Heathrow Connect suspended/332s withdrawn from service (running again)

[87015]

Did the 150s operate out of along with WAGN 313s?

By the first evening, there was a Silverlink 150, two 6 car WAGN 313s and a pair of Silverlink 313s doing Watford-M.Keynes shuttles 2tph. 86247(?) - a can anyway - and a Mk2 set was doing Bletchley-Northampton hourly.

Don't know about north of Northampton but Tyseley 150s would certainly have be possible.
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Getting back on topic. Connect services still suspended until further notice according to the Heathrow Connect website.

What a farce... Youd have expected at least some units to have been fully inspected by now, so have they been finding issues on everything they've checked? That's a scary thought and some serious questions for HX/Siemens to answer on maintenance

 

[Mike395]

And so the issues from having zero spare trains begins....

From the Heathrow Express service update page:

Please allow more time if travelling to/from Terminal 4 as we are experiencing problems with our Terminal 4 shuttle train. Passengers can use the London Underground free of charge between terminals only. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

 

[D365]

That means Terminal 4 passengers travelling to Central change at Hatton Cross?

 

[Ze Random One]

If HEX need to take a 360 out for maintenance, why don't they alternate trains between T4 and T5? It's not ideal, but it at least means that T23 still get their 15 minute service, and each of the other terminals get a 30 minute service.

It does seem silly to chop T4 off, since T5<->T23 is better served by the Piccadilly line than T4<->T23.

 

[SWT_USER]

So no sign of an end to this farce, and no prospect of any money back on my season ticket either to compensate for the 50% reduction in services. Ridiculous

 

[Ianno87]

That means Terminal 4 passengers travelling to Central change at Hatton Cross?

No, Piccadilly Line is direct in that direction. Central to T4 is the direction that requires changing (cross-platform) at Hatton Cross.

HEx passengers for T4 will have a fair old schlep between the HEx and tube stations at Central. Might as well just get the tube the whole way and save money!

I can, however, see the logic in prioritising T5 over T4, as I believe it is much busier in terms of total passenger numbers.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

A little long term could they order a build of Desiro Cities? Once XRail is running they probably won't need as many units anyway

 

[D365]

No, Piccadilly Line is direct in that direction. Central to T4 is the direction that requires changing (cross-platform) at Hatton Cross.

Apologies, got my running directions mixed up

 

[leomartin125]

In all honesty, I don't see the 332's going back to service anytime soon and it could even get worse and affect Northern's 333's too. And there being no business first class on any Heathrow trains now will lose HEx a lot of money. I think the best bet would be HEx to find a long term solution quickly as quite rightly so, if those 360's need maintenance, which inevitably they will, that means zero trains to Heathrow.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Have Northern inspected their 333s yet for similar problems?

 

[Domh245]

A little long term could they order a build of Desiro Cities? Once XRail is running they probably won't need as many units anyway

But why? The 332s should still have a number of years left in them. They are less than 18 years old, so should be able to do another 12 years (assuming a 30 year life). By that time, either they will get their next trains (which probably won't be desiro cities by then!) or they will cease to operate because crossrail is taking all of their traffic.

Have Northern inspected their 333s yet for similar problems?

I would be very surprised if they hadn't.

 

[D365]

Remember that Heathrow's Track Access Rights expire in 2023.

 

[matt_world2004]

Remember that Heathrow's Track Access Rights expire in 2023.

Only.their hex ones.the hc ones we dont know when. Buy I imagine its when crossrail starts running between heathrow and paddington mainline.

 

[332 > 444]

Crossrail Takes over HEc in 2018 so the 360/2s will be surplus.

At the moment, a friend told me they are using 4 360s whilst stepping up at Padd and using another 360 for the ITT as the last 332 broke yesterday blocking plt 1 & 2 in the tunnel before the T4 stn.

 

[Nippy]

I shall find out tonight when I go in what the latest info is.

 

[jon0844]

It says on the HEX site that anyone with a Business First ticket can get a full refund while they do the special fares for the 360s. I do assume you can't still buy one, as if you did from another site then wouldn't that enable free travel?

