XC HST maintenance confirmed moving to Laira

[irish_rail]

The XC HSTs will now be based at Laira.
A lifeline and good news for the depot however bad news for passengers in the south west as I'd expect all the XC HSTs to leave the south west at stupid o'clock and return at stupid o'clock. Probably good news for people travelling north from Bristol northward though.

 

[fgwrich]

Nice to see some good news for Laira at last, and hopefully this will mean more HST diagrams to the West Country. Even if as you say some of the sets may leave and return at stupid o'clock.

 

[Suraggu]

It appears modern railways and GWR have jumped the gun. Nothing has been signed yet so at present no, no maintenance deal has been agreed.

 

[pt_mad]

The XC HSTs will now be based at Laira.
A lifeline and good news for the depot however bad news for passengers in the south west as I'd expect all the XC HSTs to leave the south west at stupid o'clock and return at stupid o'clock. Probably good news for people travelling north from Bristol northward though.

Any source for this? Presumably the timetable would have to change for the early morning and evening workings.

 

[irish_rail]

OK well source is another driver who to be fair is usually very well informed .

 

[scotraildriver]

Craigentinny was always planned to become a Hitachi (class 385/Azuma) depot so no surprise here, but nothing official yet. Likely but not official.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Any source for this? Presumably the timetable would have to change for the early morning and evening workings.

Is it not the case that many (most?) Voyager diagrams can be operated by HSTs in the existing timings. In which case it could be as simple as reallocating rolling stock types to current diagrams.

 

[158820]

I believe Crosscountry confirmed this at a conference in Bristol on March 19th 2018.
https://twitter.com/Modern_Railways/status/975711725403234304

 

[swt_passenger]

It’s been mentioned many times already, I’m not that convinced it needed another separate thread.

It’s also been pointed out a few times in other discussions that Laira depot doesn’t fit with existing “morning southbound and afternoon northbound” fleet usage, so that is also something that has been widely expected to have to change...

 

[SteveP29]

Are Cross Country being allocated any of the GWR/ VTEC HST's once the 380's are in service?

 

[DarloRich]

It has got to move away from Craignetinny so the move isnt a surprise. Operationally it makes sense as surely the diagrams will just swap ends to start early in the SW

 

[jimm]

It’s also been pointed out a few times in other discussions that Laira depot doesn’t fit with existing “morning southbound and afternoon northbound” fleet usage, so that is also something that has been widely expected to have to change...

That the heavy maintenance moving to the other end of the route means diagrams will need some rejigging is clear - but people make it sound as though no one anywhere else in the country will be able to stable an HST overnight and carry out basic checks and top up fuel and water.

Neville Hill in Leeds already looks after XC HSTs overnight and I assume that a deal will be done with Scotrail for any sets finishing the day at Edinburgh to visit Haymarket depot.

 

[A0wen]

That the heavy maintenance moving to the other end of the route means diagrams will need some rejigging is clear - but people make it sound as though no one anywhere else in the country will be able to stable an HST overnight and carry out basic checks and top up fuel and water.

Neville Hill in Leeds already looks after XC HSTs overnight and I assume that a deal will be done with Scotrail for any sets finishing the day at Edinburgh to visit Haymarket depot.

Surely they'll also look at the demand - if the first / last trains are less well loaded then it would make more sense to use a 220 on it. There are a number of factors, but the idea of the HSTs was to provide additional capacity on some of the busiest services IIRC.

 

[skyhigh]

Are Cross Country being allocated any of the GWR/ VTEC HST's once the 380's are in service?

I'm not sure what you mean by that? 380s are in service. If you mean 800s, the answer is no.

 

[jimm]

Surely they'll also look at the demand - if the first / last trains are less well loaded then it would make more sense to use a 220 on it. There are a number of factors, but the idea of the HSTs was to provide additional capacity on some of the busiest services IIRC.

The current HST services starting at Edinburgh, Leeds and York around 6am aren't exactly heaving until they get further into their journeys, so will be no different for a Plymouth starter until it gets near Bristol and no reason to suppose that a set or two will not still be overnighting in Leeds or Edinburgh.

It's not as if extra capacity isn't needed most of the week anywhere and everywhere on XC's network.

 

[mark-h]

How often do they get/need serviced?

I am thinking about more than just fuel and water (with toilet emptying once upgraded).

 

[swt_passenger]

That the heavy maintenance moving to the other end of the route means diagrams will need some rejigging is clear - but people make it sound as though no one anywhere else in the country will be able to stable an HST overnight and carry out basic checks and top up fuel and water.

