can be made). Not to give up and make a hash of the whole thing.
 

samuelmorris

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The PIS is rubbish - cheap and nasty, flickery and old fashioned. It really should have had a system of the quality of the Class 700 fitted, hopefully such a system will be retrofitted.

I don't know who on earth specified what they got, but in the event of an unexpected door release at a station not listed the only sensible way to deal with it is to completely ignore it (so a manual announcement can be made). Not to give up and make a hash of the whole thing.
Aren't the 800 and 700 PIS different models from the same manufacturer?
 

Master29

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On a 9-car 802 that had to make an additional stop at Ivybridge. The seat reservations have now all extinguished and passenger information screen is blank bar the coach number and time. It seems that in the process of setting up the SDO for Ivybridge..they have somejow reset the system.
Another note..some 800s seem to suffer some underfloor clanging and banging underneath negotiating tight curves. A bit like a badly aligned exhaust under a car. Something hanging under there ends up touching the passenger shell creating a loud vibration through the sidewall of the coach. This transfers to the other side of the coach when the train negotiates a reverse curve.
I thought this was just me as I had noticed that on the opposing side to the direction of curve, especially in Devon and Cornwall. I`ve noticed a similar sound on Voyagers
 

Grumbler

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27 Mar 2015
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I remember the first time I got a stop order, it was for Severn Tunnel Jn. There’s no need to re-enter a new or generic headcode, it’s easy enough to just select a new station on the TMS. So I stopped at Severn Tunnel Jn, selected the correct station and platform and released the doors. It wasn’t until I arrived at the next station (Bristol Parkway) that I noticed the extra stop had thrown the rest of the route out of the TMS. No headcode, reservations or anything. So I then had to spend around 30-45 seconds at Bristol Parkway re-entering the route headcode, selecting the correct station etc. before being able to release the doors.

The next time I got a stop order (for Keynsham) I was ready for it. I stopped at Keynsham, manually selected the station and platform and released the doors. Whilst passengers were boarding I re-entered the original headcode, and selected my current station as Bristol Temple Meads, so the reservations and PIS were off for around 1 minute and then fired up again announcing ‘the next stop will be Bath Spa’ as intended. Upon arrival at Bath everything was normal again and I was able to release the doors immediately upon stopping.

I would really like to have the ability to add stops to a route, or create my own route. There are times it would be useful.
All this seems ridiculously complicated. Why doesn't the train software just detect which station the train has stopped at and allow the doors to open accordingly?
 

Grumbler

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Just to add a diversity of voices on the class 800 seats, I have no problem with them, and did Paddington > Penzance return recently. It was on the bank holiday weekend when the route was diverted via Bristol, as well - so longer than usual. Don't notice anything unusual about them, and that's with me deliberately looking out for something because of all the comments I've read on here.
I used an 800 for the first time less than 2 weeks ago, from Paddington to Hungerford. The seat was rather uncomfortable, pressing into my thighs, otherwise the train was fine. Acceleration on electric superb, and not bad on diesel either. The PIS was not working so had to listen out for announcements. Coming back on Thursday the seat was more comfortable and the PIS was working OK.
 

Mintona

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All this seems ridiculously complicated. Why doesn't the train software just detect which station the train has stopped at and allow the doors to open accordingly?

That’s how it works at stations it’s expecting to stop at (ie. the stations listed when the headcode is entered). It’s really not that complicated, it takes just a few seconds now I’ve worked out the best way to do it for other stations.
 

Envoy

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I watched a 2x5 set uncouple at Plymouth without any issues. One set remained at plymouth while the other carried on to Penzance. Was pretty full in standard class. Interesting the announcements being made (I was in the rear 5 cars) about needing to move to the front 5 coaches at Plymouth.

It would have been helpful for the station display and staff announcements on the platform at stations before Plymouth to direct Penzance passengers to the front 5 coaches in the first place. Nothing indicated this train would split at Plymouth until we were approaching Plymouth.

I find that lack of information about train splitting amazing. You would think it would start at Paddington with perhaps the passengers who are going beyond the split point - usually Swansea or Plymouth - having priority boarding to the correct section. I would also have thought that displays in the stations would have indicated that the train would split and indicate which section those going beyond the split should board. If a section that is going beyond the split is on the full side, then passengers not going beyond the split should be encouraged to board the other section. (On eastbound services, people should also be encouraged to stand on the platform in a position that would make it easier for them to board a less full section of the train - being as they cannot walk from one to the other).
 

Bletchleyite

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I find that lack of information about train splitting amazing. You would think it would start at Paddington with perhaps the passengers who are going beyond the split point - usually Swansea or Plymouth - having priority boarding to the correct section. I would also have thought that displays in the stations would have indicated that the train would split and indicate which section those going beyond the split should board. If a section that is going beyond the split is on the full side, then passengers not going beyond the split should be encouraged to board the other section. (On eastbound services, people should also be encouraged to stand on the platform in a position that would make it easier for them to board a less full section of the train - being as they cannot walk from one to the other).

Do they not indicate that? The ATOS PIS (which GWR use the same as everyone else does these days) is perfectly capable of announcing this kind of thing and has been for years. It just requires someone to enter the details of it.

There's probably no point in enforcing priority boarding of one section - experience has indicated at Euston that when you've got a 12-car going out with only 4 forward from Northampton that passengers getting off at or before Northampton tend to avoid the Brum section because it's busier anyway.
 

Dai Corner

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That’s how it works at stations it’s expecting to stop at (ie. the stations listed when the headcode is entered). It’s really not that complicated, it takes just a few seconds now I’ve worked out the best way to do it for other stations.

Glad you've worked it out for yourself but shouldn't you have been taught it as part of the course?
 
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