TransPennine class 397

[driver9000]

Yes, there's a Manchester/Edinburgh Diagram booked 802.

A second WCML 802 Diagram will be happening in the near future to accommodate the 397 refresh/heavy maintenance works.

The second weekday 802 diagram has already started on an ad-hoc basis when 397 availability is low. It begins its day working 06:12 Edinburgh Waverley to Manchester Airport.

Is using an 802 on the West Coast a regular thing?

Monday to Saturday diagram started in December 2021 and a Sunday diagram started in June 2024.

 

[Fudgie]

Thanks folks, hopefully today was a one off.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

No 755s are the best

It's all subjective. Your personal opinion does not make a fact.

Monday to Saturday diagram started in December 2021 and a Sunday diagram started in June 2024.

I always make sure to avoid that particular one

 

[Davester50]

I was on one recently - thought they were very like the new sleeping cars. Clattery and noisy, but superficially quite nice.

 

[Lg_]

Thanks folks, hopefully today was a one off.

It was cancelled due to a train fault, not a usual occurrence to cancel it halfway down a route if it’s avoidable. Especially when the faulty train ended up abandoned overnight in Carnforth.

 

[PyrahnaRanger]

I’m afraid something with poor ride characteristics can have all the curtains, well aligned windows and other amenities in the catalogue, it still fails at its basic task and gets 1/10 from me.

I’m afraid I’m going to have to disagree with you here - I find the 397s much more pleasant when I’m heading up and down the WCML than the Pendolinos, even post refresh.

The seats are reasonably firm, comfortable, there’s a decent amount of room between them and the tables for a well-upholstered gent such as myself, and the temperature is usually pretty good, unlike the Pendos which are always over hot for me.

And just occasionally, you get the chance of a £5 upgrade to first…

 

[800Travel]

I’m afraid I’m going to have to disagree with you here - I find the 397s much more pleasant when I’m heading up and down the WCML than the Pendolinos, even post refresh.

The seats are reasonably firm, comfortable, there’s a decent amount of room between them and the tables for a well-upholstered gent such as myself, and the temperature is usually pretty good, unlike the Pendos which are always over hot for me.

And just occasionally, you get the chance of a £5 upgrade to first…

How do you get the £5 upgrades please? The website shows normally £10+ (weekends only) so wondering if there is a life hack for this please?

https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/travelling-with-us/first-class

The price depends on how far you’re travelling but will cost either £10, £15, £20 or £25 per person one-way.

 

[hexagon789]

How do you get the £5 upgrades please? The website shows normally £10+ (weekends only) so wondering if there is a life hack for this please?

https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/travelling-with-us/first-class

Seatfrog ones start at £5, though I've only seen as low as that on the Glasgow/Liverpool, with £6 the lowest I've seen for Edinburgh & Glasgow/Manchester. Though of course, you have to add on the platform fees for Seatfrog upgrades...

 

[PyrahnaRanger]

How do you get the £5 upgrades please? The website shows normally £10+ (weekends only) so wondering if there is a life hack for this please?

https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/travelling-with-us/first-class

Seatfrog ones start at £5, though I've only seen as low as that on the Glasgow/Liverpool, with £6 the lowest I've seen for Edinburgh & Glasgow/Manchester. Though of course, you have to add on the platform fees for Seatfrog upgrades...

@hexagon789 is correct, I’m using SeatFrog for those upgrades. It’s usually about £5 for the upgrade from Piccadilly to Carlisle, and a small platform fee to SeatFrog, but I’m usually doing it around teatime so I can sit and stuff my face with food and drink, and it’s a lot cheaper than going to Costa or Starbucks before getting on the train!

 

[croydontangle]

After sitting on one of these from Glasgow Central to Oxford Road... I never thought I would be able to describe a Class 700 as comparatively comfortable to anything but this felt like sitting on concrete for four hours. A tragedy as the rest of the train's interior is brilliant.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

After sitting on one of these from Glasgow Central to Oxford Road... I never thought I would be able to describe a Class 700 as comparatively comfortable to anything but this felt like sitting on concrete for four hours. A tragedy as the rest of the train's interior is brilliant.

I have to say Avanti to Preston or Wigan and then changing will always be my choice for that journey.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I have to say Avanti to Preston or Wigan and then changing will always be my choice for that journey.

I don't like the seats but I'd go TPE, nothing rivals that veritable wall of glass over one of the most beautiful (but unsung) sections of the entire rail (and motorway) network, the Lune Gorge.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I don't like the seats but I'd go TPE, nothing rivals that veritable wall of glass over one of the most beautiful (but unsung) sections of the entire rail (and motorway) network, the Lune Gorge.

That's fair enough. I love to enjoy that scenery while the train is swung to an eight degree angle on both sides, so I'll take the smaller windows with that.

 

[Class15]

I have to say Avanti to Preston or Wigan and then changing will always be my choice for that journey.

I’d personally do anything to avoid a pendo, so if there’s actually a direct train with a 397 I’ll go for that every day of the week.

