Hull Trains and the 1826 London St Pancras to Sheffield (02/01/16)

[Starmill]

Apologies for the lack of librarianism, this issue could fit into many different forums.

It would appear that the 1330 and 1748 Hull Trains services from Hull and London Kings Cross respectively have been cancelled. NRE doesn't give a reason but sources suggest this is due to an earlier failed train.

According to Hull Trains journeycheck, passengers are travelling on the 1529 Sheffield to London St Pancras and 1826 London St Pancras to Sheffield. Hull Trains will be providing coach services between Sheffield and Hull. Northern Rail are accepting Hull Trains tickets between Doncaster amd Hull, and TransPennine Express will accept them between Doncaster and Sheffield. Hull Trains tickets are not being accepted by anyone else apart from GTR, which doubtless has a lot to do with some trains today having no standing space remaining (I saw the 1100 Edinburgh to London Kings Cross leave Newcastle with passengers stood right down the aisles).

Unfortunately another source suggests that the 1826 from St Pancras is only going to be a 4 car Meridian. I would have expected this to be full anyway given it is a Saturday evening. Hull Trains passengers at Retford and Grantham were apparently being provided with taxis to Peterborough earlier so that they could complete their journeys on GTR services. What they should do now is not so clear.

It all sounds like quite a sorry state of affairs. I'm glad I won't be at St Pancras for the 1826...

 

[Antman]

I don't know if this is connected but there have been a few cancellations on Hull Trains recently and at least one case of a London bound train being terminated at Peterborough

 

[Starmill]

Updated information:

17:48 London Kings Cross to Beverley due 20:36 This train will be cancelled.
This is due to the train for this service having broken down.
Additional Information:
Passengers to Doncaster / Selby / Howden / Brough / Hull board East Midlands Trains 18:26 London St Pancras to Sheffield arriving Sheffield at 20:40. Then rail replacement coach departing Sheffield at 20:50 to Hull.
Passengers for Grantham / Retford board Great Northern 18:22 London Kings Cross to Peterborough arriving Peterborough at 19:38 then taxi at 19:45 to Grantham / Retford.
Passengers for Beverley see station staff at Hull for onward road transport.

Getting on a bus at 2050 when you thought you'd be home before then! Hull Trains say Beverley passengers will be taken by taxi from Hull.

 

[DelayRepay]

Isn't the normal solution when HT have problems to send passengers on VTEC to Doncaster? Have VTEC said they cannot help due to carrying extra VTWC passengers due to the problem with the bridge in Scotland?

 

[Starmill]

It's more that their service is all over the place because of the tree on the line north of Newcastle earlier. At the time HT would have needed the acceptance I doubt there was room to stand in any VTEC service Doncaster to KGX. Trains are still departing Edinburgh for King's Cross Full and Standing.

 

[DelayRepay]

It's more that their service is all over the place because of the tree on the line north of Newcastle earlier. At the time HT would have needed the acceptance I doubt there was room to stand in any VTEC service Doncaster to KGX. Trains are still departing Edinburgh for King's Cross Full and Standing.

It's not been a good day has it? Expect to see the usual "New Year Rail Chaos" headlines on Monday...

 

[Mr395008]

Hull Trains Class 180 failed on Christmas Eve and when I travelled North on 27th December was still at Newark North Gate. Not entirely sure if it's been moved yet?
So currently they are missing a set.

 

[Starmill]

Does anyone know if the 1826 ran with extra carriages? It looked like a lot of Hull Trains customers were asking if they could use the remaining HT service in place of a bus.

At least it isn't too late.

I'm paying some attention to this because HT's train failures are becoming all the more frequent and although I'm not travelling today, I'm a semi-regular Hull Trains customer. I certainly wouldn't want this happening to me!

 

[HMS Ark Royal]

I have suspected that they got the worst of the 180s - this is now showing

 

[Lampshade]

That's a terrible name for a band.

 

[Max]

Must be a pretty serious fault for the train to be out of action for this length of time, though I'd guess that these things take longer to rectify over Christmas. Still though, but of a nightmare for Hull Trains and its passengers over the festive period. I'm now feeling glad that I booked all of my Christmas travel with Virgin!

