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Northern Unit Refurbishments and depot allocations.

Killingworth

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Not sure about Bury but there's a lot of people from Cheshire who need to get to Manchester early who drive to a Metrolink stop due to Metrolink starting much earlier than Northern.

I've only got experience of using pre-7am Metrolink services on days when trains haven't been running/been severely reduced due to rail strikes so can't really comment on normal loadings.

Isn't it one of TfN's desires to get more early and late trains on several routes?
 
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iknowyeah

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On the Bury and Altrincham lines, (which are the two busiest lines on the network) the services from start up are certainly not dead in any stretch of the imagination, I have used the first service in the morning numerous times and by Bowker Vale for example on the Bury line the service is full and standing. Granted it is not as crowded as it is at for example 8am, but to call it dead is a little naive.
Sam
I get the pre-6am Airport line tram to town a lot of mornings and there's never more than 5 or 6 people on board
 

61653 HTAFC

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I get the pre-6am Airport line tram to town a lot of mornings and there's never more than 5 or 6 people on board
I'd imagine that at that time in the morning there'll be more travel towards the airport by airport workers. Those with more conventional 8/9am starts in the city centre won't be travelling that early.
 

northwichcat

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I get the pre-6am Airport line tram to town a lot of mornings and there's never more than 5 or 6 people on board

I'd imagine that at that time in the morning there'll be more travel towards the airport by airport workers. Those with more conventional 8/9am starts in the city centre won't be travelling that early.

It's worth noting the airport aren't supposed to have any takeoffs pre-6am so there's a lot of flights taking off at or just after 6am, so a lot of need for staff and passengers to be getting to the airport from 4am.
 

CHAPS2034

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It's worth noting the airport aren't supposed to have any takeoffs pre-6am so there's a lot of flights taking off at or just after 6am, so a lot of need for staff and passengers to be getting to the airport from 4am.
Just to be pedantic, there is a restriction on the number of flights and types used during the night period which ends at 0600. Tomorrow there are 3 departures prior to 0600, the earliest being at 0445. There are then 18 flights departing between 0600 and 0630

However there is a need for staff and passengers to be there early as has been said.
 

sd0733

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150214 has just left Crewe LNWR fully repainted and with the new seat cushions.
170474 and 170475 are side by side in the shed fully repainted, branded and numbered. Unsure about interior wise on those though
 

Bletchleyite

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Had one of these today.

Generally not a *bad* job (I was on a Chapman seated unit) but there was still a fair bit of residual muck e.g. on the window frames that nobody had been bothered to clean off for the refurb.

Not a fan of the lighting - it appears to be "LED tubes" as used on GTR Class 313s, and is very blue and not at all welcoming.

Seat coverings (sort of flat cloth, though it is textured) already showing a lot of muck.

The dark blue vehicle ends give it a Spartan feel, a bit like the SBB EW IV.
 

Allwinter_Kit

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Talking of zero leg room & refurbishments, is there any news on how 333 001 is shaping up at Holbeck, or am I being hopelessly optimistic?

Having been riding the Airedale recently there have been a fair few cancellations - I assume due to trains being out for refurb. Is it really only this 1 being out that has resulted in peak services either being cancelled or pacers? And do they have a better plan, do we know, for how they intend to cover it during the rest of the upgrade period?

I know we're pampered with our 333 cattle trucks but delays (unrelated I think to the refurbishment process - just generic Arriva incompetence) and cancellations are significantly higher than a year ago I would say.

When are the 331s scheduled to enter service on Aire/Wharfe - do we know?
 

Bantamzen

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Having been riding the Airedale recently there have been a fair few cancellations - I assume due to trains being out for refurb. Is it really only this 1 being out that has resulted in peak services either being cancelled or pacers? And do they have a better plan, do we know, for how they intend to cover it during the rest of the upgrade period?

I know we're pampered with our 333 cattle trucks but delays (unrelated I think to the refurbishment process - just generic Arriva incompetence) and cancellations are significantly higher than a year ago I would say.

When are the 331s scheduled to enter service on Aire/Wharfe - do we know?

