Class 175s to GWR

[tfw756rider]

Realtime Trains | 8X75 2320 Liskeard to Laira T.& R.S.M.D. | 11/02/2026

Real-time train running information for 8X75 2320 departure from Liskeard to Laira T.& R.S.M.D. on 11/02/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[D9006]

Train 53806 On Is No Longer Valid

Live Train Times for Train to departing on | Rail Record

live.rail-record.co.uk

Don’t envy crew bringing that back with them timings

 

[XFeed]

Moving to Laira overnight tomorrow at 5mph reportedly.

Do any people in the know still think or even can confirm that the issue with 001 is that it is still a brake no release problem as reported when it failed ?

 

[tfw756rider]

Train 53806 On Is No Longer Valid

Live Train Times for Train to departing on | Rail Record

live.rail-record.co.uk

Don’t envy crew bringing that back with them timings

Realtime Trains | 8X75 2320 Liskeard to Laira T.& R.S.M.D. | 11/02/2026

Real-time train running information for 8X75 2320 departure from Liskeard to Laira T.& R.S.M.D. on 11/02/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Or these ones!

(by the way, both sites say "Liskeard Graound Frame", so that must be a spelling error on Network Rail's end)

 

[gazthomas]

Perhaps they're hoping the units just get nicked from the siding at Liskeard so they can just claim on the insurance for them.

More chance in Bodmin

 

[The_Train]

Realtime Trains | 8X75 2320 Liskeard to Laira T.& R.S.M.D. | 11/02/2026

Real-time train running information for 8X75 2320 departure from Liskeard to Laira T.& R.S.M.D. on 11/02/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

That is a painful journey for the crew and quite the test of concentration. 45 minutes from Plymouth station to Laira TMD is unreal

 

[brad465]

That is a painful journey for the crew and quite the test of concentration. 45 minutes from Plymouth station to Laira TMD is unreal

I'm guessing there will be at least two, if not three, drivers onboard, and a means for them to take rest where permitted.

 

[D6130]

Presumably they won't be using wheelskates, as they usually allow a maximum speed of 20 mph, IIRC. Although, if the brakes have been isolated, skates won't be required unless the unit has massive wheelflats.

 

[craigybagel]

Presumably they won't be using wheelskates, as they usually allow a maximum speed of 20 mph, IIRC. Although, if the brakes have been isolated, skates won't be required unless the unit has massive wheelflats.

Might be one unit with all brakes isolated, and a good unit attached at either end? That's happened before with 175s at least. 5 mph max on that occasion IIRC.

 

[BillStampy]

175009 2P21 binned in it's entirety due to a train fault.

 

[The_Train]

175009 2P21 binned in it's entirety due to a train fault.

Be handy if they could just pull something that might have been old but still in good working order off the depot and keep the diagram running.

Yet another example of a TOC failing to have suitable provisions in place for replacement of stock before the old stock is withdrawn.

 

[The exile]

Be handy if they could just pull something that might have been old but still in good working order off the depot and keep the diagram running.

Yet another example of a TOC failing to have suitable provisions in place for replacement of stock before the old stock is withdrawn.

Another example of a TOC not being allowed to have provisions in place, you mean.

 

[The_Train]

Another example of a TOC not being allowed to have provisions in place, you mean.

Whatever it is, it's a shoddy way of working

 

[fgwrich]

Another example of a TOC not being allowed to have provisions in place, you mean.

Yep, but the DfT gets what the DfT wants. And people still bang the drum for Nationalisation… But then again the units should have had a full blown set of shakedown runs prior to entering service - and the aforementioned issues with Storage won’t have helped them either.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Considering the same sort of problems (not to same degree but they definitely suffered more than assumed) on the 379s, it's say it makes a clear case for keeping stock in service for longer of a new home is intended. From a whole industry cost perspective.

The fact one publically funded organisation ran them into the ground to hand them back so they could sit in storage and get worse. And then another publically funded organisation spends loads of money fixing them, as well as cancelling services in the process just shows how bonkers it is.

It would have probably cost less overall to have kept them in decent nick at TfW and then released them to GWR. Allowing early withdrawal of HSTs in the process, to the horror of us all on here but that is better than the current shambles!

 

[tfw756rider]

New longer video from Rail and Bus Journeys Around the UK of a ride on 175002 between Plymouth and St Germans on the 2/2/26, on 2C26 1340 Plymouth to Penzance Liskeard (yep, early-terminated due to a problem with the train).

Has the storage of the 175s meant that some parts have failed and therefore needed to be replaced (with different ones that do the same job, in some cases?) At 12:48, the internal "door released" beep is longer than normal and stays the same pitch (the original is shorter and decreases in pitch).

 

[3RDGEN]

It would have probably cost less overall to have kept them in decent nick at TfW and then released them to GWR. Allowing early withdrawal of HSTs in the process, to the horror of us all on here but that is better than the current shambles!

When the 175's left TfW I would guess the DfT had no intention of leasing them and they waited for the TfW 158's to be released, they could then have gone directly to GWR/Northern, that would have been a far simpler option. With the TfW 158's still not available it appears they have had no choice but to take the 175's to replace the HST's and cascade units to cover new services/strengthen other routes.

 

[The exile]

When the 175's left TfW I would guess the DfT had no intention of leasing them and they waited for the TfW 158's to be released, they could then have gone directly to GWR/Northern, that would have been a far simpler option. With the TfW 158's still not available it appears they have had no choice but to take the 175's to replace the HST's and cascade units to cover new services/strengthen other routes.

