IET's grounded - what would you run?

[py_megapixel]

"Putting all your eggs in one basket" is a piece of advice which means that one should not concentrate all efforts and resources in one area as one could lose everything.
Don't know why that popped into my head. Oh well.

I'm told the people responsible for fleet maintenance and diagramming usually like homogeneous fleets. Of course, it does increase the impact when something like this does happen.

Yes GWR only have one type of train......

GWR may not, but LNER and Hull both do...

 

[RPI]

Would the drivers of the class 387 units have route knowledge to Swindon?

Swindon drivers sign them, a few sets are kept at Swindon overnight, of interest there are a few 5Zxx ECS moves between Swindon and Didcot today, formed of 12 car 387's

 

[Snow1964]

If there are plenty of HSTs that could be crewed by GWR staff as far as Reading - then it begs the question why this isn't being done already, then use the Electrostars from Reading to London.

Either they really don't want to run any trains, there aren't the crews qualified to operate them, or the stock isn't actually available...

Electrostars are run to Didcot and Newbury, so don’t need to limit them Reading-London.

Would be more useful if they could operate them Bristol Parkway-London (as plenty of other operators from there). I realise someone will mutter about paperwork, but so far they have had 26 hours to start the paperwork and lots of staff have been sitting idle during that time, when sorting the paperwork could have been under way.

 

[357]

Or it's considerably more logistically complicated than it may seem based on an online discussion forum, and a two sentence long post.

And that's exactly the point I was getting at in response to the comment earlier about the union not permitting hire in....

 

[Snow1964]

Oh it's so simple and obvious! Why haven't GWR thought of that? <\sarcasm>

(The "paperwork" no doubt cannot be done by anybody, but somebody with the right competency. Probably somebody who has barely slept all night trying to sort the issues out, rather than "sitting idle")

OK, let’s be more practical here
The Heathrow service is not running fully, so there are spare 387s sitting around, we know 387s work to Swindon to be stabled. We know some GWR drivers sign for 387s, and some sign the route to Bristol Parkway (and some might sign both)

Is there anything preventing a 387 going to Bristol Parkway, (apart possibly from some missing ticks in a table of route approvals), and if it is needs a competent person to approve, I struggle to accept they would be same person who is also a metallurgist surveying welds.

Anyway if the route is approved for 26m electric vehicles with power doors, why would it be unsuitable for 20m electric vehicles (built to C1) with power doors, that draw less power. I have seen plenty of 321s hauled down same line recently.

 

[daodao]

the term putting all your eggs in one basket comes to mind

Are TPE going to make more use of their sets of class 68 + mark 5A coaches during the current crisis?

 

[dk1]

Are TPE going to make more use of their sets of class 68 + mark 5A coaches during the current crisis?

Doubt it. Crew knowledge would be a barrier. Anyway I thought their units where not so badly affected with many cleared for traffic.

 

[JN114]

The Heathrow service is not running fully, so there are spare 387s sitting around

Yes it is, so no there isn’t.

Is there anything preventing a 387 going to Bristol Parkway

No guards sign the traction, company wide. DOO agreement prevents geographical extension of DOO beyond current limit (Didcot) and will not be changed. Only a very tiny number of drivers sign the route all the way to Bristol Parkway AND the traction - too few to be practical. Platform validation, dispatch risk assessments and so on. Gauge clearance etc.

 

[Ianno87]

OK, let’s be more practical here
The Heathrow service is not running fully, so there are spare 387s sitting around, we know 387s work to Swindon to be stabled. We know some GWR drivers sign for 387s, and some sign the route to Bristol Parkway (and some might sign both)

OK. Can you produce a resource plan for all that at 24 hours notice?

Is there anything preventing a 387 going to Bristol Parkway, (apart possibly from some missing ticks in a table of route approvals), and if it is needs a competent person to approve, I struggle to accept they would be same person who is also a metallurgist surveying welds.

They're probably engaged in more basic stuff like trying to figure out how many serviceable units they will have and how they can be deployed, and how the service will end to start up Monday's service, etc.

Anyway if the route is approved for 26m electric vehicles with power doors, why would it be unsuitable for 20m electric vehicles (built to C1) with power doors, that draw less power. I have seen plenty of 321s hauled down same line recently.

Not disputing your logic here. But need to come up with a coherent plan first, *before* figuring out what paperwork needs to be addressed. Not just scattergunning a load of stuff that might be useful (and may prove abortive).

Edit: Plus what @JN114 said.

 

[HST274]

In terms of what GWR are actually running(rather than speculation) there are 66 trains cancelled.
On the Cotswolds line a turbo shuttle is being run starting/terminating at Reading and in some cases not going beyond Worcester Shrub Hill.
There is also still the shuttle between Didcot and London.
Some trains are making additional stops- Swansea trains are stopping at Didcot and some Penzance trains are additionally stopping at Chippenham and Swindon.
Trains to Weston Super Mare, Bristol to London and some to the south west are just running as Swindon to Bristol (And vice versa)
A plymouth train is being started from Exeter.
Not a very detailed description of their services but a rough overview.

 

[robbeech]

If there are plenty of HSTs that could be crewed by GWR staff as far as Reading - then it begs the question why this isn't being done already, then use the Electrostars from Reading to London.

Either they really don't want to run any trains, there aren't the crews qualified to operate them, or the stock isn't actually available...

It will be more complicated than that, considerably so, but that doesn’t get rid of the facts that if they really didn’t want to run the trains, that’s that. They just won’t run them.

