SWR Metro fleet permanent withdrawals

[WarrenTManager]

5907/5918 now off lease. Definitely not looking good for 5918. It's been harvested.

Fleet should stay at 83 for now (5740/5855/5907/5918 end of life, 5704/5726/5736/5847 stored).

 

[Siemens Staines]

Thank you for the update. It does seem a little strange that 5907 had its tree collision damage repaired and then was only used for one day (01/07/22) before going off lease, but I guess that was a condition of the lease?

 

[WarrenTManager]

Thank you for the update. It does seem a little strange that 5907 had its tree collision damage repaired and then was only used for one day (01/07/22) before going off lease, but I guess that was a condition of the lease?

There was nothing wrong with it bar some scratches if I recall. Just needed an examination that all was ok with regards systems.

 

[swr444]

There was nothing wrong with it bar some scratches if I recall. Just needed an examination that all was ok with regards systems.

Is there a reason they’re allowing them to go off lease whilst SWR are so short on stock?

 

[Siemens Staines]

455711 01/06/22

455711 is back in passenger service today (2K13)

 

[WarrenTManager]

Is there a reason they’re allowing them to go off lease whilst SWR are so short on stock?

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed that quite a few long players have been returned to traffic. That’s only achieved with harvesting parts from units that can’t otherwise be obtained.

Buying spares for units that should have been withdrawn at the end of 2020 is hard.

Any low usage parts are very hard to get with suppliers stipulating minimum order quantities to make it worth their while with long lead times. Say a part is £3k, but now you need to buy 5 to satisfy MOQ but you only use one a year. That’s £15k tax payers money. Then the lead time is 4 months, that’s just for that part. Sometimes the parts are dearer or the MOQs are higher adding to the risk.

You are going to rob a unit as you only used that part once in the last year. Those two 455/9s need a full C4 so financially and in terms of time it’s a no brainer. Add Brexit and COVID and the Ukraine into the mix as well as suppliers going bust, these are tricky times that just have to be got on with and depots don’t get the credit, just unit x is being cut up…….

TOCs don’t in general own the spares either, there will be some purchased material on stock but the bulk belongs to ROSCOs, resellers like Unipart and OEMs and suppliers aren’t going to tie up their money in overhauling items just in case. They would certainly get burnt, spending money on items that may not be used, if it was your firm you wouldn’t gamble on it. They will retrieve from broken stock and repair on order. This also adds to lead times.

Today Wimbledon have 12 spare 455s. Two no hopers aren’t going to be missed.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

456 010 went to Sims yesterday... there was a video on Twitter of one vehicle from it on a low loader heading south on the M42.

https://twitter.com/PortlandTMD/status/1546870913253113865?s=20&t=A5iiQF-4epuUVfaMGFdTJg

 

[45076]

456 010 went to Sims yesterday... there was a video on Twitter of one vehicle from it on a low loader heading south on the M42.

https://twitter.com/PortlandTMD/status/1546870913253113865?s=20&t=A5iiQF-4epuUVfaMGFdTJg

View attachment 117577

and ever so quietly the 456 units become a memory.

 

[Dave91131]

Forgive me if it's mentioned earlier in the thread and I've missed it - with these recent road moves, I'm assuming 456's aren't cleared to Newport Docks by rail?

Or are they so heavily stripped they're out of gauge?

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Forgive me if it's mentioned earlier in the thread and I've missed it - with these recent road moves, I'm assuming 456's aren't cleared to Newport Docks by rail?

Or are they so heavily stripped they're out of gauge?

Perhaps it's just easier because they're two carriage trains, and therefore only require two lorries rather than sending locomotives and those green barrier vehicles up and down with them.

 

[Dave91131]

Perhaps it's just easier because they're two carriage trains, and therefore only require two lorries rather than sending locomotives and those green barrier vehicles up and down with them.

If they are cleared by rail, I'd have thought the most efficient solution would be to drag 3 or 4 units at a time.

You could eliminate the fleet in less than a month.

