Class 221 for Grand Central

[357]

RTT has two paths today (a return trip to London) with 221143 allocated - however I would imagine there is no guarantee it will run, and if it does if it will be in passenger service or not.

Realtime Trains | 1A63 1125 Wakefield Kirkgate to London Kings Cross | 11/08/2023

Real-time train running information for 1A63 1125 departure from Wakefield Kirkgate to London Kings Cross on 11/08/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Realtime Trains | 1D73 1456 London Kings Cross to Wakefield Kirkgate | 11/08/2023

Real-time train running information for 1D73 1456 departure from London Kings Cross to Wakefield Kirkgate on 11/08/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[DarloRich]

RTT has two paths today (a return trip to London) with 221143 allocated - however I would imagine there is no guarantee it will run, and if it does if it will be in passenger service or not.

Are these extra GC services are are they truncated Bradford runs perhaps because the voyager is not cleared beyond Wakey?

 

[800001]

Are these extra GC services are are they truncated Bradford runs perhaps because the voyager is not cleared beyond Wakey?

start/end short

 

[DarloRich]

start/end short

Looks like it's a Bradford train cut short. Judging by the website

"The 10:23 Bradford Interchange to London Kings Cross will start from Wakefield Kirkgate.

The 14:56 London Kings Cross to Bradford Interchange will terminate at Wakefield Kirkgate."

With no ticket acceptance for onward travel beyond Wakey, but that's usual for GC.

thanks!

 

[Kite159]

Are these extra GC services are are they truncated Bradford runs perhaps because the voyager is not cleared beyond Wakey?

Looks like it's a Bradford train cut short. Judging by the website

"The 10:23 Bradford Interchange to London Kings Cross will start from Wakefield Kirkgate.

The 14:56 London Kings Cross to Bradford Interchange will terminate at Wakefield Kirkgate."

With no ticket acceptance for onward travel beyond Wakey, but that's usual for GC.

 

[800001]

start/end short

I’ve attached a screen grab of staff brief send to stations.

 

[GWVillager]

That was abrupt. Hopefully they get cleared to Bradford soon or they won’t be much of a step up from the 180s in passenger dependability!

 

[Bantamzen]

Are these extra GC services are are they truncated Bradford runs perhaps because the voyager is not cleared beyond Wakey?

Looks like it's a Bradford train cut short. Judging by the website

"The 10:23 Bradford Interchange to London Kings Cross will start from Wakefield Kirkgate.

The 14:56 London Kings Cross to Bradford Interchange will terminate at Wakefield Kirkgate."

With no ticket acceptance for onward travel beyond Wakey, but that's usual for GC.

I assume this is only until clearance is sorted right? Its not permanent I hope? The 10:23 & 14:56 do reappear in RTT from 21/08, but if clearance isn't resolved then frankly the Wakey terminator is far less useful to the point that it may as well just be used for training (or is that also a reason).

 

[357]

Confirmed running, in service and Voyager operated!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Aug 2023 ==

.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

That feels like it was very fast entry to service.
Shame they aren't able to do the full route and are apparently not setting up ticket acceptance (I hope they're at least setting up rail replacement busses).

 

[Liam L]

That feels like it was very fast entry to service.

Wouldn't surprise me if they did driver training and route clearance at the same time to speed the progress up.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Wouldn't surprise me if they did driver training and route clearance at the same time to speed the progress up.

They probably did, it still feels weird since most introductions to service take a long time, and not just for new fleets (e.g. Class 150s returning to Marston Vale).

 

[Driver068]

The 221s have been passed to do rhe full route. Gauge testing and some driver trainjng has been completed.

 

[Halish Railway]

The 221s have been passed to do rhe full route. Gauge testing and some driver trainjng has been completed.

Does this include Leeds to Bradford Interchange for diversionary purposes?

 

[trainswitheddy]

Are they upgrading to a full fleet of 221s? Or is this just to allow for repairs to the 180s short term

Realtime Trains | 5E18 1529 Ely Mlf Papworth Sidings to Crofton Depot | 11/08/2023

Real-time train running information for 5E18 1529 departure from Ely Mlf Papworth Sidings to Crofton Depot on 11/08/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Seems another 180 is being transferred today, so do we know anything for certain?

 

[fgwrich]

Realtime Trains | 5E18 1529 Ely Mlf Papworth Sidings to Crofton Depot | 11/08/2023

Real-time train running information for 5E18 1529 departure from Ely Mlf Papworth Sidings to Crofton Depot on 11/08/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Seems another 180 is being transferred today, so do we know anything for certain?