 

[Erniescooper]

I have suspected that they got the worst of the 180s - this is now showing

No it isn't , FHT's Reliability is up to 18.5k MTIN MAA this year from 15k last year and has always had the best reliability of the three Class 180 operators.
GC and GWR both have larger fleets and can cover for non availability with a HST set if required , Hull need almost 100% availability to cover the 3 diagrams as the 4th unit is almost always on exam at Old Oak Common and as result it sticks out like a sore thumb when they have problems.

 

[westv]

Will the services be running ok tomorrow - especially the 6:25 to Kings X?

 

[Antman]

Will the services be running ok tomorrow - especially the 6:25 to Kings X?

Probably best to contact them through twitter

 

[Starmill]

Go to www.journeycheck.com/hulltrains for updates.

For Monday, the 0722 London King's Cross to Hull and 1030 Hull to London King's Cross services are cancelled.

Passengers for Hull will travel by EMT from London and Northern Rail from Sheffield.

Passengers from Hull will travel by Northern Rail to Doncaster then Grand Central to London.

For intermediate journeys there will be some connecting taxis.

 

[westv]

Why are VTEC still not accepting tickets?
Fortunately my train is fine this morning.

 

[TUC]

Go to www.journeycheck.com/hulltrains for updates.

For Monday, the 0722 London King's Cross to Hull and 1030 Hull to London King's Cross services are cancelled.

Passengers for Hull will travel by EMT from London and Northern Rail from Sheffield.

Passengers from Hull will travel by Northern Rail to Doncaster then Grand Central to London.

For intermediate journeys there will be some connecting taxis.

The continued unavailability suggests that full maintainance arrangements have not been in place over the Christmas and new Year period which is not acceptable in the modern rail industry, especially for an operator reliant on a small number of train sets like Hull Trains.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

Slightly surprised that HT couldn't borrow one of GWR's 180s, which are in theory confined to the depot at weekends though do now sometimes venture out. Wouldn't help today, of course.

 

[dk1]

According to EMTs who are accepting HT passengers only on selected St.Pancras services, the issue is down to a shortage of drivers.

 

[Bungle965]

Slightly surprised that HT couldn't borrow one of GWR's 180s, which are in theory confined to the depot at weekends though do now sometimes venture out. Wouldn't help today, of course.

I would think that at weekends GWR would be sorting out the various faults and problems with the 180's, and so would be unwilling to allow any sets to be hired out.
Sam

 

[DaiGog]

Old Oak Common depot has not been accessible from the North London line over the festive period owing to a planned NR possession, so no swapping of 180s has been possible. VTEC, as pointed out above, are carrying much of the WCML traffic so were unable to help HT over the last couple of days.

 

[DarloRich]

Apologies for the lack of librarianism, this issue could fit into many different forums.

It would appear that the 1330 and 1748 Hull Trains services from Hull and London Kings Cross respectively have been cancelled. NRE doesn't give a reason but sources suggest this is due to an earlier failed train.

According to Hull Trains journeycheck, passengers are travelling on the 1529 Sheffield to London St Pancras and 1826 London St Pancras to Sheffield. Hull Trains will be providing coach services between Sheffield and Hull. Northern Rail are accepting Hull Trains tickets between Doncaster amd Hull, and TransPennine Express will accept them between Doncaster and Sheffield. Hull Trains tickets are not being accepted by anyone else apart from GTR, which doubtless has a lot to do with some trains today having no standing space remaining (I saw the 1100 Edinburgh to London Kings Cross leave Newcastle with passengers stood right down the aisles).

Unfortunately another source suggests that the 1826 from St Pancras is only going to be a 4 car Meridian. I would have expected this to be full anyway given it is a Saturday evening. Hull Trains passengers at Retford and Grantham were apparently being provided with taxis to Peterborough earlier so that they could complete their journeys on GTR services. What they should do now is not so clear.

It all sounds like quite a sorry state of affairs. I'm glad I won't be at St Pancras for the 1826...

So train company has problems and tries to put in place a solution and is criticised for it, especially at a time when we are, essentially, down to one mainline between England and Scotland and other routes are closed for engineering works..............

 

[Doctor Fegg]

Old Oak Common depot has not been accessible from the North London line over the festive period owing to a planned NR possession, so no swapping of 180s has been possible.

