Progress of delivery of cascaded/refurbished/PRM modified stock to TFW/Wales and Borders

[sd0733]

May someone please tell me which four these are?

They are 153918, 968, 972, 982.

 

[LowLevel]

They are 153918, 968, 972, 982.

With any lucky they'll drive them straight into Sims at Newport. Hateful things.

 

[craigybagel]

With any lucky they'll drive them straight into Sims at Newport. Hateful things.

Surprised you say that - the 153s that came from your TOC are by far the best in the TfW fleet! I'm always happier when a see a flash of blue red and orange come around the corner driving 153s that came from 4 different TOCs around the same time has been an eye opening experience about the qualities of different maintenance regimes.....

 

[LowLevel]

Surprised you say that - the 153s that came from your TOC are by far the best in the TfW fleet! I'm always happier when a see a flash of blue red and orange come around the corner driving 153s that came from 4 different TOCs around the same time has been an eye opening experience about the qualities of different maintenance regimes.....

Those 4 are the ex Great Western ones which were in awful condition when they arrived with us and got no better over time. The others as 153s go I think are probably the best dogboxes on the network, not that that is saying much

 

[craigybagel]

Those 4 are the ex Great Western ones which were in awful condition when they arrived with us and got no better over time. The others as 153s go I think are probably the best dogboxes on the network, not that that is saying much

Ah ok, I won't get my hopes up then our ex Great Western units aren't too bad to be fair (the cab cooling is a nice touch ) but nothing compares to the ex EMT sets. I never knew a 153 could be so clean!

 

[Bikeman78]

Ah ok, I won't get my hopes up then our ex Great Western units aren't too bad to be fair (the cab cooling is a nice touch ) but nothing compares to the ex EMT sets. I never knew a 153 could be so clean!

They don't smell damp either, which is rare for a 153.

 

[Anonymous10]

Surprised you say that - the 153s that came from your TOC are by far the best in the TfW fleet! I'm always happier when a see a flash of blue red and orange come around the corner driving 153s that came from 4 different TOCs around the same time has been an eye opening experience about the qualities of different maintenance regimes.....

its them behind the tfw prm units for me id rather the prm to the standard 153s of any operator

 

[The_Train]

Has the 150 (that caused a bit of furore when that pic of half of it in TfW livery appeared) now surfaced with the entire unit in the new colours?

 

[anthony263]

Was one on Facebook of it yes

Not sure if it is, 009 had gone back for some tweaks. There was talk it could be that one coming back. Word is Vivarail are focusing on the 484's as they need 3 more of those to be delivered.

Be interested to know if that is correct.

230009 been out on test catching many by surprise as many noticed it come back on 26th February

 

[sd0733]

Has the 150 (that caused a bit of furore when that pic of half of it in TfW livery appeared) now surfaced with the entire unit in the new colours?

Its fully done inside and mostly done outside with just a few finishing off bits on the exterior i believe. Should be in service late this week or early next week.

 

[The_Train]

Its fully done inside and mostly done outside with just a few finishing off bits on the exterior i believe. Should be in service late this week or early next week.

Great stuff - thanks for the update

 

[animationmilo]

175105 must be not far from being ready for release. It went to Widnes a month ago in a couple days. I wonder how long. Any Idea. thank you

 

[6Gtraincrew]

175105 must be not far from being ready for release. It went to Widnes a month ago in a couple days. I wonder how long. Any Idea. thank you

Three car wise, 113 holds the record at the mo (only 24 days). At the other end of the scale you have 101 and 103 (42 days). So anything in-between is probable. I've discounted 104 as it was there having a new can too.

 

[animationmilo]

Three car wise, 113 holds the record at the mo (only 24 days). At the other end of the scale you have 101 and 103 (42 days). So anything in-between is probable. I've discounted 104 as it was there having a new can too.

Thank you and 175102 was away from 13 Nov to 22 Dec

 

[6Gtraincrew]

Thank you and 175102 was away from 13 Nov to 22 Dec

102 came back on 18th Dec

 

[Cardiff123]

TfW Rail have put out this tweet re: 150236's TfW refurb

https://twitter.com/tfwrail/status/1367071456950169600?s=19

 

[Anonymous10]

TfW Rail have put out this tweet re: 150236's TfW refurb

https://twitter.com/tfwrail/status/1367071456950169600?s=19

all i can say is they are looking sleek and i cant wait to ride one

 

[Snow1964]

TfW Rail have put out this tweet re: 150236's TfW refurb

https://twitter.com/tfwrail/status/1367071456950169600?s=19

It looks good,
however it is now March 2021 and this is first one, and yes I know there has been some intermittent lockdowns, but can anyone remind me what the stated timescale was when franchise was announced 34 months ago.

Perhaps I am being cynical, but a PR spin tweet announcing managed to refurb one 35 year old train (and haven’t done the rest of fleet) is very sad.

 

[6Gtraincrew]

It looks good,
however it is now March 2021 and this is first one, and yes I know there has been some intermittent lockdowns, but can anyone remind me what the stated timescale was when franchise was announced 34 months ago.

Perhaps I am being cynical, but a PR spin tweet announcing managed to refurb one 35 year old train (and haven’t done the rest of fleet) is very sad.

Not just lockdowns though. Don't forget the very late delivery of the 769, 230 and MK4 projects. All these things made it impossible to release the units from duty for refurb.

 

[craigybagel]

Not just lockdowns though. Don't forget the very late delivery of the 769, 230 and MK4 projects. All these things made it impossible to release the units from duty for refurb.

