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SWR Metro fleet permanent withdrawals

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TT-ONR-NRN

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Farnham
Today’s allocation is as follows:

Reading - all 8-450
Windsor - all 10-458
Epsom routes - all 8-455
Strawberry H - all 8-455
Chertsey - 5/10-458 & 8-450
Shepperton - 10-707 (& 8-455 evening peak)
Woking - 8-450 & 8-455
Cobham - 8-450 & 8-455
Chessington - 8-450 & 8-455
Alton - 5-444 & 8/12-450
Bstke - 5-444 & 8/12-450

Weymouth/Portsmouth/Exeter are largely unaffected by the Metro fleet allocations, although there may be an imbalance in 450 diagrams as 455/707 wind down.
 

Goldfish62

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14 Feb 2010
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Today’s allocation is as follows:

Reading - all 8-450
Windsor - all 10-458
Epsom routes - all 8-455
Strawberry H - all 8-455
Chertsey - 5/10-458 & 8-450
Shepperton - 10-707 (& 8-455 evening peak)
Woking - 8-450 & 8-455
Cobham - 8-450 & 8-455
Chessington - 8-450 & 8-455
Alton - 5-444 & 8/12-450
Bstke - 5-444 & 8/12-450

Weymouth/Portsmouth/Exeter are largely unaffected by the Metro fleet allocations, although there may be an imbalance in 450 diagrams as 455/707 wind down.
The 0547 Staines to Reading and 0641 Reading to Waterloo are 10-458. The only 458 workings on the Reading line though.
 

BRX

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Are SWR 455 diagrams currently published anywhere?
 

Class450/4DES

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Today’s allocation is as follows:

Reading - all 8-450
Windsor - all 10-458
Epsom routes - all 8-455
Strawberry H - all 8-455
Chertsey - 5/10-458 & 8-450
Shepperton - 10-707 (& 8-455 evening peak)
Woking - 8-450 & 8-455
Cobham - 8-450 & 8-455
Chessington - 8-450 & 8-455
Alton - 5-444 & 8/12-450
Bstke - 5-444 & 8/12-450

Weymouth/Portsmouth/Exeter are largely unaffected by the Metro fleet allocations, although there may be an imbalance in 450 diagrams as 455/707 wind down.
I like seeing 444's on the Alton like, takes me back to SWT days, and this seems the norm again which I like, not a 1 off day for example, engineering works.
 

TEW

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I like seeing 444's on the Alton like, takes me back to SWT days, and this seems the norm again which I like, not a 1 off day for example, engineering works.
It is. I listed the booked services in post 877.
 

Big Jumby 74

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UK
I like seeing 444's on the Alton like, takes me back to SWT days
Such diagrams were never (back then) just a, on a 'whim' of the planners. Going back 40 plus years, in my experience, there was never quite enough stock to match demand. Call it a business strategy or whatever (such decisions were well above my head), we never had enough units to cover 'the plan' in an ideal sense. There were always odd services in the edges of the peaks that could have benefited being 8 cars, but we only had 4 (or 5 in Desiro terms). It was a case of damage limitation when it came to providing seats for bums, plain and simple.
That is why some Alton line trains were formed of 444 and not 450, the 1625 Waterloo being an example of an early conversion (after the introduction of the 2004 timetable) from 4-450 to 5-444 (for those who may remember same) and likewise, the 1925 ex Waterloo, went from 5-444 to 8-450, for the same reasons. But in trying to remedy overcrowding on such services, there was always a knock-on effect (stock formation wise) to other services. There was never a magic stock tree out there, that the planners could (can) pluck extra units from as and when someone complains about overcrowding. Whichever way the plan went, the planners were often left largely in a no win situation :'(
 

pompeyfan

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4,181
Hopefully when the 701s finally enter service, the 444s move across to service groups they were actually designed for. If they’re (444s) on Altons you might as well put them on Readings too. Similar sort of journey time and the prospect of that would be laughable so I don’t get why it’s acceptable and encouraged to have them on Altons.
 

GW43125

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8 Dec 2014
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2,045
Passed a 455/7 on a low loader on the M25 this morning, had a few windows taped/bagged up. Would this have been 5740?
 

greaterwest

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23 Nov 2014
Messages
1,423
Hopefully when the 701s finally enter service, the 444s move across to service groups they were actually designed for. If they’re (444s) on Altons you might as well put them on Readings too. Similar sort of journey time and the prospect of that would be laughable so I don’t get why it’s acceptable and encouraged to have them on Altons.
This should just be temporary until the 701s are introduced. 3 diagrams of 10 444 made it onto Basingstoke & Alton (Farnham) splits in Saturday's engineering plan, leaving a booked 9 car 450/444 combo on the mainline...