 

[43096]

If they are cleared by rail, I'd have thought the most efficient solution would be to drag 3 or 4 units at a time.

You could eliminate the fleet in less than a month.

It will also depend on what slots Sims have for taking delivery. Don't forget they're taking in 16 Class 455 vehicles per week currently.

 

[WarrenTManager]

If they are cleared by rail, I'd have thought the most efficient solution would be to drag 3 or 4 units at a time.

You could eliminate the fleet in less than a month.

You'd need to do fitness to run or safety of the line inspections and who knows what might have seized up in the meantime. With the valid point in post 1060 makes the necessity to inspect tip the scales in favour of lorries.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed that quite a few long players have been returned to traffic. That’s only achieved with harvesting parts from units that can’t otherwise be obtained.

Buying spares for units that should have been withdrawn at the end of 2020 is hard.

Any low usage parts are very hard to get with suppliers stipulating minimum order quantities to make it worth their while with long lead times. Say a part is £3k, but now you need to buy 5 to satisfy MOQ but you only use one a year. That’s £15k tax payers money. Then the lead time is 4 months, that’s just for that part. Sometimes the parts are dearer or the MOQs are higher adding to the risk.

You are going to rob a unit as you only used that part once in the last year. Those two 455/9s need a full C4 so financially and in terms of time it’s a no brainer. Add Brexit and COVID and the Ukraine into the mix as well as suppliers going bust, these are tricky times that just have to be got on with and depots don’t get the credit, just unit x is being cut up…….

TOCs don’t in general own the spares either, there will be some purchased material on stock but the bulk belongs to ROSCOs, resellers like Unipart and OEMs and suppliers aren’t going to tie up their money in overhauling items just in case. They would certainly get burnt, spending money on items that may not be used, if it was your firm you wouldn’t gamble on it. They will retrieve from broken stock and repair on order. This also adds to lead times.

Today Wimbledon have 12 spare 455s. Two no hopers aren’t going to be missed.

Useful observations of issues that go hidden behind the scenes to keep the stock available for traffic thanks for sharing.

Is it 12 units spare everyday? If so feels like it provides a reasonable buffer against what is required to run the current service don't tell the DfT!

 

[Big Jumby 74]

Not forgetting the vexed issue of storage space within depots for all the potential spare parts required. Made more critical I am sure by the necessary depot infrastructure changes to accommodate the 10 car plan back in 2014, not to mention several different unit types to take account of. This aspect should of course be simplified, eventually.

 

[Class455]

456022 has also gone to Newport for scrapping, soon to be joined by two more ex Southern 455’s

 

[TrainTrackJack]

456022 has also gone to Newport for scrapping, soon to be joined by two more ex Southern 455’s

Indeed, just seen a photo of it sat outside SIMS on a lorry this morning. Were parts removed at Wimbledon or has it been stripped at Long Marston?

 

[Ewan M]

456022 now at Sims Metals Newport for a date with the excavators

 

[Juniper Driver]

Thanks WarrenTManager I know you do a great job in keeping these units running.I was in Wimbledon this week.​

 

[WarrenTManager]

Indeed, just seen a photo of it sat outside SIMS on a lorry this morning. Were parts removed at Wimbledon or has it been stripped at Long Marston?

That was intact at Wimbledon. The unit is Porterbrook's property on their storage depot. If they want to reuse those LED lamps good on them. Porterbrook and SWT put a lot of effort in getting them right! I think we changed around 150.

 

[warwickshire]

Thursday 14th July evening around 1810 pm up the m40 from Stratford upon avon towards the M5 on the back of a Alleys trucks lorry was another 456 unit going for scrap .
Was driving didn't get its number.
Does anyone else know please the latest 456 this evening on Thursday 14th July 2022 to go by road for scrap?
However either way the 456 ex Long Marston all I have heard by local sources are going by road for scrap.
Alleys have the contract.
Plus it's far cheaper to go by road than by rail. Especially as Long Marston to Newport Docks Simms isn't far.

 

[TrainTrackJack]

Alleys have the contract.

