Class 175s to GWR

[sh24]

Agree. GWR staff - except Paddington gate line - are generally very good. For those that remember later BR days the service levels and quality has changed so much for the better. Half hourly frequency through Cornwall for most of the day? OK a 50 + mk1's would be lovely for nostalgia sake but as a modern railway it has much to commend it.

 

[REVUpminster]

I don't think that's fair actually - in the Devon Metro area alone we've seen:

• New stations at Newcourt, Marsh Barton and soon Okehampton Interchange
• Step free access completed at Dawlish
• Reopening of the Okehampton line
• Introduction of half-hourly timetable between Exeter and Paignton
• Introduction of hourly Barnstaple line timetable
• Introduction of hourly Dawlish/Teignmouth calls from Plymouth

I think GWR's record for "improvements" is actually quite significant in this area - go back to ten years ago and look at the timetable, you'll see what I mean.



I'm told that 23m vehicles can be modified to operate over such curves, subject to intermediate coupling modifications which basically push the vehicles further away from each other. The actual answer for the future isn't known as yet though.

Some of these were forced on GWR. Okehampton was political as GWR did think they could provide an adequate service. The half hourly Paignton Exeter off peak came about after the EU paid for extra off peak trains for about five years before GWR took it on as they saw the passenger numbers increase. I can remember GWR using a HST from Paignton to London to stop at Torre to pick the school children up between the hourly local off peak service. They still have made no improvement to the Exeter Honiton service yet aren't GWR and SWR owned by the same holding company?

 

[321362]

Some of these were forced on GWR. Okehampton was political as GWR did think they could provide an adequate service. The half hourly Paignton Exeter off peak came about after the EU paid for extra off peak trains for about five years before GWR took it on as they saw the passenger numbers increase. I can remember GWR using a HST from Paignton to London to stop at Torre to pick the school children up between the hourly local off peak service. They still have made no improvement to the Exeter Honiton service yet aren't GWR and SWR owned by the same holding company?

I believe SWR are now nationalised however GWR are not

 

[Goldfish62]

They still have made no improvement to the Exeter Honiton service yet aren't GWR and SWR owned by the same holding company?

They're not. SWR is owned by DfT Operator, GWR by FirstGroup until later this year.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Some of these were forced on GWR. Okehampton was political as GWR did think they could provide an adequate service. The half hourly Paignton Exeter off peak came about after the EU paid for extra off peak trains for about five years before GWR took it on as they saw the passenger numbers increase. I can remember GWR using a HST from Paignton to London to stop at Torre to pick the school children up between the hourly local off peak service. They still have made no improvement to the Exeter Honiton service yet aren't GWR and SWR owned by the same holding company?

Honiton / Axminster 'Metro' services would require a passing loop at Cranbrook or Whimple, which is not in GWR's gift.

 

[northernbelle]

Some of these were forced on GWR. Okehampton was political as GWR did think they could provide an adequate service. The half hourly Paignton Exeter off peak came about after the EU paid for extra off peak trains for about five years before GWR took it on as they saw the passenger numbers increase. I can remember GWR using a HST from Paignton to London to stop at Torre to pick the school children up between the hourly local off peak service. They still have made no improvement to the Exeter Honiton service yet aren't GWR and SWR owned by the same holding company?

None of these things have been 'forced' on GWR. In fact, none of them would have happened were it not GWR's good track record in working with partners, seeking funding and being a good delivery agent for such projects.

GWR is part of FirstGroup while SWR is part of DfTO. I'm not really sure why you think it's at GWR's door that Honiton doesn't have a better service.

 

[Jrocks]

Has 175112 been rescued from Penzance? Ran into problems yesterday before working 2P21 and was stabled in the platform, supposedly.

Yes. 112 was rescued last night after it failed. 011 was left in Penzance overnight.

Long story short, the training run which was formed of a 4 car split in Penzance, with the London end unit shunting and stabling with the Penzance end unit coupling to 112 and taking it back to Laira.

Reason for doing that was incase the unit transfered the fault - by splitting the 4 car if 112 did transfer it would at least still leave one good unit!



In regards to improvements on the Devon Metro, it often goes forgotten that Wellington and Cullompton are being built. This will 'extend' the metro towards Taunton aswell. The track record of improvements across the south west is actually very good when compared to other parts of the country and we should be greatful for all of the improvements we have had thus far Thats enough for going off topic though

 

[XFeed]

Without wanting to jinx it, it appears that the soft introduction was the right thing as the the units do seem overall to be settling down a bit now, as has been said before, being sat out in the open for two years not used doesn't do them any good, a sustained period now of doors cycling and crews getting used to their... "Quirks" will hopefully now see the reliability increase gradualy

Reading your post got me thinking in a different way about the reported door faults and bodyside saloon doors not opening when the units started passenger operations. 175s have suffered from bodyside saloon doors sticking and not opening especially if the doors have not been opened even for a short period of time, I`ve known it only after 2 days of not being opened at times. When the doors are opened in regular use this situation does not occur.