I've been pretty lucky so far in that I've had only one or two cancellations this year, and those have been related to incidents other than simple failures. However the little niggles that are creeping in, especially with the 321/322s are indications that the EMU fleet is starting to be tested. And when there are problems, even with the additional DMUs starting to arrive via cascade, replacement units aren't always readily available with such quick turnaround times for the Aire/Wharfe services, complicated further by them interworking so a failed diagram might mean several cancellations until the diagram is back at Leeds which is about the only point they can be recovered. Its been mentioned on here that the 170s so a reasonable job on the Harrogate line in soaking up demand, so I wonder if they could be cleared for the Aire & Wharfe lines, as they are already appearing on the Doncaster runs as replacements? There's usually one hanging around at Leeds during the weekdays, so maybe this could be pressed into use on at least a few diagrams whilst Northern shuffle the EMU pack?

As for the 331s, I don't think we'll see them for a good while yet, I believe from the 331 thread that the first 331s will be based in the North West so I am not expecting to see much in the way of them until later next year, with the hallowed 2*331 Skipton diagrams probably not coming in until the December 2019 timetable. So I'm afraid whilst the 333s start to be refurbished, and the 321/322s continue to rattle themselves to pieces we can expect more of the same.
 

northernchris

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The EMU fleet is stretched, but the problems seem to be compacted by the pathing into and out of Leeds. It's a daily occurrence for services to leave the last station on time only to arrive Leeds late, and due to some tight turnarounds this can then cause the next service to depart late. I just hope that once the 331s are in use they don't end up being short formed
 

61653 HTAFC

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The EMU fleet is stretched, but the problems seem to be compacted by the pathing into and out of Leeds. It's a daily occurrence for services to leave the last station on time only to arrive Leeds late, and due to some tight turnarounds this can then cause the next service to depart late. I just hope that once the 331s are in use they don't end up being short formed
You can pretty much guarantee that on occasion there'll be a single 331 running in place of a pair... but better that than a cancellation. Hopefully they'll be reliable units and it won't happen too often.
 

superkev

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I suppose in BR days Northerns shortfall would be made up by emu loans in from elsewhere. Say 32x's from Scotrail replaced by more 365's from store.
K
 

61653 HTAFC

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I suppose in BR days Northerns shortfall would be made up by emu loans in from elsewhere. Say 32x's from Scotrail replaced by more 365's from store.
K
Still happens post-BR, though perhaps not as reliably or efficiently. Northern managed to "borrow" Silverlink 321s to cover for refurbishments in the past, which meant a nice and (comparitavely) comfy declassified 1st-class seat for a lucky few!
 
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I suppose in BR days Northerns shortfall would be made up by emu loans in from elsewhere. Say 32x's from Scotrail replaced by more 365's from store.
K

How did scotrail manage to get a short term loan of 365’s but not northern? Surely they knew this was going to happen months ago and could’ve done like scotrail and got some extra emus on a short term loan? 319’s would’ve been better then nothing.
Or is down to Northern being worse then Scrooge when it comes to money? What is the reason?
 
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xotGD

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Tonight the 17.41 Skipton was formed from the 17.41 arrival from Ilkley. Well done shuffling the pack to keep things running, but every day is a struggle at the moment.

With hindsight, sending 333001 for refurb was premature.
 

JDEunos

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5 Oct 2018
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When I get into Leeds at around 5pm on a weekday, there are usually 2 Class 170s parked up on platform 1 and 2. Why would they not want to run this rolling stock? The Sheffield line is in desperate need of some decent rolling stock.
 

rich-leeds

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These go out on Harrogate Line services later in the evening peak, including one on a Horsforth shuttle iirc. The Harrogate Line frequency increases significantly over the standard 2tph pattern after 5pm.
 

Ianigsy

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Having used the Calder Valley route and passed through Victoria a few times in the last couple of weeks, I'd say that probably for political reasons, there are rather more doubled-up DMUs working around Manchester at the moment and the recent arrivals seem to being used there rather than making it over to West Yorkshire on a regular basis.

Another factor will be the opening of Kirkstall Forge and Apperley Bridge - in the past it used to be that if there were unit or crew shortages, it would be the Leeds-Bradford FS trains which would be the first to be cancelled because it only served stations which were already served by the other routes out of Forster Square. Nowadays it's less easy to do as the only way to cover that would be to add stops on to other trains which are already busy at peak periods.
 

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