Trivia: Services that see the most varied stock

[ValleyLines142]

Not sure if this has been discussed already but I was wondering what line sees the most the varied stock?

By line, I'm not referring to a certain stretch of the East Coast Main Line for instance, where you'll get Voyagers, Azumas etc. I'm referring more to a certain line with services that you don't know what to expect.

For example, Maesteg/Ebbw Vale line must come close. You could get anything out of 142, 143, 150, 153, 158, 170 or 175. That's seven different units.

 

[cactustwirly]

Any Northern service
Seriously the Knottingley line gets anything between a 142 or 144, to a 158!!

 

[Halish Railway]

Leeds to York - 144s, 155s, 158s, 185s, 220s, 221s, 68s, 802s, HSTs, Azumas once a day and 170s via Harrogate.

 

[London Trains]

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you mean, but between Birmingham and Wolverhampton you could get any of a 390, 221, 220, 350, 323, 153, 158 or 170. That is 8 different types of stock, albeit the 153 would nearly always be attached to a 170.

 

[Clansman]

Cathcart Circle had 6 at one point. And that was only for ScotRail - at a guess, the most varied in the UK for a single TOC for a single diagram?

Motherwell to Glasgow Central currently has the following;
318s, 320s, 334s, 380s, 385s, 156s, 158s, 185s, HSTs, 220s, 221s, 350s, 390s, 397s, 800s, 801s, 225s, Mk5s (Sleeper), and 314s up until a couple months ago.

That's 18 at present - 19 if it was December!

Surely it has to be the most varied traction between any 2 stations, rather than just any 2 towns/cities? TOC wise, then it'd be 8 for Motherwell if you were booking a random journey to Glasgow Central on ScotRail. But 18 (well, 17 excluding the Sleeper) if you done it without being specific to a TOC.

 

[scotrail158713]

The Fife Circle is the best I can think of up here. Until May 2019(?) you could see anything of a 156, 158, 170, or 68 hauled service. And between Inverkeithing and Kirkcaldy you also get LNER & XC traction, as well as Scotrail HSTs.
EDIT - Motherwell to Glasgow Central posted by @Clansman is maybe more varied

 

[London Trains]

Manchester Piccadilly to Stockport:

390, 221, 220, 185, 175, 158, 150, 319, 331, 323, 156, 153

12, not bad

 

[ValleyLines142]

Good examples, but not quite what I meant, as you have a choice! If you want a 390 from Piccadilly to Stockport, you can wait for one.

The Knottingley example is what I mean.

If I had to make a journey to Ebbw Vale, I'd be in suspense as I wouldn't know what to expect. Multiple TOCs on a stretch of line is slightly different, as you know what to expect.

 

[ValleyLines142]

Leeds to York - 144s, 155s, 158s, 185s, 220s, 221s, 68s, 802s, HSTs, Azumas once a day and 170s via Harrogate.

Manchester Piccadilly to Stockport:

390, 221, 220, 185, 175, 158, 150, 319, 331, 323, 156, 153

12, not bad

This is exactly what I didn't mean (as I stated in my original post) but, thank you for sharing anyway!

 

[bramling]

Good examples, but not quite what I meant, as you have a choice! If you want a 390 from Piccadilly to Stockport, you can wait for one.

The Knottingley example is what I mean.

If I had to make a journey to Ebbw Vale, I'd be in suspense as I wouldn't know what to expect. Multiple TOCs on a stretch of line is slightly different, as you know what to expect.

Presumably it could be broken down further, between whether there’s variation between what is booked from one service to the next, versus services where there’s a variation from one day to the next on what the depots turn out.

Take a journey from Hitchin to London before the Thameslink changes. An uninitiated user could turn up at random and the train to London could have been 317, 321 or 365 - or in a very few cases 313. However someone with access to the diagrams with a preference for a given type of train could quite easily target the journeys accordingly, and most of the time it would hold true. Likewise today it’s possible to avoid the 8-car 700s which appear on the Cambridge/Brighton service as whilst they appear fairly random through the day, in reality it’s one booked diagram which they stick to.

By contrast there’s no doubt places where what turns up on the day is highly likely to not be what’s actually booked. Northern and TfW seem to be the most notable in this respect.

Then there’s engineering work to consider. Going back to the Hitchin example above, its normal service is provided by 365s or 700s with just one 387 service on weekdays and a handful on Sundays. However during engineering work it’s more common to see 387s, and at the moment there’s a number of booked 387 services as part of the Covid19 alterations.

 

[Kite159]

Good examples, but not quite what I meant, as you have a choice! If you want a 390 from Piccadilly to Stockport, you can wait for one.

The Knottingley example is what I mean.

If I had to make a journey to Ebbw Vale, I'd be in suspense as I wouldn't know what to expect. Multiple TOCs on a stretch of line is slightly different, as you know what to expect.

Crewe - Liverpool via Manchester

Could be a 319, 323 or 331, or last year when Northern didn't have enough EMUs could have been a 142, 150 or 156.

Or Chester - Leeds, when it first was introduced when Northern didn't have enough 195s it could have been a 142, 150, 153, 156, 158 or a 195

 

[PHILIPE]

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you mean, but between Birmingham and Wolverhampton you could get any of a 390, 221, 220, 350, 323, 153, 158 or 170. That is 8 different types of stock, albeit the 153 would nearly always be attached to a 170.

TFW 150s can be regularly seen also

 

[Parallel]

I believe Paddington - Worcester/Malvern/Hereford services were formed of HSTs, 180s, 166s, 165s and 800s for a short time just when 800s started to be introduced.

Cardiff to Taunton services can be formed of 150s, 158s, HST 'Castle' Sets, 166s or 165s currently, 153s may have been used for a short time previously also alongside other units as well. Pretty sure there's a once daily 80x service too.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Does the OP mean routes or booked services? For example Exeter to Newton Abbot sees 43, 143, 150, 220, 221, 800 and 802... but they are all different services aren’t they. London - Penzance, Exmouth - Paignton, Edinburgh - Plymouth, etc!

 

[ValleyLines142]

I believe Paddington - Worcester/Malvern/Hereford services were formed of HSTs, 180s, 166s, 165s and 800s for a short time just when 800s started to be introduced.

Cardiff to Taunton services can be formed of 150s, 158s, HST 'Castle' Sets, 166s or 165s currently, 153s may have been used for a short time previously along alongside other units as well. Pretty sure there's a once daily 80x service too.

The 800 is on a Saturday, 1000 from Cardiff.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Manchester Piccadilly to Stockport:

390, 221, 220, 185, 175, 158, 150, 319, 331, 323, 156, 153

12, not bad

142 as well until 2020 pre-COVID-19