This is most commonly caused by the rubber seals on the door leaf and bodyside rubber seals temporally sticking together and when the doors are attempted to be opened the door motor goes into overload and the DCU then stops the door motor and causing a fault condition. This was very rare in service as during a 175 pre service prep a TMS door test was carried out from both cabs opening and closing all bodyside doors simultaneously and if a door did not open or close correctly within the set parameters the test would show a fail condition and the unit unable to enter service until rectified.
If it was just that the door didn`t open due to the seals stuck together then a gentle push to assist to door when opening was sufficient to rectify the issue.

I assume that GWR also carry out the pre service preps before a unit enters service each day ?

 

[Snow1964]

Reading your post got me thinking in a different way about the reported door faults and bodyside saloon doors not opening when the units started passenger operations. 175s have suffered from bodyside saloon doors sticking and not opening especially if the doors have not been opened even for a short period of time, I`ve known it only after 2 days of not being opened at times. When the doors are opened in regular use this situation does not occur.

This is most commonly caused by the rubber seals on the door leaf and bodyside rubber seals temporally sticking together and when the doors are attempted to be opened the door motor goes into overload and the DCU then stops the door motor and causing a fault condition. This was very rare in service as during a 175 pre service prep a TMS door test was carried out from both cabs opening and closing all bodyside doors simultaneously and if a door did not open or close correctly within the set parameters the test would show a fail condition and the unit unable to enter service until rectified.
If it was just that the door didn`t open due to the seals stuck together then a gentle push to assist to door when opening was sufficient to rectify the issue.

Rubber door seals do not stick together, unless :
- been allowed to get hot enough to partially melt
- poor cleaning allowing tacky residue to harden and glue them
- frozen after being left damp/wet

First one is very unlikely unless wrong grade of rubber used in manufacture, the other two are easily solved by proper cleaning, drying and applying a spray on silicon lubricant.

Of course cleaning the door seals properly is extra work, but has to be seen as an alternative to time and inconvenience of failing, or having to do utilise resources doing a repair instead.

 

[RPI]

I don't think that's fair actually - in the Devon Metro area alone we've seen:

• New stations at Newcourt, Marsh Barton and soon Okehampton Interchange
• Step free access completed at Dawlish
• Reopening of the Okehampton line
• Introduction of half-hourly timetable between Exeter and Paignton
• Introduction of hourly Barnstaple line timetable
• Introduction of hourly Dawlish/Teignmouth calls from Plymouth

I think GWR's record for "improvements" is actually quite significant in this area - go back to ten years ago and look at the timetable, you'll see what I mean.



I'm told that 23m vehicles can be modified to operate over such curves, subject to intermediate coupling modifications which basically push the vehicles further away from each other. The actual answer for the future isn't known as yet though.

Also capacity improvements on Exmouth-Paignton with all services being (booked) at least three car, when you consider that previously it was only hourly to Paignton with a mix of two and four car pacers, to half hourly now with 4 car 150/3 car turbo.

Big improvement on the Barnstaple line too with the introduction of 3 car 158's.

Two trains per hour between Plymouth and Penzance.

Much improved service for Ivybridge.

3 trains every two hours Exeter to Paddington.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 May 2026 ==

Some of these were forced on GWR. Okehampton was political as GWR did think they could provide an adequate service. The half hourly Paignton Exeter off peak came about after the EU paid for extra off peak trains for about five years before GWR took it on as they saw the passenger numbers increase. I can remember GWR using a HST from Paignton to London to stop at Torre to pick the school children up between the hourly local off peak service. They still have made no improvement to the Exeter Honiton service yet aren't GWR and SWR owned by the same holding company?

The half hourly Paignton to Exmouth was nothing to do with the previous half hourly Paignton to Newton Abbot where a single 153 was funded to shuttle up and down.

No improvements, other than maybe one morning service, can be made on the West of England line until such time as loop is built somewhere between Pinhoe and Honiton, in case you haven't noticed, the West of England line has basically zero resilience as it is, without chucking a load more stopping trains onto a long single line section with three stations!

