12-car 350 on Trent Valley line?

[rogercov]

I notice that 350114 + 350371 + 350241 ran on the following last Saturday (12th July):
1U23 EUS-CRE
1U24 CRE-EUS
1U33 EUS-CRE
1U34 CRE-EUS
1U43 EUS-CRE
1N44 CRE-NMP
Due to the length, It used platform 12 at Crewe (11 on the last journey).

Is this a regular Saturday working or was it an experiment?
Is it the first time a 12-car train has run on the EUS-CRE services?
It seems strange to do this when another diagram that day was only 4 cars.

 

[Kite159]

Pretty sure that's booked 12 coaches, they have been running 12 coaches on some Sunday services for a while.

 

[DarloRich]

Is this why we are seeing more 4 cars on WCML south services? Not against 12 on a Crewe service as they can get very bust especially at weekends but so are the services further south.

Pretty sure that's booked 12 coaches, they have been running 12 coaches on some Sunday services for a while.

that will be fun at Atherstone!

 

[rogercov]

Pretty sure that's booked 12 coaches, they have been running 12 coaches on some Sunday services for a while.

Thanks. I just hadn't noticed it before.

 

[Class 170101]

They are definitely needed when the MML is closed somewhere between Derby and London.

 

[Mugby]

I use 1U33 occasionally and intend to do so on Saturday so I'll have a look what it consists of.

Incidentally, I see it now departs Tamworth at 1307 which I think is earlier than it used to be. I seem to remember it was 1311.
Were the timings changed slightly in May?

 

[Starmill]

Definitely booked for some services at weekends. A clue is using platform 12 at Crewe (though that's only a clue that it could be booked for 12, not that it actually is).

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Jul 2025 ==

Is this why we are seeing more 4 cars on WCML south services? Not against 12 on a Crewe service as they can get very bust especially at weekends but so are the services further south.

There's supposed to be enough units for it at weekends, or at least that was the plan anyway. Given the 730 situation and the flooded units heavens knows.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Is this why we are seeing more 4 cars on WCML south services? Not against 12 on a Crewe service as they can get very bust especially at weekends but so are the services further south.

As both routes are scheduled for majority 10-730 working soon enough, hopefully any current short formation 350s will not last.

 

[ayubdaud]

I use 1U33 occasionally and intend to do so on Saturday so I'll have a look what it consists of.

Incidentally, I see it now departs Tamworth at 1307 which I think is earlier than it used to be. I seem to remember it was 1311.
Were the timings changed slightly in May?

The WMT's now have a shorter dwell time at Nuneaton, and longer at Stafford, to allow a path for the Avanti Liverpool that follows behind it.