I dont believe there is enough capacity with the 197s at the moment to even run 4 cars on the Manchesters. A few have been 4 cars but there are still a lot of 2 cars.
and class 156s
230006 is having extensive mods done to resolve the issues, if that’s successful they will all get the mods done.
Let's hope these mods work.
I see it as, they’re a great idea in theory and would be perfectly suited for the Bidstons.
I think they were mostly broken. Though they probably turned out on the Crewe shuttle which is a reasonable equivalent. Meanwhile the coast got 37s, 101, 142, 153, 156 or 158.
Sorry, I was being sarcastic.
I had a 150 on the 2145 Cardiff to Crewe in 1999 or 2000. There were only six of them at Canton at the time. I wasn't bothered. It got to Crewe on time.
Source: https://www.deeside.com/rail-watchd...es-over-passenger-risk-following-train-fires/
There are scheduled moves for cycling the Bidstons though, and we are talking here about a 150 working a Milford Haven to Manchester and back to Cardiff. Hence that is not related to swapping 150s around.
Thank you both
We’re very nearly there and the total end of the old stock is very rapidly approaching! 158’s may be gone by this time next year or just a few months away from leaving.
If the rumours in the industry a couple of weeks are true, a Nigerian operator are interested in DMU's.
Exactly. They are only booked for Valley Lines and a few other services close to Cardiff like Ebbw Vale and banned from the Marches as you say. So are we not allowed to comment with surprise when one ends up doing an all day diagram Cardiff-Milford-Manchester-Cardiff when we were told they were banned without special permission.
Its not so much we dont believe you, its more we find it very very surprising given there is no need for 150s to go North now as they dont have any booked workings and there were 197s that were working short journeys in the South.
I agree.
Of course you can comment.
None of the 197s that made it to Maesteg that day spent the previous night on Canton. As such, they weren't available there at 0300 when the unit for the Manchester diagram needed prepping for it's first move of the day ECS to Swansea.
For what it's worth,I agree in finding it surprising. I was very surprised when I found out about it myself.
I'm not bothered by those comments - in an ideal world 150s really shouldn't be used on the Marches. I'm bothered by people implying that there was some degree of laziness or incompetence in sending them over a more suitable unit.
Thats fair enough, And im not saying there was any incompetence just found it quite odd a 150 was allocated, as even when a 150 ends up running to West Wales its almost always swapped at Cardiff but this wasnt possible.
I agree and I do appreciate people in the industry taking time to post and explain things.
Could you point me in the direction of said thread please, I can't seem to find it.
www.railforums.co.uk
The reported condition of the TfW 150/2s is quite a shame given that Northern are still running a large number of class 150/1s with their inferior passenger spec (no end gangways). Even if the budget won't stretch to a fleet expansion at Northern, it would have been preferable if the TfW 150/2s had been in a condition where they could have replaced some/most of Northern's 150/1s.
Is the insane amount of hassle worth swapping one 40 year old DMU for another?
It's a moot point anyway, assuming the condition of the TfW 150s is as bad as has been reported. However, if the TfW 150s were in a comparable condition to Northern's 150/1s then the suggestion is swapping one old DMU for one that is nearly identical from a maintenance point of view (and probably not far off from a crew familiarity point of view either) but a fair bit better from a passenger's perspective (and quite possibly that of guards and maybe a refreshment trolley) thanks to the end gangways. That really shouldn't be much hassle at all; the fact that in reality it probably would be alot of hassle just shows how broken the railway has become.
There are two different works overhauls. C6 are for bodywork and happens every seven to 10 years. When the 150s reach the deadline, it is game over. C4 overhauls are for bogies and other equipment below the floor. These are mileage based, though I don't know what the mileage interval is. Having spent a year doing up to 900 miles a day instead of 400 miles per day, that mileage has been eaten up faster than planned. Judging by the shiny bogies on some units, these exams are still being done on units with years on the C6 counter. However, there is no point doing a C4 on a unit that is due a C6 in three months so I imagine the restriction is to try and preserve the miles and keep them in service longer.
The Maestegs are not at Cardiff at the same time as the Manchesters. Browsing RTT on the day in question reveals the 1402 to Ebbw Vale was a 150 so that is no help. The 1402 arrival from Ebbw Vale shunted and attached to the 1549 to Manchester.
Better kept isn't exactly appreciating the difference of time in service between the 195s and 197s. Depots will likely get better with time and experience, as an IT worker I fully appreciate knowing a new system Vs a (broadly) understood one.