There has been a very slight bit of movement with regards the West of England line in that more drivers are now meant to be learning the route, without getting into technicalities, the only drivers that currently sign the route are "HSS" drivers from Exeter, these are the former FGW High Speed drivers who didn't wish to be restructured into the newer "GWR" driver grade (I don't blame them, from what I gather then terms are better - but that's for another thread), however, from what I gather, some "GWR" drivers will now be signing the route. I'm sure @Jrocks can correct anything I got wrong there

Back to 175's, I know they are intending to use these on the Axminster service eventually.

Also, I knew I'd jinx it with my post yesterday......

 

[REVUpminster]

None of these things have been 'forced' on GWR. In fact, none of them would have happened were it not GWR's good track record in working with partners, seeking funding and being a good delivery agent for such projects.

GWR is part of FirstGroup while SWR is part of DfTO. I'm not really sure why you think it's at GWR's door that Honiton doesn't have a better service.

FirstGroup (specifically First MTR South Western Trains Limited) owned and operated South Western Railway (SWR) from August 2017 until its renationalisation on 25 May 2025. They could have done something.

 

[BillStampy]

175114 ran 2Z51 (the staff-only(?) service from Laira) earlier, obviously had a slight interruption due to the GSMR problems this morning but it has gone up to Newquay.

 

[northernbelle]

FirstGroup (specifically First MTR South Western Trains Limited) owned and operated South Western Railway (SWR) from August 2017 until its renationalisation on 25 May 2025. They could have done something.

But this conversation is about GWR?

 

[HamworthyGoods]

FirstGroup (specifically First MTR South Western Trains Limited) owned and operated South Western Railway (SWR) from August 2017 until its renationalisation on 25 May 2025. They could have done something.

Extra infrastructure isn’t generally funded by the TOC and the West of England line shows it struggles to reliably deliver the current level of service on the existing infrastructure.

 

[REVUpminster]

Extra infrastructure isn’t generally funded by the TOC and the West of England line shows it struggles to reliably deliver the current level of service on the existing infrastructure.

GWR were proud to build the new depot building and at the time was going to be the centre of the universe for the southwest; has the lifting road ever been used? The platform 2 extension was abandoned which would have taken a lot of pressure off platform 6. Plans for a 20 minute service to Exmouth abandoned. If Cullompton and Wellington get a one hour service, probably by stopping the Cardiff Exeter trains it still will not be called a metro service. The Devon Metro was an aspiration of the soon to be defunct Devon County Council. GWR knew they could not cope so never took on the name in their publicity.

 

[Express380]

175114 ran 2Z51 (the staff-only(?) service from Laira) earlier, obviously had a slight interruption due to the GSMR problems this morning but it has gone up to Newquay.

Think it was a Mid Cornwall Metro press run.

 

[RPI]

GWR were proud to build the new depot building and at the time was going to be the centre of the universe for the southwest; has the lifting road ever been used? The platform 2 extension was abandoned which would have taken a lot of pressure off platform 6. Plans for a 20 minute service to Exmouth abandoned. If Cullompton and Wellington get a one hour service, probably by stopping the Cardiff Exeter trains it still will not be called a metro service. The Devon Metro was an aspiration of the soon to be defunct Devon County Council. GWR knew they could not cope so never took on the name in their publicity.

I don't think the plans for a 20 minute service on the Exmouth line have ever gone beyond an aspiration, again, this would be Network Rail as at least two more loops would be required or one loop and extension of double track between Exmouth Junction and somewhere near Digby.

Anyway, back to the subject of the thread.

 

[Jrocks]

Let's clear some stuff up here and then get straight back on topic with some 175 chatter...

1. Wellington and Cullompton getting a 1 hourly service would classify as the Devon Metro, unless you are saying Barnstaple and Okehampton doesnt count?

2. No plans for 20 minute service on the Exmouth line. Everyone can have aspirations but a lot of the time, they are not achieved without expensive infrastructure. There is an aspiration for a 30 minute service to Barnstaple aswell but nobody has mentioned that.

3. Yes the lifting Road has been used, infact its used daily by the wonderful engineers keeping the ageing 15x fleet together.

4. Platform 2 extention works didnt go ahead as the funding was transfered to different projects which have given a better value and more improvements for a larger variety of people.

5. @RPI is correct, more drivers will shortly be signing the southern route. I wont go into the reasons but this is a good thing for resilience - not only does it help for any future plans should funding become available, but also for resilience for when things dont go quite right on the Western. We at least have more people who can divert that way if needed.



Back to 175s anyway.

The test run to Newquay went well today, albeit with its GSMR blip. Now everything is set for the May timetable change.

