Should the railway engage in vanity projects, such as the recent Pendolino at Paddington?

Tilting007 · 1 Aug 2026

dk1 said:
Because it’s a super jolly for all involved and those interested. We’ll look back at the day the Pendo went to Paddington like we do the night one magically visited Kings Cross during those heady days of Virgin Trains.

That must have been 2015….

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dk1 · 1 Aug 2026

Tilting007 said:
That must have been 2015….

I believe that was the Penguilino press event but Virgin sent another in 2012 on an overnight test run up the ECML to Kings Cross too. In the end Azumas were ordered instead.

Strathclyder · 1 Aug 2026

Tilting007 said:
That must have been 2015….

390055 undertook a late-night trial run in March 2012 - so during the East Coast era and around about when the additional sets and extra carriages were being built - from Edinburgh to King's Cross under the 5Z10 headcode. Was done to test the type's suitabilty on the ECML iirc.

SansHache · 1 Aug 2026

Strathclyder said:
390055 undertook a late-night trial run in March 2012 - so during the East Coast era and around about when the additional sets and extra carriages were being built - from Edinburgh to King's Cross under the 5Z10 headcode. Was done to test the type's suitabilty on the ECML iirc.

Those were the days (and nights). I was part of the Alstom test team recording electrical system parameters. We joined the train at Preston late afternoon and ran direct to Polmadie where there was a crew change. It was then across to Edinburgh via Carstairs and down the ECML to Kings Cross, before eventually stabling at Ferme Park.
Repeated again in the reverse direction the following night.
There was talk of loaning a Pendolino to Virgin East Coast for a period as they had a rolling stock shortage, but in the end it proved too difficult.

iamraymond · 1 Aug 2026

We truly are in silly season aren't we - the level of hatred generated by a train being in a train station for a photo is borderline hilarious...

Am I missing the point somewhere? Am I meant to be angry? :lol:

LNW-GW Joint · 1 Aug 2026

Carlisle said:
Was it a First Group event ?

The Greatest Gathering at Derby last year was a heritage event led by Alstom with the cooperation of the Roscos and TOCs of the day.
The Paddington event looks similar, with First Group providing the rolling stock (from Avanti and GWR resources).
It didn't seem to be a DfT, DFTO or GBR event, and the limited costs were probably funded externally to the "public" railway.

contrex · 1 Aug 2026

Nym said:
This of course begs the question. Why bother?

Er, it raises the question...

Russel · 1 Aug 2026

AndrewE said:
How about the people left behind at places like Burton when they can't get into the set open for public use when there is an empty set coupled behind? Or the people who have become aware of the shortage of capacity on EMR because the train they booked has been taken out of the timetable?

If there is no wider publicity than around the enthusiast community then it really has been a complete waste of time and money. If it does get wider publicity then I suspect that it will just wind the disappointed people up.

In what possible way does this have anything to do with the total shambles that EMR have gotten in to?

It's like shouting at Costa because Starbucks messed up your order.

dk1 · 1 Aug 2026

iamraymond said:
We truly are in silly season aren't we - the level of hatred generated by a train being in a train station for a photo is borderline hilarious...

Am I missing the point somewhere? Am I meant to be angry?

Totally agree, it’s very strange isn’t it? Like me just embrace & enjoy :wub:

BrianW · 1 Aug 2026

dk1 said:
Let it go Brian.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 31 Jul 2026 ==

Exactly mate. Not sure why some seem so rattled by a bit of PR and good publicity that’s nothing more in this industry than dressing a shop window.

I guess I'm being a bit like a dog with a bone ...

dk1 said:
Because it’s a super jolly for all involved and those interested. We’ll look back at the day the Pendo went to Paddington like we do the night one magically visited Kings Cross during those heady days of Virgin Trains.

I'm not against staff receiving attention from 'management'- indeed it is a good thing to do.

I had been wondering what the purpose was, having seen no 'PR blurb'.

The Chimaera · 1 Aug 2026

Surely this is two private rail companies, both soon to be no more having a bit of a jolly using a part of their advertising budget. It seems to be nothing to do with government departments just railway staff having a bit of fun and hopefully raising morale, which otherwise seems to be ebbing away.

CR165022 · 1 Aug 2026

Yes well according to some members on here, having a bit of fun shouldn't be allowed anymore!

AndrewE · 1 Aug 2026

Russel said:
In what possible way does this have anything to do with the total shambles that EMR have gotten in to?

It's like shouting at Costa because Starbucks messed up your order.

it's not at all, because we have one railway to choose to travel with - or not.
People go "by train," or they drive (or go by bus or coach.) Rail can only let them down so many times before they swear never to trust it again. Rail's financial health and its contribution to the decarbonisation agenda depends on it being used as heavily as possible. That won't happen if people get left behind because a Voyager set is locked out of use, or if trains they have booked seats on disappear from the timetable.

aaronspence · 1 Aug 2026

CR165022 said:
Yes well according to some members on here, having a bit of fun shouldn't be allowed anymore!

