172331 - revised livery

[CR165022]

Going back to the above, has 172331 returned yet from Ilford does anyone know please?

Not yet, no path for it to return yet either.

 

[Sparks807Evo]

Not yet, no path for it to return yet either.

Thanks for the update! Assume some sort of overhaul and hopefully a repaint…

 

[Liam L]

Thanks for the update! Assume some sort of overhaul and hopefully a repaint....

I suspect since they coming up to 15 years old, a repaint as part of a mid life refresh will be due as they never been repainted.

 

[JRHurst]

This has just passed Canonbury, 5Q90 Ilford - Tyseley with the newer (orange not gold) version of WMR livery. No branding. Looks much better, too.

 

[Russel]

That's good to hear, the gold instead of orange on the 172s has always looked pretty poor.

 

[800001]

Safe to say it will be a while before we see these in GBR livery then?

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

With the exception of the fact it should be GBR livery, good. I was just saying recently on another thread how rubbish the faded gold looks alongside the bright orange of the 196/730 fleets.

 

[Russel]

Safe to say it will be a while before we see these in GBR livery then?

Aren't PTE areas such as West Mids, Manchester Bee Network etc keeping the local liverys? I'm sure I've read they are somewhere.

 

[NY SAARSS]

With the exception of the fact it should be GBR livery, good. I was just saying recently on another thread how rubbish the faded gold looks alongside the bright orange of the 196/730 fleets.

Always thought the colours were meant to represent two big things in the west Midlands. Not faded gold but old gold of Wolverhampton Wanderers fc. And the purple colours of Cadburys

 

[Liam L]

172331 has returned to Tyseley today, now painted in WMR livery as opposed to vinyls.

 

[Sparks807Evo]

Thanks for the update - great to hear and as expected. Interesting not in GBR livery - hopefully a sign of devolved power interests through WMCA playing a role going forward.

 

[Sparks807Evo]

It would not surprise me to see that being the case - there is scope under the Railways Bill to have devolved business units so having a West Midlands Combined Authority one would make sense. Given this is a DFTO controlled TOC it is a good sign that may be the case.

 

[PigScroll]

172331 has returned to Tyseley today, now painted in WMR livery as opposed to vinyls.

I saw (what I assume was) this unit at Tyseley this morning and it was a bit surprising to see a 172 with the 196/730-style brighter orange used. Still has a yellow gangway end though, which made the front a little odd-looking.

 

[Liam L]

Aren't PTE areas such as West Mids, Manchester Bee Network etc keeping the local liverys? I'm sure I've read they are somewhere.

The WMCA are very keen to keep it with the upcoming bus franchising bringing in the remaining parts of the identity

 

[TRAX]

The WMCA are very keen to keep it with the upcoming bus franchising bringing in the remaining parts of the identity

Is that the West Midlands branch of the YMCA ?

 

[Bletchleyite]

The WMCA are very keen to keep it with the upcoming bus franchising bringing in the remaining parts of the identity

Passenger Transport Executives had their own liveries in BR days (basically colour variants of the Regional Railways livery minus the horizontal lines device and plus the PTE's logo usually by the doors) so no reason they shouldn't under GBR.

 

[RealTrains07]

It has been mentioned in interview, Tony Miles had with the WM trains Deputy MD in the recent July 2026 edition of modern railways that the 172/1 refurb work will be taking place in the latter half of this year or at least starting. Can be found on page 55.

“Other fleet issues to be addressed include the much needed refurbishment of the 4x2-car class 172/1s transferred from Chiltern, which is planned for this year”

Good to hear that something is planned for the 172/1s this year even though it mentions no exact timescales.

 

[bnsf734]

Has 172331 now got some nice clean windows as opposed to the murky ones on the rest of the fleet?

 

[Liam L]

Has 172331 now got some nice clean windows as opposed to the murky ones on the rest of the fleet?

Yes, but give it a couple of days in service and they will be back to there usual condition

 

[Johnhayworth21]

172331 was in service on the Snow Hill Lines today, first outing since it's repaint a few weeks ago.

 

[RealTrains07]

172331 was in service on the Snow Hill Lines today, first outing since it's repaint a few weeks ago.

Look forward to seeing photos of it in its fresh coat.

 

[Liam L]

172331 was in service on the Snow Hill Lines today, first outing since it's repaint a few weeks ago.

Still hasn't got any branding by the photos I saw? Happy to be corrected.

 

[Johnhayworth21]

Still hasn't got any branding by the photos I saw? Happy to be corrected.

Indeed, it hasn't.

 

[Russel]

From the photos I've seen, the purple looks to be a brighter shade than the original purple used on the 172s, it's a big improvement.

 

[barbette165]

I travelled on 172331 today. They have ‘polished’ the windows to remove the etching that afflicts the rest of the fleet. There‘s a couple of millimetres in the corners where the marks are still there. Other things that I noticed that had been replaced were the concertina surrounds to the end connector doors and the external door open buttons. It also looks like the engines have been refurbished, the only thing I could see was a kind of exhaust pipe below the carriage that was shiny and new.
Internally there were no obvious changes, a few seat covers may have been replaced, but definitely not all of them, and the USB socket at my seat wasn’t working.

 

[kje7812]

I travelled on 172331 today. They have ‘polished’ the windows to remove the etching that afflicts the rest of the fleet. There‘s a couple of millimetres in the corners where the marks are still there. Other things that I noticed that had been replaced were the concertina surrounds to the end connector doors and the external door open buttons. It also looks like the engines have been refurbished, the only thing I could see was a kind of exhaust pipe below the carriage that was shiny and new.
Internally there were no obvious changes, a few seat covers may have been replaced, but definitely not all of them, and the USB socket at my seat wasn’t working.

Interesting, from a distance I thought they had been replaced. The etched windows do spoil the fleet so I'm glad something is being done.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

They have ‘polished’ the windows to remove the etching that afflicts the rest of the fleet. There‘s a couple of millimetres in the corners where the marks are still there.

Finally! Those windows are atrocious. That was pretty much the one issue I had with the 172s so it's very good to know there's a solution.

 

[CR165022]

172334 returned from Ilford today, replaced with 172333 going in for repaint

 

[barbette165]

I saw 172331 again today. It now has West Midlands Railway branding.

 

[CR165022]

172334 is back in service and also now has WMR branding on it