Six of one, half a dozen of the other. There's certainly poor deployment of units (sometimes avoidably so, sometimes it can't be helped) but there's also an overall shortage of capacity.
Then that's true, and I'd believe staff over an occasional traveller too. I was just going off experience. Often, many units seem out of use in Chester, I travel there quite frequently, and they are generally stranded there for weeks at a time. That's not the 175 remediation programme, I'm talking about sprinters that often spend time there, and there's quite a few moves between Canton or Swansea and Chester or Shrewsbury. It just seems there are many units out of use a lot of the time.
I suppose one of TfW issues is the remoteness of some of their lines for facilities. 1V62 broke down between Wilmslow and Crewe not so long ago and had to wait 4 and a half hours for another 67 to come from Cardiff on a service, deliver passengersat Wilmslow and then go rescue it. There is a shortage of capacity and I find that a little odd but in hindsight their network is huge.
TfW had a fixed budget though. They got a lot more capacity by taking cut price Mark 4 sets than they would have got from an extension order for Civitys. CAF wouldn't have delivered any yet either. If they'd done the latter people would be complaining about the lack of capacity and the long lead times on the class 197 order being fulfilled.
That's not really what happened. Another set which arrived into Stockport 90 mins after was used. Normally theres a rescue loco stationed at Crewe, one day 2 locos were in Holyhead being swapped so werent available, since then things have changed and if no TfW loco is available, a loco at Crewe ETD is always available for TfW use as nobody wants trains sitting round for hours on end.
Shame that the Mk4s were taken off of 1W93 just in time for silly season. Even with four coaches (1st class declassified) it was often full and standing. Usually runs either with a 150 or two 153s, and today is no exception. Passengers crammed in with a crowbar and many more left behind.
That just wouldn't have happened, the option without the Mk4s was....nothing. The same amount of 197s would now be in service just with more Sat in sidings awaiting acceptance so there would currently be 6 less units in the fleet than there currently is.
Would the 170s not have been retained?
At less capacity and much less flexibility.
Might have focused minds on the 175s more, one could but dream of that parallel universe.
It's highly unlikely to have made any difference to 175s, its completely different depots and maintainers so wouldn't have helped, just left it even shorter with whatever 15x could be used. Several minds were very focused, and still are for getting diagrams covered by units with capacity and to a decent standard.
Are they likely to return on the daytime services anyone know?
Supposedly at the end of the summer timetable in September (you know, when it gets quiet again).
It is a total gimmick like most of what these companies do.TFW have now launched a map to track services in real time. I know most us are aware of RTT but i doubt the avarage traveller would be aware of it, so may prove useful.
Indeed.
The real world is not as simple as a computer game. Sometimes you get caught out by circumstances and have no choice.
It is an IF statement in the allocation algorithm, not sure what computer games have to do with it. Is that a deflection?
That's an interesting insight into early morning operations at Canton.
Allocations are finalised by the night shift in Control. Some forward planning is done such as "if we have X 158 finish at Holyhead tonight, it'll be on a diagram that ends at Mach tomorrow ready for its exam", but real life is too unpredictable to have a dependable plan days in advance. Each time that you amend one bit of it you cause the dominos to tumble. Sometimes even the STP diagrams aren't available from train planning until quite close to the line.
For a start there are no fuel points at Llandudno Junction or Pwllheli so no fuelling is going to take place there come what may. There's also the issue of how many units you can send through the depot on a given night. A lot of units at Chester will just be stabled in the Middle Yard or the platforms at night, without going on the shed. It's difficult enough finding a slot on shed to send units in to get faults rectified, you see 197s running around with the same fault for days on end.
Because - as I said above - sometimes real life intervenes, snookers you, and that's literally the only working unit free on Canton to send out.