I guess it depends wether everything is running well, then sure have a bit of fun, but with such a poorly funded network I guess to some its questionable.

Russel · 1 Aug 2026

AndrewE said:
it's not at all, because we have one railway to choose to travel with - or not.
People go "by train," or they drive (or go by bus or coach.) Rail can only let them down so many times before they swear never to trust it again. Rail's financial health and its contribution to the decarbonisation agenda depends on it being used as heavily as possible. That won't happen if people get left behind because a Voyager set is locked out of use, or if trains they have booked seats on disappear from the timetable.

You need to put things into perspective, this small event inconvenienced nobody, these scenarios you're coming up with to argue against it are just that.

Tilting007 · 2 Aug 2026

Strathclyder said:
390055 undertook a late-night trial run in March 2012 - so during the East Coast era and around about when the additional sets and extra carriages were being built - from Edinburgh to King's Cross under the 5Z10 headcode. Was done to test the type's suitabilty on the ECML iirc.

I was thinking of the Christmas livered 390 that went to Kings X…

Tony2 · 2 Aug 2026

Well I was there and enjoyed the occasion. As I took photographs, a few people asked me why an Avanti train was there and took a genuine interest in the event. So I reckon it created goodwill. Didn’t hear anyone complaining that the effort spent on this delayed their train!!!

dk1 · 2 Aug 2026

Tilting007 said:
I was thinking of the Christmas livered 390 that went to Kings X…

The Penguilino that was platformed next to the DVT in a Christmas livery.

Tilting007 · 2 Aug 2026

dk1 said:
The Penguilino that was platformed next to the DVT in a Christmas livery.

Thats the one!

390136 · 2 Aug 2026

Iskra said:
Wouldn’t it just have been easier to do the press event somewhere on the WCML?

Where’s the fun in that…?

Russel · 2 Aug 2026

dk1 said:
The Penguilino that was platformed next to the DVT in a Christmas livery.

Didn't Virgin run a Pendo into Kings Cross before that, too?

Llanigraham · 2 Aug 2026

Nym said:
So we have expensive vanity projects again rather than focusing the time and money on making the railway actually work?

Do you know how much this has cost, or are you speculating?

dk1 · 2 Aug 2026

Russel said:
Didn't Virgin run a Pendo into Kings Cross before that, too?

Yes back in 2012. There’s some interesting reference to it further back in the thread.

brad465 · 2 Aug 2026

Depends on the project. Painting one or two units into a special livery I think is worth doing if it's interesting and eye-catching. This seems to have gone down well with 465908 in NSE livery, 455868 in BR livery and 43002 in Flying Banana livery. Various GWR IET special names/liveries likewise.

Mag_seven · 2 Aug 2026

CR165022 said:
Yes well according to some members on here, having a bit of fun shouldn't be allowed anymore!

You get the service running reliably first, then you "have fun". It was somewhat ironic that whilst for example the MD of Avanti was making his speech at Paddington yesterday, Avanti journeycheck was listing 40 plus cancelations for Saturday due to "a shortage of traincrew".

Nym · 2 Aug 2026

Llanigraham said:
Do you know how much this has cost, or are you speculating?

It will have been more than 0p. This makes it too much.

Ashley Hill · 2 Aug 2026

Did GWR pay for the visit of the Pendo or was it a goodwill visit at little expense. The only expense I can see would be the hire of a GBRf loco and some crew.
I see no harm in this visit , after all there has been plenty of GWR activity into Euston over the last few years.
Would their have been the same moans if a 91 had appeared?

Harpo · 3 Aug 2026

Maybe a better use of a completely spare Pendolino and drag locos would be easing EMR’s current rolling stock crisis?

Playing trains so ostentatiosly while the network has so many current crises (including GWR’s own barn-find units in the west) is not a good look.

Zomboid · 3 Aug 2026

Harpo said:
Maybe a better use of a completely spare Pendolino and drag locos would be easing EMR’s current rolling stock crisis?

Would that work in push-pull? Would a 57+390 be able to meet MML sectional running times? Great idea apart from the complete impracticality of it.

The reality is that the cost of taking a pendo to Paddington would have been pocket change in railway budget terms, and none of the people involved in doing it will have had any ability to influence 810/ 175 reliability or the lack of rain causing embankment shrinkage.

Harpo · 3 Aug 2026

Zomboid said:
Would that work in push-pull? Would a 57+390 be able to meet MML sectional running times? Great idea apart from the complete impracticality of it.

It’s very much a modern railway thing, and a much bigger DfT thing, to seek out the difficulties and deem alternatives impractical.

Having come from a similar operational generation to Chris Gibbs I see a spare train as an opportunity and one which doesn’t have to be the direct replacement either.

Should the railway engage in vanity projects, such as the recent Pendolino at Paddington?

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