The "choice" existed - not force GWR to dump the HSTs until whatever was replacing them was running trouble-free. I don't just mean the December 2025 withdrawals - but the enforced removals from service in the years before.

 

[Snow1964]

When the 175's left TfW I would guess the DfT had no intention of leasing them and they waited for the TfW 158's to be released, they could then have gone directly to GWR/Northern, that would have been a far simpler option. With the TfW 158's still not available it appears they have had no choice but to take the 175's to replace the HST's and cascade units to cover new services/strengthen other routes.

The "choice" existed - not force GWR to dump the HSTs until whatever was replacing them was running trouble-free. I don't just mean the December 2025 withdrawals - but the enforced removals from service in the years before.

Yes, it really goes back about 5 years to 2021, DfT completely miscalculated the post covid rebound, looked at some London commuter services when demand had fallen, and apparently lumped Bristol area and South West into same thought.

In reality Bristol area grew, and many stations in South West have passenger numbers higher than pre Covid (and still growing strongly).

But of course DfT and Transport minister had suspended GWR electrification, so there are plenty of spare EMUs (but no electrified lines), and GWR needed extra stock for growth in west (but no spare diesel stock).

So they picked the 175s which had been stored out in the open causing all sorts of parts to corrode, seize, and delicate electronic circuits to get damp and fail.

From a strategic point of view, wasn't just a miscalculation, more a case if it's gone wrong, everything else will also go wrong.

 

[Rhydgaled]

Yet another example of a TOC failing to have suitable provisions in place for replacement of stock before the old stock is withdrawn.

If you ask me, the bigger problem is TOCs being forced to withdraw old stock (even old stock which has received massive modernisation work (sliding doors on mark 3s) relatively recently). There is a tragic lack of a coordinated, industry-wide, holistic, joined-up and resource-efficient, plan. If the IC125s were to be withdrawn soon after 2020, they should have been given a short exemption from PRM regulations until replacements were in service instead of expensive PRM works.

 

[Benjwri]

If you ask me, the bigger problem is TOCs being forced to withdraw old stock (even old stock which has received massive modernisation work (sliding doors on mark 3s) relatively recently). There is a tragic lack of a coordinated, industry-wide, holistic, joined-up and resource-efficient, plan. If the IC125s were to be withdrawn soon after 2020, they should have been given a short exemption from PRM regulations until replacements were in service instead of expensive PRM works.

There was a plan, as started by Mark Hopwood in a recent interview on Green Signals it was thought the 175s would be a lot easier to bring back into use quickly, and the HST withdrawal was decided before that was clear. Unfortunately the industry is just too cash strapped to be able to pay for stock that will just sit around incase.

 

[REVUpminster]

I am surprised they haven't separated the trains to bring back to Laira; perhaps they will? If I can stay awake this is a job for Saltash cams at 0208 although you can never trust the timings.

 

[Stu1995]

I am surprised they haven't separated the trains to bring back to Laira; perhaps they will? If I can stay awake this is a job for Saltash cams at 0208 although you can never trust the timings.

Can't separate the units as the faulty one has to have the brakes isolated for the move!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Feb 2026 ==

That is a painful journey for the crew and quite the test of concentration. 45 minutes from Plymouth station to Laira TMD is unreal

I'm hearing from the grapevine that tonight's 8X75 recovery move is cancelled due to technical difficulties.

 

[43096]

Can't separate the units as the faulty one has to have the breaks isolated for the move!

It’s already broken, it doesn’t need breaking again.

 

[occone]

Do the GWR ones still play the little jingle before announcements at large stations? The video above only showed smaller stations where the jingle never used to play

 

[fgwrich]

Do the GWR ones still play the little jingle before announcements at large stations? The video above only showed smaller stations where the jingle never used to play

Sadly not it seems. Shame as I rather liked that (and the old Virgin or Midland Mainline ones) and Ruth’s voice.

 

[tfw756rider]

While it's a shame that all traces of the old content on the Passenger Information System (PIS) have been removed, I am actually impressed with how well it's been programmed, considering how it's another different system with Great Western Railway (GWR).

I get the impression that Wolverton really are very good with PIS. I didn't actually realise until I rode on a GWR 800 or 802 again (after riding on a GWR 175) that David's "take care..." actually plays at too high a pitch on the 800s/802s and at the correct pitch on the 175s. Now it sounds weird to me on the 800s/802s.

It’s already broken, it doesn’t need breaking again.

He did of course mean brakes.

 

[XFeed]

I'm hearing from the grapevine that tonight's 8X75 recovery move is cancelled due to technical difficulties.

What technical support, if any, are Alstom providing to solve this issue and get it back to the depot.
It seems very little as its taking far too long to come up with a solution.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I'm hearing from the grapevine that tonight's 8X75 recovery move is cancelled due to technical difficulties

Is it possible to manually uncouple the two demics, withdraw the electrical boxes and mechanically recouple them. Then bring a 3rd set down, retract the electrical boxes couple up mechanically and bring the duff one home in the middle as a swinger with drivers on the two good sets?

 

[GoneSouth]

No, still on the Looe branch connecting curve. Dont know how long they will be there for......

Doesn’t anybody need to get to Looe? Presumably there are no trains running down the branch if the line is blocked?