Blue ATW 57 hauls 390 VT

[merlodlliw]

It was 'only a matter of time' before an Arriva blue Class 57 appeared on the Saturday Virgin train to Holyhead, so here is 57 314 hauling 390 023 Virgin Glory as the 08:50 from London into Llandudno Junction on 11 July www.nwrail.org.uk newsboard 18th July

Change for a WAG 57 to haul a Pendo, Well something for it to do on a Sat
off.

 

[rail-britain]

WAG 57 to haul a Pendo, well something for it to do on a Sat off.

Excuse my igonrance, I keep seeing WAG
What does it mean?

Is this Class 390 haul regular or just a one-off?

 

[HSTfan!!!]

Welsh Assembly Government

 

[krus_aragon]

The specific context of WAG here is that this North-South express is part of current Assembly Government's manifesto, and they are funding it (independently of the Wales and Borders franchise, I think).

 

[voyagerdude220]

Is this Class 390 haul regular or just a one-off?

I believe that on Summer Saturday's, VT continue to drag a Pendo between Crewe and Holyhead (and return) in order to ensure that staff retain the required traction knowledge for Pendolino's, just incase the Super Voyager's are needed elsewhere/ have work being done to them etc.

08:50 London Euston to Holyhead
14:14 Holyhead to London Euston are the summer Saturday services, which i presume will also greatly benefit from the capacity increase, against a 5-car 221 running London-Holyhead, all be it with another 221 as far as Chester.

 

[merlodlliw]

The specific context of WAG here is that this North-South express is part of current Assembly Government's manifesto, and they are funding it (independently of the Wales and Borders franchise, I think).

Correct it is funded seperate at £7600 a day round trip, it runs Mon/Fri.

Suppose the joke is, the Wag(semi fast express) has been pulled by VT
livered 57s when the ATW 57s failed(very frequent Jan/Feb/Mch/April)
now we have the reverse, a ATW 57 tugging the sats only VT pendo.
Crewe to Holyhead & Rtn

 

[90019]

Correct it is funded seperate at £7600 a day

So you keep telling us.

 

[merlodlliw]

I believe that on Summer Saturday's, VT continue to drag a Pendo between Crewe and Holyhead (and return) in order to ensure that staff retain the required traction knowledge for Pendolino's, just incase the Super Voyager's are needed elsewhere/ have work being done to them etc.

08:50 London Euston to Holyhead
14:14 Holyhead to London Euston are the summer Saturday services, which i presume will also greatly benefit from the capacity increase, against a 5-car 221 running London-Holyhead, all be it with another 221 as far as Chester.

A 5 car unit is far better than a ATW 2 car DMU which ply the coast in mid summer filled beyond capacity. At last the Pendo stops at Colwyn Bay & Rhyl on the up service to give the passenger a seat(perhaps),
Running a service in mid summer with winter stock diagrams must be adressed by WAG & ATW.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

So you keep telling us.

As does thread four,

 

[thefab444]

Whatever he may be; Merloddywoo isn't a one trick pony - he has three bees in his bonnet!

1 - The WAG Gerald OMG It's £7600 Ienueu Willyams thing.
2 - The 2 car ATW farce Llandudno 10 minutes prior to a Pendolion Virgin Voyager farce trial farce Beardy Branson thing.
3 - The GET OUT OF WREXHAM VIRGIN, Andy Hamilton is my main boyo, Ienue giving him the susbsidy, omg its transformed wrexham, ATW letting us down no connections andy pandy OMG new stock thing.

Point 3 leads beautifully back to Point 1 and the Cycle of Life aka Merloddywoo continues. In a minute he'll start telling us how much he hates Sky TV.

 

[Pumbaa]

 

[ukrob]

Whatever he may be; Merloddywoo isn't a one trick pony - he has three bees in his bonnet!

1 - The WAG Gerald OMG It's £7600 Ienueu Willyams thing.
2 - The 2 car ATW farce Llandudno 10 minutes prior to a Pendolion Virgin Voyager farce trial farce Beardy Branson thing.
3 - The GET OUT OF WREXHAM VIRGIN, Andy Hamilton is my main boyo, Ienue giving him the susbsidy, omg its transformed wrexham, ATW letting us down no connections andy pandy OMG new stock thing.

Point 3 leads beautifully back to Point 1 and the Cycle of Life aka Merloddywoo continues. In a minute he'll start telling us how much he hates Sky TV.

There is a fourth - "I hate 158s"

 

[MCR247]

You mean like the one he was kidnapped on

 

[thefab444]

There is a fourth - "I hate 158s"

Ah yes! I forgot about that; it links perfectly back with Point 2! There is also the point that comes up occasionally about how good SCRUA/SCURA (whichever it is) is and how they are doing things to improve public transport in North Wales. He also insists Andy Pandy (Merlod's nickname for Andy Hamilton; WSMR Top Man) bid for operation of the OMG IT'S THE £7600 WAG GERALD, but got turned down.