Watching videos of the road movements would suggest Reids, not Alleleys, having the haulage contract.

Photos seem to show 456018, although only coach 64752. Again, it looks as if its been stripped.

 

[RealTrains07]

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed that quite a few long players have been returned to traffic. That’s only achieved with harvesting parts from units that can’t otherwise be obtained.

Buying spares for units that should have been withdrawn at the end of 2020 is hard.

Any low usage parts are very hard to get with suppliers stipulating minimum order quantities to make it worth their while with long lead times. Say a part is £3k, but now you need to buy 5 to satisfy MOQ but you only use one a year. That’s £15k tax payers money. Then the lead time is 4 months, that’s just for that part. Sometimes the parts are dearer or the MOQs are higher adding to the risk.

You are going to rob a unit as you only used that part once in the last year. Those two 455/9s need a full C4 so financially and in terms of time it’s a no brainer. Add Brexit and COVID and the Ukraine into the mix as well as suppliers going bust, these are tricky times that just have to be got on with and depots don’t get the credit, just unit x is being cut up…….

TOCs don’t in general own the spares either, there will be some purchased material on stock but the bulk belongs to ROSCOs, resellers like Unipart and OEMs and suppliers aren’t going to tie up their money in overhauling items just in case. They would certainly get burnt, spending money on items that may not be used, if it was your firm you wouldn’t gamble on it. They will retrieve from broken stock and repair on order. This also adds to lead times.

Today Wimbledon have 12 spare 455s. Two no hopers aren’t going to be missed.

Can 456 parts be used for the 455s? Seems a waste not stripping them for parts if they can be used for the 455s?

 

[WarrenTManager]

Mostly not. Traction, brakes, alternator, bogies*, lights all different.

PIS/CCTV/Wi-Fi/GSM-R are yes.

*wheels and one anti-roll bar link are the same. But the wheels were hard to get for 456, that's what killed 6001/5/17 off before the others.

The only really useful spare from the 456 would be the DH25 Compressor.

there will be a small number of relays and contactors but not as many as you would think as the mid 2000 455 refurb (Now that was a good job by Bombardier), the AC traction package installation and various reliability packages by SWT changed them massively. The 456 work in 2014-6 wasn't as revolutionary electrically but looked really good customer facing. If the 456s were being kept there were a load of original square D relays that were very tired and a risk to reliability on some systems that would need doing. Some were changed by SWR but they couldn't all be done.

 

[Goldfish62]

Mostly not. Traction, brakes, alternator, bogies*, lights all different.

PIS/CCTV/Wi-Fi/GSM-R are yes.

*wheels and one anti-roll bar link are the same. But the wheels were hard to get for 456, that's what killed 6001/5/17 off before the others.

The only really useful spare from the 456 would be the DH25 Compressor.

there will be a small number of relays and contactors but not as many as you would think as the mid 2000 455 refurb (Now that was a good job by Bombardier), the AC traction package installation and various reliability packages by SWT changed them massively. The 456 work in 2014-6 wasn't as revolutionary electrically but looked really good customer facing. If the 456s were being kept there were a load of original square D relays that were very tired and a risk to reliability on some systems that would need doing. Some were changed by SWR but they couldn't all be done.

Very interesting. Thanks for the detail.

 

[Siemens Staines]

455854 21/02/22

After an absence just shy of 5 months, 455854 is in passenger service today (2F26).

One unit that has now been absent from passenger workings for over a month on RTT is

458512 (16/06/22)

 

[Juniper Driver]

Very interesting. Thanks for the detail.

It certainly is.

 

[Jturner98]

Are some of the 455s receiving bogie overhauls as a result of the late delivery of 701s? I’m sure I’ve seen a few looking virtually brand new underneath

 

[TEW]

Are some of the 455s receiving bogie overhauls as a result of the late delivery of 701s? I’m sure I’ve seen a few looking virtually brand new underneath

I believe it has been done on a few units at Bournemouth recently.

 

[Class455]

Another 456 was sent to Newport Docks for scrapping today. Not sure which one though