Neville Hill in Leeds already looks after XC HSTs overnight and I assume that a deal will be done with Scotrail for any sets finishing the day at Edinburgh to visit Haymarket depot.

Oh I agree, I don’t mean every activity has to switch to Laira. But the overall balance of overnight stabling between north and south will likely be different. At the moment apart from at the weekend they are all at one or other northern location overnight, but even if they only cycled one train at a time through Laira for more detailed maintenance they’d probably need a couple of diagrams to start or end there.

 

[dciuk]

How often do they get/need serviced?

I am thinking about more than just fuel and water (with toilet emptying once upgraded).

Do XC HST's not already have retention tanks?

Oh I agree, I don’t mean every activity has to switch to Laira. But the overall balance of overnight stabling between north and south will likely be different. At the moment apart from at the weekend they are all at one or other northern location overnight, but even if they only cycled one train at a time through Laira for more detailed maintenance they’d probably need a couple of diagrams to start or end there.

Could they not continue to overnight stable the 4 sets needed for use, in the North while having the spare 5th set at Laira for heavy maintenance and then when the spare requires swapping do so during the day as all the diagrams normally reach Plymouth once per day Monday to Friday?

 

[swt_passenger]

Could they not continue to overnight stable the 4 sets needed for use, in the North while having the spare 5th set at Laira for heavy maintenance and then when the spare requires swapping do so during the day as all the diagrams normally reach Plymouth once per day Monday to Friday?

Welcome to these forums.

I’m sure there are many ‘northern’ stabling options. They may also (for example) never get to Scotland at all. It’s also not all that long ago that people were posting that they’d be heavy maintained at Heaton.

Furthermore, the mostly abandoned Dec 17 consultation fitted in with that exact possibility, it had 4 in service per day with southbound departures from Leeds at 0600, and Newcastle at 0539, 0645, 0740. Northbound departures from Plymouth would have been to Edinburgh at 1225, Newcastle at 1325 and 1425, then 1525 to Leeds. The first of those was to run as an evening service back to Newcastle.

So extant plans already covered for expected loss of Craigentinny, with no Scottish overnight stabling remaining at all.

 

[jimm]

Do XC HST's not already have retention tanks?

No. They are being fitted at the same time as the sliding doors

 

[DarloRich]

Do XC HST's not already have retention tanks?

yes - its called the track

 

[pt_mad]

Is it not the case that many (most?) Voyager diagrams can be operated by HSTs in the existing timings. In which case it could be as simple as reallocating rolling stock types to current diagrams.

No because the whole point of the evening northbound Leeds and Glasgow HST workings is so that they terminate close to the depots.

And they come off therein the morning so they'd need a double voyager at Neville Hill overnight and Craigntinny.

 

[158820]

Will voyagers still be over nighting in Craigntinny after it transfers to Hitachi?

 

[Class 170101]

No XC trains timed as HSTs starting or finishing diagrams at Plymouth so likely to be a set swap for the moment. December may be different.

To be honest I hope more XC services can be timed as HSTs as the capacity of the old train's is needed for the time being.

 

[SteveP29]

I'm not sure what you mean by that? 380s are in service. If you mean 800s, the answer is no.

Of course, sorry, I meant the 800's, engaged fingers before brain!

 

[skyhigh]

Of course, sorry, I meant the 800's, engaged fingers before brain!

Hah no worries.

 

[pt_mad]

Will voyagers still be over nighting in Craigntinny after it transfers to Hitachi?

Surely they'd have to have Voyagers there to work the morning starters from up north? Providing the HSTs were moved to the South West.

Where is the Dundee train set stabled overnight? Craigntinny?

 

[swt_passenger]

Surely they'd have to have Voyagers there to work the morning starters from up north? Providing the HSTs were moved to the South West...

Stabling and heavy maintenance are quite separate issues anyway, surely?

 

[43055]

Surely they'd have to have Voyagers there to work the morning starters from up north? Providing the HSTs were moved to the South West.

Where is the Dundee train set stabled overnight? Craigntinny?

Yes every XC unit overnight is stabled at Craigntinny. http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/sea...3/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt&toc=XC Shows all the departures for XC in which there are 2 sets to Dundee departing at around 0430 in the morning.

 

[1D53]

Seems a random move considering another part of Arriva until recently maintained HST's at Newcastle... Would have thought it would have kept the money in the family.