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Class 701 'Aventra' trains for South Western Railway: progress updates

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TT-ONR-NRN

TT-ONR-NRN

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It still seems rare that all 5-6 units make it to close of play, which is poor when they should have over ten times that in service by now.
 
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norbitonflyer

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TT-ONR-NRN said:
It still seems rare that all 5-6 units make it to close of play, which is poor when they should have over ten times that in service by now.
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I don't think more than four have been rostered on any given day since the week before Christmas - certainly the Hampton Court extra hasn't run.
 
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Peter Sarf

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TT-ONR-NRN said:
It still seems rare that all 5-6 units make it to close of play, which is poor when they should have over ten times that in service by now.
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norbitonflyer said:
I don't think more than four have been rostered on any given day since the week before Christmas - certainly the Hampton Court extra hasn't run.
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Indeed. I would suspect that things will be kept simple during the festive period. Perhaps it is remarkable that any 701s out of such a small usable fleet are in use durng the festive period. I doubt this time of year is a good indicator of what to expect for the rest of 2025. I say that with the hope that the 701s are bound to get used sooner or later !.
 
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Goldfish62

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norbitonflyer said:
I don't think more than four have been rostered on any given day since the week before Christmas - certainly the Hampton Court extra hasn't run.
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As I've pointed out before, SWR has been running a Saturday-type timetable since 23rd December so that train won't have run. Normal Mon-Fri timetables resume on 6th January.
 
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SWT_USER

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SWT_USER said:
That diagram is booked to work the 16.50 Waterloo to Reading via Brentford, which is run specifically to deal with match day crowds. Good work :rolleyes:
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Again a 4 coach train on a match day extra today. Despite only running a Sunday timetable (as an aside I thought bank holidays were usually Saturday service) they couldn't muster an extra 450 from anywhere or rejig the diagrams to make sure the 4 car wasn't on that service.

By now they should really have enough staff trained to run a couple of 701's as crowd busters.
 
TT-ONR-NRN

TT-ONR-NRN

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SWT_USER said:
Again a 4 coach train on a match day extra today. Despite only running a Sunday timetable (as an aside I thought bank holidays were usually Saturday service) they couldn't muster an extra 450 from anywhere or rejig the diagrams to make sure the 4 car wasn't on that service.

By now they should really have enough staff trained to run a couple of 701's as crowd busters.
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They‘re absolutely perfect for that sort of job, too. It’s infuriating.
 
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Peter Sarf

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SWT_USER said:
Again a 4 coach train on a match day extra today. Despite only running a Sunday timetable (as an aside I thought bank holidays were usually Saturday service) they couldn't muster an extra 450 from anywhere or rejig the diagrams to make sure the 4 car wasn't on that service.

By now they should really have enough staff trained to run a couple of 701's as crowd busters.
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I am assuming that over the Christmas break that SWR like most operators will be rather stretched staffing wise. This would make staffing what is currently a micro fleet a risk not worth taking if not ALL staff can cover the 701s. Imagine the carnage if midway through the day a driver not yet trained on 701s off a service using a 450 into Waterloo is expected to take over a 701 at Waterloo - cancellation. There might be many more drivers that can drive 701s than there are 701s in service BUT are there so many that SWR can guarantee not to get tripped up.
 
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SWT_USER

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Peter Sarf said:
I am assuming that over the Christmas break that SWR like most operators will be rather stretched staffing wise. This would make staffing what is currently a micro fleet a risk not worth taking if not ALL staff can cover the 701s. Imagine the carnage if midway through the day a driver not yet trained on 701s off a service using a 450 into Waterloo is expected to take over a 701 at Waterloo - cancellation. There might be many more drivers that can drive 701s than there are 701s in service BUT are there so many that SWR can guarantee not to get tripped up.
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I understand all that, although only themselves to blame for being so far behind with it all.

Given how few services are running today though there is no excuse for short forming.
 
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Stephen42

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SWT_USER said:
Again a 4 coach train on a match day extra today. Despite only running a Sunday timetable (as an aside I thought bank holidays were usually Saturday service) they couldn't muster an extra 450 from anywhere or rejig the diagrams to make sure the 4 car wasn't on that service.

By now they should really have enough staff trained to run a couple of 701's as crowd busters.
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That train was a diverted Reading service not an extra. That diagram started from Staines sidings, with the previous day's diagram dropping a unit at short notice just before it left for Waterloo the final time. It became 8 cars later in the afternoon. It's not clear from the outside whether this could have been done earlier or why exactly it went down from 8 to 4 the previous day in the first place.

With the extra services for new years eve, running additional crowd busters would be harder than usual with volunteers already used elsewhere.
 
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Lockwood

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I asked before, but I think the question was swallowed in other discussion... How many units are sat off the juice?
Curious what the proportion of units in revenue service, units sat in "relevant" sidings, and units off grid is.
 
3973EXL

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Realtime Trains | 5Q87 1234 Long Marston Gbrf to Reading West Jn | 03/01/2025

Real-time train running information for 5Q87 1234 departure from Long Marston Gbrf to Reading West Jn on 03/01/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Realtime Trains | 5Q88 1622 Reading West Jn to Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs | 03/01/2025

Real-time train running information for 5Q88 1622 departure from Reading West Jn to Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs on 03/01/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk www.realtimetrains.co.uk
 
NSEWonderer

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701049 I believe which is on it way to Wimbledon, Albeit, 70mins behind drag schedule.
3973EXL said:

Realtime Trains | 5Q87 1234 Long Marston Gbrf to Reading West Jn | 03/01/2025

Real-time train running information for 5Q87 1234 departure from Long Marston Gbrf to Reading West Jn on 03/01/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Realtime Trains | 5Q88 1622 Reading West Jn to Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs | 03/01/2025

Real-time train running information for 5Q88 1622 departure from Reading West Jn to Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs on 03/01/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk www.realtimetrains.co.uk
Click to expand...
 
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800001

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Samzino said:
701049 I believe which is on it way to Wimbledon, Albeit, 70mins behind drag schedule.
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Are you sure the unit going to Wimbledon was 049?
As that moved from Eastleigh to Long Marston yesterday?
 
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wickham

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It is interesting that most if not all of the 701s sent away to Marchwood and Long Marston in 2023 have come back "home" and been replacecd at both locations by newer units. However, as far as I can see, only one unit (701011) has come "home" from Bicester, although most of the 701/5s are at Bicester and these do not seem to be wanted yet (if at all !).
 
mansonlo49

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wickham said:
It is interesting that most if not all of the 701s sent away to Marchwood and Long Marston in 2023 have come back "home" and been replacecd at both locations by newer units. However, as far as I can see, only one unit (701011) has come "home" from Bicester, although most of the 701/5s are at Bicester and these do not seem to be wanted yet (if at all !).
Click to expand...
so is there 701/0 at Bicester at the moment？thx
 
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Bigfoot

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A shorter training 701 course with Driver Open Guard Close DOGC is being introduced, although SWR still desire to run with Driver Open Driver Close DODC in the future. The amended courses start in a couple of weeks, with DOGC as the method of operation the week after.

Read into this/that what you will.
 
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