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks.

I would think that at weekends GWR would be sorting out the various faults and problems with the 180's, and so would be unwilling to allow any sets to be hired out.

You'd be surprised. The GWR 180s are pretty reliable these days (I can't remember the last time I intended to catch one only to find a Turbo turn up instead), and as I mentioned they do now occasionally venture out to cover for an HST on the Cotswold Line at weekends.

 

[Gemz91]

Looked like there was a Hull Trains train still in the sidings at Newark this morning.

 

[PHILIPE]

I would think that at weekends GWR would be sorting out the various faults and problems with the 180's, and so would be unwilling to allow any sets to be hired out.
Sam

GWR 180s are not diagrammed over the weekend as they are specifically for Maintenence although they do work if shortages elsewhere and availability allows.

 

[DaiGog]

Looked like there was a Hull Trains train still in the sidings at Newark this morning.

It's the demic one, making its way to Old Oak for repair (it hasn't been sitting there for a week). Fresh set coming off OC for today's 1348 KGX-HUL, so all should be well from then on.

 

[Starmill]

So train company has problems and tries to put in place a solution and is criticised for it, especially at a time when we are, essentially, down to one mainline between England and Scotland and other routes are closed for engineering works..............

Do go ahead and point out the criticism?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

GWR 180s are not diagrammed over the weekend as they are specifically for Maintenence although they do work if shortages elsewhere and availability allows.

Including doing work for Hull Trains on certain occasions in the past.

 

[westv]

No it isn't , FHT's Reliability is up to 18.5k MTIN MAA this year from 15k last year and has always had the best reliability of the three Class 180 operators.
GC and GWR both have larger fleets and can cover for non availability with a HST set if required , Hull need almost 100% availability to cover the 3 diagrams as the 4th unit is almost always on exam at Old Oak Common and as result it sticks out like a sore thumb when they have problems.

They'd be even more reliable if they had a spare set.

 

[DarloRich]

Do go ahead and point out the criticism?

Very happy to. My bold:

Apologies for the lack of librarianism, this issue could fit into many different forums.

It would appear that the 1330 and 1748 Hull Trains services from Hull and London Kings Cross respectively have been cancelled. NRE doesn't give a reason but sources suggest this is due to an earlier failed train.

According to Hull Trains journeycheck, passengers are travelling on the 1529 Sheffield to London St Pancras and 1826 London St Pancras to Sheffield. Hull Trains will be providing coach services between Sheffield and Hull. Northern Rail are accepting Hull Trains tickets between Doncaster amd Hull, and TransPennine Express will accept them between Doncaster and Sheffield. Hull Trains tickets are not being accepted by anyone else apart from GTR, which doubtless has a lot to do with some trains today having no standing space remaining (I saw the 1100 Edinburgh to London Kings Cross leave Newcastle with passengers stood right down the aisles).

Unfortunately another source suggests that the 1826 from St Pancras is only going to be a 4 car Meridian. I would have expected this to be full anyway given it is a Saturday evening. Hull Trains passengers at Retford and Grantham were apparently being provided with taxis to Peterborough earlier so that they could complete their journeys on GTR services. What they should do now is not so clear.

It all sounds like quite a sorry state of affairs. I'm glad I won't be at St Pancras for the 1826...

and

Getting on a bus at 2050 when you thought you'd be home before then! Hull Trains say Beverley passengers will be taken by taxi from Hull.

 

[Starmill]

Very happy to. My bold:

You see, you're having a lot of difficulty here distinguishing my reporting of facts from my expression of views. For your assistance with this, the part of that which is my opinion is that there is a sorry state of affairs. Surely you don't disagree with that? I didn't try to say someone was responsible or that someone should have done something they didn't, which might then amount to 'criticism' - but as that statement is I think it's pretty blooming uncontroversial.

The only other part of what I have posted that constitutes my opinion is that it must be very inconvenient getting on a bus at that hour, when many passengers might have had a reasonable expectatio of bening at home by then. Do you disagree with that also? If so I'm happy to hear you explain. But I think you'll find blame was hardly being directed at anyone at all with my post, and I'm sure others will agree with me here.