 

[RobShipway]

In terms of what GWR are actually running(rather than speculation) there are 66 trains cancelled.
On the Cotswolds line a turbo shuttle is being run starting/terminating at Reading and in some cases not going beyond Worcester Shrub Hill.
There is also still the shuttle between Didcot and London.
Some trains are making additional stops- Swansea trains are stopping at Didcot and one Penzance train is additionally stopping at Chippenham and Swindon.
Trains to Weston Super Mare, Bristol to London and some to the south west are just running as Swindon to Bristol (And vice versa)
A plymouth train is being started from Exeter.
Not a very detailed description of their services but a rough overview.

Thank you for the info. Pretty much what I would expect at this stage with the issue on the IET trains.

 

[Anonymous10]

I repeat. What. Is. Your. Alternative?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 May 2021 ==



Ditto.

provide a taxi or rail replacement bus every few hours would be a good start

 

[Ianno87]

provide a taxi or rail replacement bus every few hours would be a good start

Which appears to be be what is happening, on a limited basis.

 

[adc82140]

provide a taxi or rail replacement bus every few hours would be a good start

It's the weekend. There is engineering work elsewhere, including nearby on the West of England line, taking up bus resources. Therefore where are these rail replacement buses going to appear from?

 

[LordCreed]

provide a taxi or rail replacement bus every few hours would be a good start

The problem is that as soon as you start advertising a rail replacement bus service, everyone will still decide to travel. The bus will then end up full, and you'd need to start running duplicates. Instead of needing just a few buses, you'd start needing a fleet of them.

 

[Anonymous10]

It's the weekend. There is engineering work elsewhere, including nearby on the West of England line, taking up bus resources. Therefore where are these rail replacement buses going to appear from?

would it really be a stretch to have hired in from places such as wales with limited disruption given modern tech these days and roads don't think so so much

 

[adc82140]

would it really be a stretch to have hired in from places such as wales with limited disruption given modern tech these days and roads don't think so so much

Who would drive them?

 

[D365]

Who would drive them?

Robbies, obviously

More seriously, yes that is a good point.

 

[HamworthyGoods]

I realise someone will mutter about paperwork, but so far they have had 26 hours to start the paperwork and lots of staff have been sitting idle during that time, when sorting the paperwork could have been under way.

Sorting the paperwork I understand to be underway, this paperwork will however also require companies external to GWR to be involved who may not be available until Monday.

 

[mildertduck]

If the question is "what would I run", I would certainly include spot hiring anything with a mainline certificate from the heritage railways (with their crews) - by being closed for a lengthy period, they've lost a lot of income, and this would surely give them a bit of a financial kick-start!

(I know, running the likes of Tornado as a main line service train isn't realistic, even for a couple of days. But it's probably less impractical than a lot of people might think.)

 

[43096]

If there are plenty of HSTs that could be crewed by GWR staff as far as Reading - then it begs the question why this isn't being done already, then use the Electrostars from Reading to London.

Either they really don't want to run any trains, there aren't the crews qualified to operate them, or the stock isn't actually available...

I’d also ask the question why DfT haven’t told XC that all their 5 HST sets are to be hired to GWR immediately.

 

[XAM2175]

If the question is "what would I run", I would certainly include spot hiring anything with a mainline certificate from the heritage railways (with their crews) - by being closed for a lengthy period, they've lost a lot of income, and this would surely give them a bit of a financial kick-start!

Honestly, even if it weren't already impractical, I'd still avoid hiring-in heritage stock on the grounds that all it would really achieve would be to stir up armies of rabid enthusiasts who weren't even planning to travel on the originally-affected services.

 

[adc82140]

Honestly, even if it weren't already impractical, I'd still avoid hiring-in heritage stock on the grounds that all it would really achieve would be to stir up armies of rabid enthusiasts who weren't even planning to travel on the originally-affected services.

That's a good point. Rare are the circumstances where you could travel on mainline heritage stock for the price of a standard ticket.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 May 2021 ==

I’d also ask the question why DfT haven’t told XC that all their 5 HST sets are to be hired to GWR immediately.

Are the XC sets identical to the Castles? Or would they have to be crewed by XC staff?

 

[HamworthyGoods]

I’d also ask the question why DfT haven’t told XC that all their 5 HST sets are to be hired to GWR immediately.

I understand at present 2 sets are or certainly were out of traffic at Laira with one on heavy exam which is unfortunate timing as ever!

 

[Failed Unit]

Would GWR be able to drive LNERs? Get the 91s and Mk4s back in service, use any that frees up from LNER onto GWR. Stop extensions north of Edinburgh to Hull and Lincoln.

I know LNER don’t have many Mk4s left but any port in a storm.

 

[py_megapixel]

Similarly can they poach the TPE ones for GWR and compensate by running some single 185s?

 

[Anonymous10]

Who would drive them?

are you seriously asking that question there are plenty of coach companies who usually run coach holidays with spare coaches (less holidays taken rn) why not utilise them

 

[Hadders]

On LNER, ideally you'd use GTR 700s/387s/365s to operate an emergency service to Leeds but these would need route conductors north of Peterborough which wouldn't be possible due to covid restriction and social distancing in cabs.

I'd withdraw all LNER trains between Kings Cross and Peterborough and north of Edinburgh. Passengers to use GTR between Kings Cross and Peterborough, ideally GTR to run a couple of extra fast services an hour if sufficient crews are available (i.e. run the peak extras all day).

Use what LNER stock is available to operate Peterborough to Leeds and Peterborough to York/Newcastle/Edinburgh shuttles.

 

[anthony263]

What about the grand central mark 4s with class 90s for lner and transfer some their 800s which have been given the OK to return to service to go help gwr out