HT Adelantes...

[hougtimo]

Right. I was on one of these t'other evening. All very nice it were.

I do have a few questions though.

1) Which vegetables exactly do HT have?
2) How many trips between Hull / London does one set do per day? also any ideas on daily mileage?
3) What faults have arisen since they've been with HT?
4) Has a 180 failed yet at HT?

 

[Lampshade]

I can answer three of those:

2. Seven trains each way per day on weekdays, five at weekends, each trip is 205mi 23ch
3. Everything under the sun
4. Yes, I believe they only had one out of five in service at one point

 

[MCR247]

91107 for Question 2, I think he meant how many runs does each 180 do

 

[Kingfisher200262]

I can answer three of those:

2. Seven trains each way per day on weekdays, five at weekends, each trip is 205mi 23ch
3. Everything under the sun
4. Yes, I believe they only had one out of five in service at one point

Unless I'm mistaken, you answered the first question too. The clue is in the answer to the fourth question....

 

[Lampshade]

Ugh, I thought it was a question about the on-board catering

 

[Pumbaa]

The 180s with HT are a hell lot more reliable generally -Crofton do a good job. Faults range from toilets to engines to general monday morning blues. No blowouts though!

In answer to 4, all of them have failed. They have 109, 110, 111 and 113. They did have another, but that has been returned off lease (102 - now at Railcare for some work to be done).

109 is the most reliable, having the highest MPC. Do not know of least reliable.

 

[Max]

What I'd like to know is what happened to the refurbishment programme. The trains are in desperate need of refurbishment to put in basic features like wifi and plug sockets, plus the catering provision has gone down the drain since the switch from the 222s.

 

[Helvellyn]

The trains are in desperate need of refurbishment to put in basic features like wifi and plug sockets.

Basic features?

 

[MCR247]

Basic features?

For an intercity service I'd say sockets are pretty basic, not sure about wifi though

 

[Max]

For an intercity service I'd say sockets are pretty basic, not sure about wifi though

Plug sockets are definitely basic, even TPE have these now. Wifi is basic in the sense that HT's two main rivals on the ECML both offer it.

 

[paul1609]

I dont think that London to Hull is an "intercity" service. With its DMUs and maximum journey of 2 1/2 hours with 7 or 8 stops its really a secondary regional express service along with the likes of xc, tpe and some of SWTs services.
I'm not sure who HTs other rival is on the ECml either, Grand Central have always been fast to York on my trips one of the main reasons I use them.

 

[tbtc]

I'm not sure who HTs other rival is on the ECml either, Grand Central have always been fast to York on my trips one of the main reasons I use them

First Capital Connect?

(but not GC)

 

[GNERman]

I dont think that London to Hull is an "intercity" service. With its DMUs and maximum journey of 2 1/2 hours with 7 or 8 stops its really a secondary regional express service along with the likes of xc, tpe and some of SWTs services.

And thus reawakens the debate on what you class as Intercity or not.

I'm not sure who HTs other rival is on the ECml either, Grand Central have always been fast to York on my trips one of the main reasons I use them.

I think the main point of rivalry is Doncaster, of which EC is much more superior, although York could also be with both GC and EC. GC are also to start services which will also do Donny - London thus creating more choice.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Plug sockets are definitely basic, even TPE have these now. Wifi is basic in the sense that HT's two main rivals on the ECML both offer it.

Someone tell NXEA that!

Yes I know they are installing Wifi now, but thats only because someone else is paying for it, and no hope of plug sockets, both of which should have been done in the MK3 refresh.

 

[No Fault Found]

The 180s with HT are a hell lot more reliable generally -Crofton do a good job. Faults range from toilets to engines to general monday morning blues. No blowouts though!

In answer to 4, all of them have failed. They have 109, 110, 111 and 113. They did have another, but that has been returned off lease (102 - now at Railcare for some work to be done).

109 is the most reliable, having the highest MPC. Do not know of least reliable.

Hull trains operate 104, 109, 110, 111 and i think 113 has just been agreed.
102 is at Old Oak Common as a training unit
Crofton didn't do a good job of maintaining them, hence the maintenance contract being awarded to FGW at OOC as of 1st April.

 

[WillPS]

Someone tell NXEA that!

Yes I know they are installing Wifi now, but thats only because someone else is paying for it, and no hope of plug sockets, both of which should have been done in the MK3 refresh.

Or East Midlands Trains (none in Standard in HSTs, any that were in the 158s removed). Or CrossCountry (none in Standard in Turbostars).

 

[F Great Eastern]

None in first on NXEA let alone standard!

 

[Pumbaa]

Hull trains operate 104, 109, 110, 111 and i think 113 has just been agreed.
102 is at Old Oak Common as a training unit
Crofton didn't do a good job of maintaining them, hence the maintenance contract being awarded to FGW at OOC as of 1st April.

Ah my mistake - I knew it had gone for some immediate TLC at RC, but wasn't aware it had been shipped to OOC. Crofton did do a good job compared to when they were first transferred; the reliability in their first few months was dire. 113s been with them a while AFAIK, I was under the impression 104 was stored at Bounds Green, presumably for EC when they start to Lincoln.

 

[theblackwatch]

Plug sockets are definitely basic, even TPE have these now. Wifi is basic in the sense that HT's two main rivals on the ECML both offer it.

Whilst I agree about power points, wifi is so 2008/2009! People should have mobiles with internet access rather than cumbersome laptops or outdated i-phones.

 

[jon0844]

You can now buy a portable 'MiFi' wireless hotspot that takes a 3G SIM and can share the connection between 5 approved devices.

Or you can even get some handsets that can be set to share the 3G connection via Wi-Fi (including the forthcoming HTC HD mini). That way you don't need to use Wi-Fi but can still hook up your laptop or smartphones and use one connection.

Or indeed just use your smartphone.

Coverage can still be an issue, but you're probably going to get a faster speed in most cases. The system used by T-Mobile for Southern and Heathrow Express is better, but incredibly expensive compared to the satellite system used by EC and others (but a lot slower).

 

[StewieG]

Aye, but the coverage issue is surely contradicted by the wifi being available anywhere? Each method has it's own pro's and cons.

 

[Jeff Worsnop]

You can now buy a portable 'MiFi' wireless hotspot that takes a 3G SIM and can share the connection between 5 approved devices.

Or you can even get some handsets that can be set to share the 3G connection via Wi-Fi (including the forthcoming HTC HD mini). That way you don't need to use Wi-Fi but can still hook up your laptop or smartphones and use one connection.

Or indeed just use your smartphone.

Coverage can still be an issue, but you're probably going to get a faster speed in most cases. The system used by T-Mobile for Southern and Heathrow Express is better, but incredibly expensive compared to the satellite system used by EC and others (but a lot slower).

How expensive, or cheap, are these options?

 

[jon0844]

Aye, but the coverage issue is surely contradicted by the wifi being available anywhere? Each method has it's own pro's and cons.

The satellite connection has excellent coverage but very low speed - especially if people are streaming video.

The Wi-Max system, using rail side transmitters, can offer very good speeds and capacity - but that means building infrastructure, which isn't good when many TOCs see Wi-Fi as a free service.

As for the cost of mobile broadband, that depends on your tariff and your actual usage. I wouldn't be using it to stream BBC iPlayer, but for web and email (and assuming you're going to a web page and reading it, not constantly downloading stuff) it's just fine.

Wi-Fi on a train is a nice feature, but not all trains have it - and you don't NEED it to get online at a decent speed any more.