 

[danbarjon]

I’d personally do anything to avoid a pendo, so if there’s actually a direct train with a 397 I’ll go for that every day of the week.

I love both, I like the Avanti Gold thing but I also love TransPennine's staff so I usually just pick Avanti over TPE as their standard class is more comfy but also their pendos make me sick with the tilting...

 

[croydontangle]

I have to say Avanti to Preston or Wigan and then changing will always be my choice for that journey.

I was optimising for cost so all the tickets were advances. Won't make that mistake again!

 

[ic31420]

The 397s certainly were a step up fro the 350s and 185s on the route. The seats are not comfortable though and ride can be poor. Not quite Intercity to me, more regional.

Which for me is exactly what TPX is and should be.

I use 397s a lot. Fast and airy, but bumpy. The seats are as almost all sears are.
I also get an 802 quite often on a Saturday. Nothing to write home about, and the vestibules are more cramped, and isse with 5 car sets at peaks, The services they work load increasingly well.

A 397 at 125 could be interesting...

Vestibules I can cope with being cramped, it's not where i spend much time all being well. I'd rather the space be used in the luggage store or saloon.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Which for me is exactly what TPX is and should be.

That bit of TPE is nothing like the rest of it, it's really a CrossCountry route (i.e. a non-London true InterCity route). Which to be fair 397s beat

 

[AM9]

After sitting on one of these from Glasgow Central to Oxford Road... I never thought I would be able to describe a Class 700 as comparatively comfortable to anything but this felt like sitting on concrete for four hours. A tragedy as the rest of the train's interior is brilliant.

Interesting. I've only been on one 397, from Piccadilly to Preston, - the interior was fine and quiet but it had the Civity gift that keeps on giving: rough suspension. Experienced that with 331s and 195s as well.
Given the effort that went into the cracked yaw damper mounting problem, I would have thought that the 397s with a much higher in service speed would receive some attention. In 2020, there were posts claiming that all lightweight inside frome bogies were dire, but in my experience, the Siemens SF7000 is my reference design that handles the MML Mill Hill bumps at 100mph with ease so still a bit of a let down on the Civity.

 

[Fudgie]

Interesting. I've only been on one 397, from Piccadilly to Preston, - the interior was fine and quiet but it had the Civity gift that keeps on giving: rough suspension. Experienced that with 331s and 195s as well.
Given the effort that went into the cracked yaw damper mounting problem, I would have thought that the 397s with a much higher in service speed would receive some attention. In 2020, there were posts claiming that all lightweight inside frome bogies were dire, but in my experience, the Siemens SF7000 is my reference design that handles the MML Mill Hill bumps at 100mph with ease so still a bit of a let down on the Civity.

On my last trip on a 397 the ride was very lively on the way back up to Glasgow when I think we were around Penrith ( I can't be sure exactly where we were). I put it down to the track but having came up on a Pendolino last week there was a marked improvement in ride quality.

 

[ic31420]

That bit of TPE is nothing like the rest of it, it's really a CrossCountry route (i.e. a non-London true InterCity route). Which to be fair 397s beat

Which for me begs the question are the services in the right franchise?

 

[800001]

397009 is the next unit to head to Doncaster works, currently working

Realtime Trains | 5E23 0945 Longsight T.M.D. (D) to Doncaster Works Wagn Shops | 04/01/2025

Real-time train running information for 5E23 0945 departure from Longsight T.M.D. (D) to Doncaster Works Wagn Shops on 04/01/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[Lg_]

397009 is the next unit to head to Doncaster works, currently working

Realtime Trains | 5E23 0945 Longsight T.M.D. (D) to Doncaster Works Wagn Shops | 04/01/2025

Real-time train running information for 5E23 0945 departure from Longsight T.M.D. (D) to Doncaster Works Wagn Shops on 04/01/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

I'm surprised they've sent 009, expected 008 to be next given the substantial damage it has.

 

[800001]

I'm surprised they've sent 009, expected 008 to be next given the substantial damage it has.

If it has substantial damage how can it get there?

 

[Russel]

I'm surprised they've sent 009, expected 008 to be next given the substantial damage it has.

What damage?

 

[RHolmes]

I'm surprised they've sent 009, expected 008 to be next given the substantial damage it has.

There are currently three 397 units that require repairs

It’s more sensible to send the ones with smaller repair jobs to get them back running than it is the unit with substantial damage that will take longer to repair, minimising 397 down time which has recently caused WCML cancellations and 802 substitutions

 

[Blindtraveler]

Curious as to what damage 08 has sustained

 

[800001]

Curious as to what damage 08 has sustained

Serious damage normally implies sadly person hit by train

 

[Mikey C]

Had my first 397 trip on Friday (Liverpool to Preston), and was genuinely shocked at how bumpy the ride was.

The seating wasn't great either, indeed the Northern 195s have nicer seats, which feels back to front.

 

[route101]

Its the seats that let the 397s down and the ride compared to the Class 390s. I think the 397s have plenty of table seating compared to airline which I prefer if travelling solo. The 397s have larger windows of course but at night the interior lighting is too harsh.