 

[Mojo]

It says on the HEX site that anyone with a Business First ticket can get a full refund while they do the special fares for the 360s. I do assume you can't still buy one, as if you did from another site then wouldn't that enable free travel?

I wonder if you can get a First class ticket from a Toc booking office? WebTis is currently only selling £17 Standard class singles.

 

[MrB]

In all honesty, I don't see the 332's going back to service anytime soon and it could even get worse and affect Northern's 333's too. And there being no business first class on any Heathrow trains now will lose HEx a lot of money. I think the best bet would be HEx to find a long term solution quickly as quite rightly so, if those 360's need maintenance, which inevitably they will, that means zero trains to Heathrow.

Have you any evidence or a source that the 332s will be out of service for a long time?

 

[jon0844]

I wonder if you can get a First class ticket from a Toc booking office? WebTis is currently only selling £17 Standard class singles.

I can get a first class ticket from Hatfield. Wonder how much the refund would be on that?

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Apart from the 332s having an GW ATP electronics package instead of a TPWS one could 332s and 333s work together?

 

[1D53]

Have Northern inspected their 333s yet for similar problems?

Yes..

 

[Bletchleyite]

Apart from the 332s having an GW ATP electronics package instead of a TPWS one could 332s and 333s work together?

You could presumably use any EMU you liked provided it had GW ATP.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

You could presumably use any EMU you liked provided it had GW ATP.

I think SpacePhoenix meant could they work in multiple. As far as I can tell from photos they have the same coupler types but there may be variations in wiring within each, or even incompatible software. There'll be others that know better than I though!

 

[SpacePhoenix]

I think SpacePhoenix meant could they work in multiple. As far as I can tell from photos they have the same coupler types but there may be variations in wiring within each, or even incompatible software. There'll be others that know better than I though!

I was thinking if HX ever decided to get rid of their 332s if the GW ATP stuff was replaced with TPWS, could Northen take them on and run them together with their 333s

 

[SWT_USER]

And so the issues from having zero spare trains begins....

From the Heathrow Express service update page:

The knock on effect has reached GWR now as they've reduced the Greenford service to hourly due to not enough stock.

Good luck to anyone trying to get from West Ealing to Paddington this morning

 

[matt_world2004]

The knock on effect has reached GWR now as they've reduced the Greenford service to hourly due to not enough stock.

Good luck to anyone trying to get from West Ealing to Paddington this morning

I was on an train from reading that called at southall, west ealing,Ealing Broadway. Only problem is that it was crush loaded from hayes (at 10:00am!) And so picked up precisely zero passengers from these stations.

 

[3141]

no prospect of any money back on my season ticket either to compensate for the 50% reduction in services.

Are you serious:roll:??!!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

It's ridiculous that a commuter service has been pulled to ensure that there's still trains to carry fresh air and a handful of people on expense accounts. Heathrow Express (and indeed Gatwick Express too) is a waste of valuable paths. Would overseas visitors be THAT traumatised or confused or even inconvenienced if their train into London called at a few extra stations on the way? I don't buy it, but money talks sadly.

 

[Mikey C]

It's ridiculous that a commuter service has been pulled to ensure that there's still trains to carry fresh air and a handful of people on expense accounts. Heathrow Express (and indeed Gatwick Express too) is a waste of valuable paths. Would overseas visitors be THAT traumatised or confused or even inconvenienced if their train into London called at a few extra stations on the way? I don't buy it, but money talks sadly.

HEx in the morning can be pretty busy, a lot of long haul flights arrive early in the morning, while a lot of European short haul flyers will be departing

 

[Bletchleyite]

If this is going to go on much longer, might a solution to reinstating the capacity (if not the actual Connect service due to the lack of GW-ATP) be to temporarily borrow some 350s from LM, replaced with extra 319 diagrams? I say 350s as the driver training conversion course can't be too significant, though I guess they would need to operate them with guards.