D6130
Established Member
Ah right....thanks for the clarification.
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Class 175s to GWR
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Yes your are correct with your belief regarding Wincanton
As a side note Canton Cardiff only held very minimal spares for 175`s, supplied by Chester, just for running repairs. Holyhead had even fewer, if any at all ?
GBM
Member
Ah, thank you, wondered what had happened with 175's vanishing into a Penzance hole this morning!
What are TMS issues please?
BillStampy
Established Member
007's engines again? That's not great!
Train management system I believe. I don’t know much about the 175 units having never worked on them.
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175001 now taken out of service at Plymouth with engine problems.
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REVUpminster
Established Member
Oh dear 2C26 cancelled. Whatever happened 175101 which came down in record time, never to be heard of again. Laira is just becoming an Ely for storing trains.
The Prisoner
Member
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- 421
Feel like this 175 cascade is turning into a model exercise in how not to do it.
Stock stored outside for too long, following substandard maintenance in the last year or so of their TfW lives leading to all sorts of issues getting them match fit.
Then when the first units are being used - be it testing or in service - they are being plagued by failure seemingly because the right support is not available - see last week's Liskeard issues where an Alstom tech was able to get 175002 and 175011 going after GWR were not able to do so.
Get an expert in with knowledge of the fleet or just write it off as a bad lot and send them back to the leasing company (yes I know that's not easy).
Shame is that these were excellent units when Chester maintained them properly for Arriva Trains Wales, and for the first years of their TfW life. This is probably being done on the cheap and it shows.
Stock stored outside for too long, following substandard maintenance in the last year or so of their TfW lives leading to all sorts of issues getting them match fit.
Then when the first units are being used - be it testing or in service - they are being plagued by failure seemingly because the right support is not available - see last week's Liskeard issues where an Alstom tech was able to get 175002 and 175011 going after GWR were not able to do so.
Get an expert in with knowledge of the fleet or just write it off as a bad lot and send them back to the leasing company (yes I know that's not easy).
Shame is that these were excellent units when Chester maintained them properly for Arriva Trains Wales, and for the first years of their TfW life. This is probably being done on the cheap and it shows.
BillStampy
Established Member
101? 001 was allocated to 2C26?
175101 was delivered to Laira on 23/01, per the link below, but little's been heard of it since .....
Realtime Trains | 5V84 1145 Wolverton Centre Sidings to Laira T.& R.S.M.D. | 23/01/2026
Real-time train running information for 5V84 1145 departure from Wolverton Centre Sidings to Laira T.& R.S.M.D. on 23/01/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
BillStampy
Established Member
I know 101's at Laira, I'm just confused as 001 was allocated to 2C26 until the cancellation.175101 was delivered to Laira on 23/01, per the link below, but little's been heard of it since .....
Realtime Trains | 5V84 1145 Wolverton Centre Sidings to Laira T.& R.S.M.D. | 23/01/2026
Real-time train running information for 5V84 1145 departure from Wolverton Centre Sidings to Laira T.& R.S.M.D. on 23/01/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk
The unfortunate cl 175 units previously stored in the open at Holyhead by the Irish Sea, will have been exposed to salt in the wind and rain ..the worst thing for their electrical wiring and on board systems etc.
Does anyone have the numbers of the units once stored at Holyhead and where they are now ?
REVUpminster
Established Member
The 175101 was just an aside as it is another one just left to rot at Laira; are they in the sheds? The urgency of getting it there that Friday because of the pending storms seem to mean nothing. Two trains have been there over a year, I think I read in an earlier post.
Purple Train
Established Member
I don't know if any are in the sheds, but there are a lot of 175s stored in the open sidings next to the main running lines. I'll have a look tomorrow, if that would be of use
EDIT: Since I saw them on Sunday evening they've all been moved from the sidings, apart from a 175/1 (presumably 101). One unit was visible in the shed, but my eyes aren't good enough to get the number and I didn't bring binoculars!
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Not a good day again for my old fleet
Along with 007 engine issues again today 001 seems to have joined the party too, Is there any more information as to the nature of each units engine problems, ESD - Engine Shutdown - or some other engine fault ? If ESD not all shutdowns are triggered by an engine fault.
Not ideal but 2 car 175`s will quite happily operate on 1 engine but they will lose time and TfW weren`t then keen on leaving them in service uncoupled and that then brings us onto the report above that there were then TMS issues, I assume that when coupled the reported TMS issues occurred and that both units were healthy prior to coupling ?
TMS issues after coupling can be caused by data bus 1 or 2 connection pin problems at the electrical head and the TMS will then not re configure.
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If you are referring to the 175`s being stored at Holyhead while they were out of service for underframe cleaning and/or TfW withdrawal at end of lease ?
Apart from the ones stabled at Chester depot and the middle yard the majority were at Holyhead initially but what units were where at this time I wouldn`t know.