Luckily 444s aren't permitted beyond the Virginia Water Reading platforms so you won't ever see one at Reading.
 

Goldfish62

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14 Feb 2010
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9,934
This should just be temporary until the 701s are introduced. 3 diagrams of 10 444 made it onto Basingstoke & Alton (Farnham) splits in Saturday's engineering plan, leaving a booked 9 car 450/444 combo on the mainline...

Luckily 444s aren't permitted beyond the Virginia Water Reading platforms so you won't ever see one at Reading.
I remember when they were first introduced there was a morning peak Waterloo to Hounslow working.

They'd be pretty useless on the Reading line even if permitted. Only the down platform at Wokingham, plus Reading would be able to accommodate 10 cars and a 5-444 wouldn't provide sufficient capacity.
 

Peter Mugridge

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Passed a 455/7 on a low loader on the M25 this morning, had a few windows taped/bagged up. Would this have been 5740?
Yes, 455 740 was carted away yesterday. Did you get any indication of if it was heading towards Long Marston or direct to one of the scrapyards?
 

Juniper Driver

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Passed a 455/7 on a low loader on the M25 this morning, had a few windows taped/bagged up. Would this have been 5740?
Yes that was driving trailer.Saw what I thought was the 2nd coach
Yes, 455 740 was carted away yesterday. Did you get any indication of if it was heading towards Long Marston or direct to one of the scrapyards?
DTSO being carted off to the scrapyard at a guess as it was a right state.
Think yesterday the TSO was being loaded up on to low loader.
 

Big Jumby 74

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I remember when they were first introduced there was a morning peak Waterloo to Hounslow working
That is so, 0737 from Waterloo. In past times that service had nothing to do after arrival at Hounslow, and so it was used as a way to get 2 x 444 back to Northam (empty from Hounslow) for the day shift maintenance. As a bonus it also provided an additional trip over the Byfleet curve (crew route knowledge retention) although I can not now remember who worked it that far back. Sorry, this is getting a tad OT !
 

GW43125

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Yes that was driving trailer.Saw what I thought was the 2nd coach

DTSO being carted off to the scrapyard at a guess as it was a right state.
Think yesterday the TSO was being loaded up on to low loader.
Thanks, pretty sure there were two vehicles-the TSO and another I didn't get a chance to have a look at.
 

Mag_seven

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Just a reminder that discussion in this thread should be limited to SWR Metro Fleet withdrawals.

If anyone wants to discuss anything else they are welcome to start a new thread in the appropriate forum section.
 

Class450/4DES

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16 Dec 2021
Messages
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Location
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Such diagrams were never (back then) just a, on a 'whim' of the planners. Going back 40 plus years, in my experience, there was never quite enough stock to match demand. Call it a business strategy or whatever (such decisions were well above my head), we never had enough units to cover 'the plan' in an ideal sense. There were always odd services in the edges of the peaks that could have benefited being 8 cars, but we only had 4 (or 5 in Desiro terms). It was a case of damage limitation when it came to providing seats for bums, plain and simple.
That is why some Alton line trains were formed of 444 and not 450, the 1625 Waterloo being an example of an early conversion (after the introduction of the 2004 timetable) from 4-450 to 5-444 (for those who may remember same) and likewise, the 1925 ex Waterloo, went from 5-444 to 8-450, for the same reasons. But in trying to remedy overcrowding on such services, there was always a knock-on effect (stock formation wise) to other services. There was never a magic stock tree out there, that the planners could (can) pluck extra units from as and when someone complains about overcrowding. Whichever way the plan went, the planners were often left largely in a no win situation :'(
Alright then.
 

444045

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Dorset
455852 has to returned to service today (2D18). It looks like it, and I assume 455741, returned from Bournemouth last Friday.
U.5873 was on 5B39 WD/BM last Fri but failed at start time so U.5728 took its place and brought U.5852 back on 5Y51 BM/WD.

U.5915 was on 5B39 WD/BM on Mon 16/05 and brought U.5741 back on 5Y51 BM/WD.

Hope that ties up on the loose ends.......
 
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Thank you very much for that clarifiication.

Unfortunately the allocations for 5B39/5Y51 rarely show up on RTT, possibly related to being Q trains?
 

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