Hopefully not too long until we see some movement on these in Devon. Will not go into more details again (mainly as I cant) but there are exciting times ahead in the next month or so!

The 175 resilience seems to be getting better by the day. Now the sets are in constant use, and crews are getting more familiar with them, the issues are slowly ironing out.

 

[Luivery]

Today at Wolverton Works: 175113 & 175105
Couple More at the back but couldn't zoom that far!

 

[REVUpminster]

Today at Wolverton Works: 175113 & 175105
Couple More at the back but couldn't zoom that far!
View attachment 203728View attachment 203729

Thanks. I thought 005 was still at Ely; when did that move?

 

[BillStampy]

Today at Wolverton Works: 175113 & 175105
Couple More at the back but couldn't zoom that far!
View attachment 203728View attachment 203729

Hello there 113! (113 was my favourite back at TfW)
105 looks in a bit of a state!

Still carrying that red and white colour scheme, I assume the work for that would be done at Wolverton?

 

[D6130]

Thanks. I thought 005 was still at Ely; when did that move?

It's 105, not 005.

 

[tfw756rider]

Great Western Railway uploaded a YouTube video on Fri 8/5/26 titled 'Best train service for Newquay since the 1960s is almost here':

It has a lot of 175 footage throughout, including:

• drone footage of a 3-car 175 (presumably 175114) in Newquay, crossing Trenance Viaduct from the start, running on the ground and arriving into the railway station with a sea view
• staff and invited guests standing by and getting on the 175 at Newquay railway station, and other external and internal footage of the 175
• talking pieces onboard the 175, from Matt Barnes (Head of Strategic Service Development, Great Western Railway), Councillor Dan Rogerson (Portfolio holder for Transport, Cornwall Council) and Richard Burningham (Manager, Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership)
• 'Driver's Eye View' footage from the 175, including its arrival into Newquay railway station as a spotter captures the moment

I believe that this was the working:

Realtime Trains | 2Z51 0725 Laira T.& R.S.M.D. to Par Chapel Siding | 07/05/2026

Real-time train running information for 2Z51 0725 departure from Laira T.& R.S.M.D. to Par Chapel Siding on 07/05/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

(Laira T.& R.S.M.D. to Par Chapel Siding via Par, Newquay and Par)

Attached below are 8 still pictures from the video showing the scenes described above, and a Realtime Trains 'train information' screenshot:

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

It is Trenance Viaduct on the approach to Newquay; 2:33 is leaving the outskirts of the town

It is all very welcome - the timetable is a bit odd, however. The intermediate stations are only served two hourly and it is impossible to make a direct journey from say Bugle to St. Columb Rd. during the day. If it is to fulfill its role as a 'Metro' I would have though Bugle should be hourly - at least its station is conveniently located!

 

[The exile]

It is Trenance Viaduct on the approach to Newquay; 2:33 is leaving the outskirts of the town

It is all very welcome - the timetable is a bit odd, however. The intermediate stations are only served two hourly and it is impossible to make a direct journey from say Bugle to St. Columb Rd. during the day. If it is to fulfill its role as a 'Metro' I would have though Bugle should be hourly - at least its station is conveniently located!

Indeed - if there isn’t a standard clock face timetable stopping at all stations then it isn’t a “metro”.

 

[tfw756rider]

It is Trenance Viaduct on the approach to Newquay; 2:33 is leaving the outskirts of the town

Thanks for both, I thought (bolded) was but I'm not local/familiar and didn't want to trust the results I got.

 

[rmHawk765]

It is all very welcome - the timetable is a bit odd, however. The intermediate stations are only served two hourly and it is impossible to make a direct journey from say Bugle to St. Columb Rd. during the day. If it is to fulfill its role as a 'Metro' I would have though Bugle should be hourly - at least its station is conveniently located!

I seriously hope they don't brand an hourly service as a 'metro' to passengers, but I do agree that it makes zero sense to skip stations in this situation...

 

[Brush 4]

Are there any definite plans - as opposed to aspirations - to ' Metro' Barnstaple and Okehampton and Exmouth and Axminster?

 

[Ashley Hill]

Are there any definite plans - as opposed to aspirations - to ' Metro' Barnstaple and Okehampton and Exmouth and Axminster?

There was talk of a “Devon Metro” but it seems to have gone quiet.

 

[trent129]

Today at Wolverton Works: 175113 & 175105
Couple More at the back but couldn't zoom that far!
View attachment 203728View attachment 203729

For reference the class 18s are 18007 nearest then 8,9,10,3. 4 next to the plough. thanks to Mark who was able to ID them