railfan99
Established Member
All images to date have shown them to be end-gangwayed units, yes.
https://www.railwaygazette.com/news...upply-wales-borders-regional-train-fleet.html
That link doesn't work.
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CAF class 197 Civity for TfW: News and updates on introduction.
- Thread starter hexagon789
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WirralLine
Member
Presumably because it's 5 years old!
ThePeakNed
Member
Oooh.
I doubt new starters will have the pleasure of that then. Looks like I'll have to wait.
It looks like there is still a shortage of 197s today. A pair of 153's is doing the 1104 Milford to Manchester and therefore the 1730 Manchester. Unless its going to swap at Cardiff.
Also one of the Pembroke Dock diagrams is a 150 today.
Also one of the Pembroke Dock diagrams is a 150 today.
Anonymous10
Established Member
Looking at realtimetrains.co.uk they appear not to be able to set swap it but have put an extra 153 on to make it 3 carriages which I suppose is a good compromise.
BillStampy
Established Member
Transport for Wales thought it'd be a good idea to grab another train! Oh wait, it's another 153 to add on to the pile!
Anonymous10
Established Member
Still better than a 2 carriage, I'd take a 3 carriage 153 over a 2 carriage 197 at rush hour.Transport for Wales thought it'd be a good idea to grab another train! Oh wait, it's another 153 to add on to the pile!
BillStampy
Established Member
Fair enough, capacity is probably higher priority than comfort in this situation, even if it's a 153.
What goes around comes around. I note that there are TfW off peak day returns that are 10 or 20p less than the any permitted tickets. I wonder how many people buy them? I certainly wouldn't.
I used to sell a good number of them as singles onboard. 99% of a people would buy the any permitted ticket if making a return. I can think of 1 regular who used to get a return as the TFW only.
so apparently a software fix for a glitch that caused poor cooling of the 197 saloons has been trialled on 10 units, which has been successful.
Also they adjusted the parameters to be in-line with British standards.
They’re now rolling it out to the rest of the fleet.
Initial reports is that the saloons one those units are lovely and cool during the hotter weather.
It will be interesting to see if it holds up.
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To be fair I think a 153 may be more comfortable; certainly rides better than a 197!
Kite159
Veteran Member
Some of those TfW only fares used to offer a reasonable saving over the any permitted before TfW decided to follow the lead of Avanti to increase them to be 10/20p less than the any permitted citing more advance fares being available (ignoring that sometimes 2x TfW advance fares is more than the cost of the flexible day return)
Andy Pacer
Established Member
The 3x153 combo didn't quite make it to Manchester, turned short at Wilmslow due to late running.
SuperLuke2334
Established Member
I was driving home from Ludlow, saw it at Leominster and was going faster than it (not speeding!) along one section! It's crazy how slow they accelerate compared to the 197s and Mk4s!
Great news! It would have been a real cock-up if the HVAC hardware on a Spanish train couldn't cope with our temperatures. Are there any other software fixes in the work to help with availability or are those mechanical issues?
Yes it really would have! It’s one of the biggest things for me going from the 158’s on the Cambrian. I can forgive some of the other down falls of them just for the fact that they should have good aircon because even as a staff member who gets free travel on TFW, I’d rather take the car when it gets hot.
I’m not sure what the issues with the 197’s are exactly although I’m pretty sure I’ve seen previously that some other software updates were done previously to fix a few issues.
Knowing what TFW are like and from what I see, I have no doubt (despite the naysayers) they won’t be happy with how things are and will be very committed to improving reliability to as high as is possible.
STD+ on the 197’s is also to start receiving branding 1 unit at a time from the end of July.
The catering teams are also looking to start using the onboard fridges, so they may be less of a waste of space in the near future.
SuperLuke2334
Established Member
That is a step forward. Although I do like the declassified area, it will be good for those passengers who wish to have that extra bit of comfort. I'll have to try and get a couple more rides in
How will they fade in enforcement of it? Wait until all units are branded or if its a branded unit then the conductor can just charge?
Yes it is, luckily from the looks, upgrade prices will be very reasonable.That is a step forward. Although I do like the declassified area, it will be good for those passengers who wish to have that extra bit of comfort. I'll have to try and get a couple more rides in
How will they fade in enforcement of it? Wait until all units are branded or if its a branded unit then the conductor can just charge?
It hasn’t been said. I would imagine that they would wait until all units have the branding then switch over to it being a paid Upgrade.
BillStampy
Established Member
2 things to say here
1. Will the STD+ seating be charged on services like Maesteg and Cheltenham which don't advertise it
2. Excellent to see that large waste of space can be used on some services instead of just a catering trolley
Andy Pacer
Established Member
Could anyone confirm which of the non Cambrian 197s still haven't entered service yet (if any) - I only have a few outstanding to travel on and it may be that some of my missing ones aren't around yet.
SuperLuke2334
Established Member
I have 119, 121, 123, 124 and 126 of the non-Cambrian yet to enter service. All 2 car non-Cambrian are in service.
Andy Pacer
Established Member
That's brilliant, thank you. Means of the 3 cars I only need 105/113/115 and I should be able to get 2 of them later today.
Thanks again @SuperLuke2334
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Looks as though something may have gone wrong at Hereford:
Realtime Trains | 1V39 1030 Manchester Piccadilly to Cardiff Central | 26/07/2024
Real-time train running information for 1V39 1030 departure from Manchester Piccadilly to Cardiff Central on 26/07/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk
Last edited:
Except 003 which is currently an ETCS test unit but will eventually join the main fleet, rather than the Cambrian fleet.
SuperLuke2334
Established Member
Thanks for the correction. I thought the ETCS fleet was remaining as 21 units but must be only 20 if that one is not staying as ETCS.
BillStampy
Established Member
Class 45 failure between Abergavenny and Pontypool caused line to be blocked, 113 came from the Holyhead service and joined it for the ride to Cardiff.Looks as though something may have gone wrong at Hereford:
Realtime Trains | 1V39 1030 Manchester Piccadilly to Cardiff Central | 26/07/2024
Real-time train running information for 1V39 1030 departure from Manchester Piccadilly to Cardiff Central on 26/07/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
Pretty sure just routes have upgrade fares available so I would have thought so yes.
It would be good if it gets used.
The 197s also had issues once coupled. They didn't leave for 45 minutes or so after the line was cleared.
Anonymous10
Established Member
Not ideal there's so many issued with these units coupling.
JakeMurphy
Established Member
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- 30 Aug 2018
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048 just failed on me at Chester with no power…
BillStampy
Established Member
Did seem to take it's time decoupling too! I was on my way back from Severn Tunnel on 197118 and we raced it from Newport to Cardiff, the entire time we were there (about 15 minutes) people kept getting told to get on and off. It hadn't uncoupled at all, it did eventually, only a good 15-20 minutes after arriving!