Indeed - up until the start of Covid people were howling about how terrible it was that TfW hadn't been able to magic some new trains into service and immediately fix the infamous stock shortages that existed under the previous regime.

 

[Energy]

Indeed - up until the start of Covid people were howling about how terrible it was that TfW hadn't been able to magic some new trains into service and immediately fix the infamous stock shortages that existed under the previous regime.

Indeed, soon after the franchise change there were news articles about what had changed which in short said 'not much difference but occasional TfW branding'.

 

[Caaardiff]

It looks good,
however it is now March 2021 and this is first one, and yes I know there has been some intermittent lockdowns, but can anyone remind me what the stated timescale was when franchise was announced 34 months ago.

Perhaps I am being cynical, but a PR spin tweet announcing managed to refurb one 35 year old train (and haven’t done the rest of fleet) is very sad.

It would've made more sense to get the full refurb done when the PRM mods were done. Whether this was the original plan but to speed up the PRM mods the plan was changed to not have the refurb done I'm unsure.
The same with the 158s. There's 3 units out if service for refurb (150, 158 & 175) and has been for some time. The refurb will continue to be going on for all 3 fleets for some time it seems. Which seems a waste given that the 158s and 175s will be gone by next year.

 

[Snow1964]

It would've made more sense to get the full refurb done when the PRM mods were done. Whether this was the original plan but to speed up the PRM mods the plan was changed to not have the refurb done I'm unsure.
The same with the 158s. There's 3 units out if service for refurb (150, 158 & 175) and has been for some time. The refurb will continue to be going on for all 3 fleets for some time it seems. Which seems a waste given that the 158s and 175s will be gone by next year.

It has all gone rather wrong.
One assumes that when franchise was agreed and they announced the rolling stock plan and refurbs, that prior to announcing they had got commitments to obtain the stock and do the refurb work. It is not normal to announce something if you have no control over when the stock will arrive.

 

[PHILIPE]

It would've made more sense to get the full refurb done when the PRM mods were done. Whether this was the original plan but to speed up the PRM mods the plan was changed to not have the refurb done I'm unsure.
The same with the 158s. There's 3 units out if service for refurb (150, 158 & 175) and has been for some time. The refurb will continue to be going on for all 3 fleets for some time it seems. Which seems a waste given that the 158s and 175s will be gone by next year.

The priority was to rapidly complete the 150 Mods because of the time factor. The question of why Refurbishment of 158s and 175s is being done crops up here from time to time but if they need it, it needs to be done. We don't know when, or even if, they will be going when new stock is on the horizon but how much new stock enters traffic now without extended delays. Another thing we don't know are the details of internal contracts between various bodies regarding any work. ATW had several years notice to get the PRM Mods done but they were not initiated until TFW came on the scene. The PRM mod was obviously not an ATW Franchise commitment so as they only conformed to the DFT conditions and nothing else then that is why.

 

[berneyarms]

It has all gone rather wrong.
One assumes that when franchise was agreed and they announced the rolling stock plan and refurbs, that prior to announcing they had got commitments to obtain the stock and do the refurb work. It is not normal to announce something if you have no control over when the stock will arrive.

Virtually all new rolling stock delivered in the last few years has been late. It's not a TfW specific issue.

TfW have just been particularly unlucky with the Class 769 issues which, along with Covid, has had serious knock-on effects. That has been the real problem, which has led to the extra Class 153 sets being brought in to cover.

As for the announcements, it is pretty standard for each franchise to announced their plans at the time the franchise has been awarded.

I wouldn't have any issues with TfW postng a photo of refurbished stock - it's step in the right direction.

 

[Anonymous10]

It would've made more sense to get the full refurb done when the PRM mods were done. Whether this was the original plan but to speed up the PRM mods the plan was changed to not have the refurb done I'm unsure.
The same with the 158s. There's 3 units out if service for refurb (150, 158 & 175) and has been for some time. The refurb will continue to be going on for all 3 fleets for some time it seems. Which seems a waste given that the 158s and 175s will be gone by next year.

likely comes down to it being a franchise commitment it needed doing but don't believe had a deadline where as prm did have a deadline so they had to put that first

 

[CapitalStar378]

It might be wise to get as many 150s done as possible before the 143s are scrapped at the end of May. Could become impossible after this date unless the 769s can be tamed by then.

 

[Anonymous10]

It might be wise to get as many 150s done as possible before the 143s are scrapped at the end of May. Could become impossible after this date unless the 769s can be tamed by then.

you would hope they would be or at least the 230s would be in service to help out and displace stock from north to south

 

[Parallel]

TfW Rail have put out this tweet re: 150236's TfW refurb

https://twitter.com/tfwrail/status/1367071456950169600?s=19

Thanks for posting!

I don’t think they look that much better than the refreshed ATW ones. No doubt they’ll be cleaner and the walls look better cosmetically but would’ve been nice for them to add some new lighting with diffusers, similar to the type Wessex Trains (or FGW, can’t remember which) installed in their 150s.

 

[Bikeman78]

Thanks for posting!

I don’t think they look that much better than the refreshed ATW ones. No doubt they’ll be cleaner and the walls look better cosmetically but would’ve been nice for them to add some new lighting with diffusers, similar to the type Wessex Trains (or FGW, can’t remember which) installed in their 150s.

Looks more like a routine overhaul to be honest. New coat of paint and new seat moquette.