180111 is the unit transferring across to join 110 at GC.

 

[trainswitheddy]

180111 is the unit transferring across to join 110 at GC.

Going to go see it later, as well at 110. Are the 180s only on temporary lease while the 221s are being trained up? Or is it the opposite and the 221s are just to cover for the 180s

 

[rustbucket]

Going to go see it later, as well at 110. Are the 180s only on temporary lease while the 221s are being trained up? Or is it the opposite and the 221s are just to cover for the 180s

Stated earlier in the thread the 221s are a stop gap because of 180 availability.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Stated earlier in the thread the 221s are a stop gap because of 180 availability.

It’s stated all sorts of things upthread. Nothing is known yet.

 

[trainswitheddy]

And in typical 180 fashion the move has been cancelled due to an unknown problem

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Aug 2023 ==

It’s stated all sorts of things upthread. Nothing is known yet.

Thanks for clarifying, interested to see how this develops. Certainly makes the ECML where I live a bit more interesting!

 

[357]

It’s stated all sorts of things upthread. Nothing is known yet.

The people who need to know, know exactly what is happening.

As with all these things, given time it will become clear to a wider audience. However, in the current era of social media policies, at smaller companies it is very easy to work out who is who so it's best to wait until information becomes more widely available before talking about it.

Using myself as an example, I have had PM discussions with members who have generally been able to work out where I worked, but at the same time those who know me offline identified me almost immediately on here from the same amount of available information.

 

[43102EMR]

The people who need to know, know exactly what is happening.

All will become clearer once Avanti release more 221s

 

[lincolnshire]

All will become clearer once Avanti release more 221s

This one was on a test run yesterday

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Aug 2023 ==

This one was on a test run yesterday ( 10/08/23 ) in platform 7 at York Station, it departed back to Croften Depot which are looking after them. There is two sets on a 12 month lease and its to be hoped they will tied them over the problems of availability with there 180.s

 

[357]

All will become clearer once Avanti release more 221s

Absolutely

 

[voyagerdude220]

Looks like 180102 may have had a BBQ this afternoon. Fire alarm activation onboard. 1D71 10:57 London Kings Cross to Bradford Interchange around 5 minutes after leaving Doncaster. No idea what has happened, but realtime trains shows it's not reported for 2 hours so I'm guessing it's more than a false alarm.

 

[liamf656]

Looks like 180102 may have had a BBQ this afternoon. Fire alarm activation onboard. 1D71 10:57 London Kings Cross to Bradford Interchange around 5 minutes after leaving Doncaster. No idea what has happened, but realtime trains shows it's not reported for 2 hours so I'm guessing it's more than a false alarm.

There has indeed been a thermal incident. Smoke reported but nothing more. I believe options are being weighed up as to whether a rescue unit is needed or not

 

[Trainguy34]

Looks like they took it back into Doncaster, Stuck for 1hr 45mins.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The 221s have been passed to do rhe full route. Gauge testing and some driver trainjng has been completed.

For all I've criticised them, that's impressive work. Perhaps the 221s will prove a saviour?

 

[RailWonderer]

I'm surprised only a 12 month lease was signed. I thought reliability was the whole point of having Voyagers replace 180s so surely they'll extend that lease. On the long run, 180 reliability won't improve and they are on the wrong side of the reliability bell jar curve already. If anything GC's problems with 180s will be getting worse over the years, not better. Also it would be a shame to see more reliable Voyagers scrapped in favour of keeping less reliable 180s on count of them being marginally cheaper to lease. I hope Arriva will see sense.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Aug 2023 ==

For all I've criticised them, that's impressive work. Perhaps the 221s will prove a saviour?

There are far worse trains than Voyagers, much of this forum criticises the unrefurbished, dirty, shortformed, smelly XC ones rather than the cleaner, double set Avanti operated ones.

 

[GWVillager]

I'm surprised only a 12 month lease was signed. I thought reliability was the whole point of having Voyagers replace 180s so surely they'll extend that lease. On the long run, 180 reliability won't improve and they are on the wrong side of the reliability bell jar curve already. If anything GC's problems with 180s will be getting worse over the years, not better. Also it would be a shame to see more reliable Voyagers scrapped in favour of keeping less reliable 180s on count of them being marginally cheaper to lease. I hope Arriva will see sense.

There is virtually no risk of the 221s going for scrap in the foreseeable future, the short lease may well be as Arriva would like to keep their options open for a transfer to XC.