Also something to remember 175`s have been exposed, most of their life, to salt and rain running along the North and South coasts of Wales as well as being stabled in coastal areas including Holyhead and Fishguard but they would not have been exposed to anything like what the Dawlish seawall has to offer.
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What happens if this project fails? There is no plan B. GWR will be desperate for capacity in the summer and they don’t have long to make this work. More short forming of Hitachis and sprinters/turbos elsewhere just to maintain some kind of service in the west? I don’t see an alternative right now. Mark Hopwood seems like quite a pragmatic guy but he must be furious about how this is going.
We've already seen that the Alstom team know what they are doing, when they rescued the Liskeard units. They need to be based at Laira, not sent from afar when things go wrong, because that is every day. I hope hotel cost is not the reason why they are not in the west. Invalid reason.
Goldfish62
Veteran Member
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- 14 Feb 2010
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- 13,161
It was the Alstom team who helped SWT transform the reliability of the 458/0s. They were engaged at Wimbledon for a considerable period. Looks like the same is needed at Laira.
Hopefully, ‘Car SOS’ have had a team on this for a while….
Narrator: ‘Mrs Hopwood’s hubby, Mark, found some vintage 175s left derelict in a field in Cambridgeshire and cherishes a dream of one day riding on one in Cornwall.’
Fuzz: (Pokes screwdriver through from below). ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before. It looks like it might even have been in a fire?’
Tim: ‘I’ve got the parts list. I’m off to Alsthom to see if I can find them and somebody who knows all about this vehicle.’
Continues until final reveal on a rusty section of track near Liskeard……
Tim: ‘Mark, you’ve been DfT SOS’d!’
Narrator: ‘Mrs Hopwood’s hubby, Mark, found some vintage 175s left derelict in a field in Cambridgeshire and cherishes a dream of one day riding on one in Cornwall.’
Fuzz: (Pokes screwdriver through from below). ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before. It looks like it might even have been in a fire?’
Tim: ‘I’ve got the parts list. I’m off to Alsthom to see if I can find them and somebody who knows all about this vehicle.’
Continues until final reveal on a rusty section of track near Liskeard……
Tim: ‘Mark, you’ve been DfT SOS’d!’
357
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Perhaps the actual human beings don't want to be sent far away for extended periods.
A better solution would be to employ local people, have those with experience train them, and remain on-call in case things get really bad
43096
On Moderation
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It wasn’t. It was Porterbrook and Wimbledon depot that sorted out the 458s… once Alstom had left them to it.
paultucker1012
Member
I'd have thought that travelling down on a Monday and home on a Friday, four nights in a (decent) hotel, and three days instructing, and fixing the things, would appeal to someone with the necessary knowledge?
Time is running out - it may just be a farce at the moment, but in just a few weeks time loadings will pick up and it will be a crisis.
Time is running out - it may just be a farce at the moment, but in just a few weeks time loadings will pick up and it will be a crisis.
Goldfish62
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Especially when the Barnstaple and Looe lines reopen.
WelshBluebird
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It sounds very "woe is me" first world problems, but having to travel / be away from home for work isnt the luxury it sounds like.
In theory me having to travel to Barcelona and London for work and being put up in nice hotels it is amazing. And part of it defo is awesome. But it also means I'm away from my wife, my cat, my friends, my hobbies etc. That stuff can drain you a fair bit.
Yes there are people who are single / don't have pets / dont mind being away like that. But then you have to ask do they want to be in Devon! Again some would (I actually bumped into a London based colleague in Woolacombe a summer or two back as he was down for some surfing) but a lot would prefer to be sent to London or other larger more "happening" places!
TheLastMinute
Member
Indeed. As someone who worked away from home on project work every week for a number of months, staying in hotels Monday to Friday very quickly becomes soul destroying.
Jamesrob637
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Do these miraculous fitters who know the 175s inside out and can get them working instantly actually exist?
Just because Alstom built them 25 years ago, I don't see any particular likelihood that they will still have experts on their staff. Alstom also hasn't operated Chester depot for 4 years, and presumably the staff there have now been TUPEd to CAF, retrained in the 197s and are eager to get that fleet working, and are loyal to their new employer.
Just because Alstom built them 25 years ago, I don't see any particular likelihood that they will still have experts on their staff. Alstom also hasn't operated Chester depot for 4 years, and presumably the staff there have now been TUPEd to CAF, retrained in the 197s and are eager to get that fleet working, and are loyal to their new employer.
I'm fond of saying
"The only people who think travelling for work is glamourous are those that don't do it"
Inevitably it ends up with 3 days work crammed into two.
175007 seems to be doing alright on the 1340 Plymouth Penzance and will be returning on the 1550.
Many staff from Alstom Chester stayed with Alstom and transferred to other Alstom Depots.
Surely any deal would surely involve volunteers and Alstom would give people the option, rather than force people to go. If the deal is right then those that do go would surely be rewarded financially for their time away, which many would go for.
What is the current situation with driver training? Are many 175s being taken out on mileage runs each day?