Apologies if this seems like a Merloddywoo bashing session, but his constant repetition of the same old arguments is starting to get old, as is the constant ATW moaning and publicising of WSMR.

 

[Techniquest]

Finally, something I agree with you on! This thread sure gave me a bit of a laugh!

 

[poshbakerloo]

The last time I went to Holyhead...it was a 170 there (I think or maybe a 175) and a 220 back...

 

[MCR247]

A 175

 

[krus_aragon]

Typical variety on the NW Coast these days is 175 Llandudno-Manchester, 175 Holyhead-Cardiff, 158 Holyhead-Birmingham, 22x Holyhead/Bangor-London, 150/153 Conwy Valley, 150 Wrexham-Bidston. 57s six days a week on the WAG and Pendolinos. Oh, and there's the 67s south of Wrexham.

Personally I'm quite happy with the 158s, my main grumble being that these unrefurbished units have their cycle space "walled off" from the corridor. Getting two bikes in there is a challenge.

 

[route:oxford]

Correct it is funded seperate at £7600 a day round trip, it runs Mon/Fri.

That really doesn't sound like a lot of money considering the distance travelled... Are these rates broadly similar thoughout the country?

In some parts of the south east it might be cheaper for a group of like-minded businessmen to hire in stock from EWS or similar and operate a private hire..

Fill 700 seats on a high capacity charter in the south-east? 7600/700 = £11ish return. Guaranteed seat...

I suspect there is a market. Shame there may not be a path.

 

[merlodlliw]

That really doesn't sound like a lot of money considering the distance travelled... Are these rates broadly similar thoughout the country?



maybe I do go on a bit, but we're all passionate about some things
especially North East Wales.

 

[djw1981]

maybe I do go on a bit, but we're all passionate about some things especially North East Wales.

We are not all passionate about wales as your message suggests .

On a more serious note, given the physical separation and differences between the railways of south east wales and the rest of wales, I do wonder if we did not have the political/funding structure we do whether it would be better as 2 franchises.

 

[jopsuk]

That really doesn't sound like a lot of money considering the distance travelled... Are these rates broadly similar thoughout the country?

In some parts of the south east it might be cheaper for a group of like-minded businessmen to hire in stock from EWS or similar and operate a private hire..

Fill 700 seats on a high capacity charter in the south-east? 7600/700 = £11ish return. Guaranteed seat...

I suspect there is a market. Shame there may not be a path.

I think it would be a lot more complicated than that. Also, like-minded businessmen are almost certain to want to make a profit on any venture they're involved in. Track access would likely be more expensive, as would rolling stock costs (the WAG Express is a fairly short train), stabling more expensive etc. Then there's the issue of timing- and I don't mean just the elusive paths (and the chaos of throwing a slow-accelerating loco-hauled set into a path for a high-accelerating EMU) but getting 700 people to agree what time they wanted to travel to and from work. Also, unlike service trains, the cost to the passenger would rise if the service was less than full.

 

[johnb]

We are not all passionate about wales as your message suggests .

On a more serious note, given the physical separation and differences between the railways of south east wales and the rest of wales, I do wonder if we did not have the political/funding structure we do whether it would be better as 2 franchises.

Indeed, when we didn't have the political/funding structure that we now do, it *was* run as 2 franchises (North Wales was First North Western, and South Wales was Wales & West).

 

[route:oxford]

I think it would be a lot more complicated than that. Also, like-minded businessmen are almost certain to want to make a profit on any venture they're involved in. Track access would likely be more expensive, as would rolling stock costs (the WAG Express is a fairly short train), stabling more expensive etc. Then there's the issue of timing- and I don't mean just the elusive paths (and the chaos of throwing a slow-accelerating loco-hauled set into a path for a high-accelerating EMU) but getting 700 people to agree what time they wanted to travel to and from work. Also, unlike service trains, the cost to the passenger would rise if the service was less than full.

All good points. Let's call them "public spirited entrepreneurs".

It would be interesting to see how popular such a service would be. No flexibility (without paying regular full fare for one part of the journey).

Has any uk rail operator ever filled a train using the reverse auction method? Everyone pays the lowest price. Start the bidding at say 20% under the flexible ticket price and work down to the £11 or equivalent + profit margin price mentioned earlier.

(And yes, let's be clear. There is unlikely to be suitable rolling stock available.)

 

[merlodlliw]

Indeed, when we didn't have the political/funding structure that we now do, it *was* run as 2 franchises (North Wales was First North Western, and South Wales was Wales & West).

To be fair , North Wales did have two TOCS the Chester to Shrewsbury was Central (brand new trains) the coast plus Wrexham to Bidston had First North Western with a mix of old and new.
I think we had a better service with two North Wales Tocs,but agree
like FGW & VT better to split the regions.

I know I will be told off again, but North Wales and the Valleys for one TOC
are too distant, but we have to live with oneAll Wales TOC,mores the pity.