Is TfW the last TOC to use single car units?

[pokemonsuper9]

A few weeks back I thought I saw a 153 coupled up to a non cab part of another sprinter(?). It was dark and it went past quick but the sight of it jarred. Any ideas what I might have seen and how it came about.

I'm not aware of such a thing currently existing but it has existed in the past (image attached of a solo car from a 150/2 + 1 153, image from Feb 2012 found on the internet)

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Related but why are they retaining 153s on the HOW line? After a one in a generation fleet replacemement this seems like a massive missed opportunity to modernise a line which won't get any attention for years. I'm surprised (and would be upset if I was a rural Welsh traveller) that they aren't being replaced.

I commute on them to the Bay several times a week and they're becoming really unpleasant, especially the /9s (though I know the retained ones will be /3s). I'd feel gutted if I were living on the HoW that TfW have chosen to retain them rather than order a few more 197s, similarly to how I'd feel gutted that 230s were ordered instead of more 197s if I lived on the Borderlands.

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

A few weeks back I thought I saw a 153 coupled up to a non cab part of another sprinter(?). It was dark and it went past quick but the sight of it jarred. Any ideas what I might have seen and how it came about.

Will have been a 153 with another 153 or a 150, realistically. It was dark and the train moving quickly, after all. There are no odd hybrids with TfW, unless you count the 67+MK4 sets

 

[twpsaesneg]

You can see Rhiwbina from the other end of the platform. They are all very close together.

Off topic, sorry - Because Coryton platform is the opposite side of the old alignment, you can see all the way to it from Birchgrove. Before they had any information screens looking up the branch to look for a headlight used to be the only way you could tell if your train was running anywhere near time!

 

[DelW]

It's cost related and the fact they're losing the 170s originally designated to take over.

I recall reading about doubling up 153s (using the ones without toilets) in the same way as Scotrail plan on using them for cycles but may be wrong?

I think that's still the plan - the ones without PRM toilets will be modified to accommodate bikes etc. similarly to the Scottish ones. They will presumably be used mainly on daytime trains rather than the early morning and late evening part-route services.

 

[scotrail170407]

ScotRail have an agreement with ASLEF that prevents single-car 153 operation, don't they?

Additionally, if you counted LSL as a TOC (which they technically are), they operate a bubble car.

They can and do run as single 1 car units but as already mentioned only on shunts and ECS from Glasgow queen street, one example is this

Realtime Trains | 5T99 1834 Glasgow Queen Street to Eastfield H.S. | 14/11/2023

Real-time train running information for 5T99 1834 departure from Glasgow Queen Street to Eastfield H.S. on 14/11/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[L401CJF]

Can't confirm whether it's correct but showing as 153329 working solo tonight on 1W80 2155 Cardiff Central to Crewe!

Realtime Trains | 2155 Cardiff Central to Crewe | 14/11/2023

Real-time train running information for 2155 departure from Cardiff Central to Crewe on 14/11/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[sd0733]

I think that's still the plan - the ones without PRM toilets will be modified to accommodate bikes etc. similarly to the Scottish ones. They will presumably be used mainly on daytime trains rather than the early morning and late evening part-route services.

The ones being converted aren't in the current fleet, they're ex-Northern sets currently being prepared at Landore.
They'll be semi permanent pairs (big cab-little cab coupled) so they'll be on pretty much all services that are 153 operated.

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

Can't confirm whether it's correct but showing as 153329 working solo tonight on 1W80 2155 Cardiff Central to Crewe!

Realtime Trains | 2155 Cardiff Central to Crewe | 14/11/2023

Real-time train running information for 2155 departure from Cardiff Central to Crewe on 14/11/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

It's showing as booked a 1 car tonight. Not as random as it used to be but that working can be anything from 1 to about 8 coaches depending what's needed to move north.

 

[MP393]

Can't confirm whether it's correct but showing as 153329 working solo tonight on 1W80 2155 Cardiff Central to Crewe!

Realtime Trains | 2155 Cardiff Central to Crewe | 14/11/2023

Real-time train running information for 2155 departure from Cardiff Central to Crewe on 14/11/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

It’s quite often a 1 car, and is a pleasure to work during the week when it is. Very quiet Monday-Thurs evenings when there’s no events on

Seems to be Shrewsbury nowadays where it picks up random other members of the fleet. Glorified stock move in service!

 

[Bob Price]

Seems to be Shrewsbury nowadays where it picks up random other members of the fleet. Glorified stock move in service!

I remember getting a late Cardiff to Crewe 33 hauled service in the 80's that had about 14 coaches of all varieties on it. Guard made sure everyone was in a coach that had a platform, I was in a back one and stayed put but saw a lot of outsides of stations. Weirdest stock move I ever saw.

 

[Snow1964]

Just posted in the TfW 15x and 175x withdrawal thread that TfW has just issued a tender for C4 and C6 overhauls of 153s through to 20 November 2029 (6 years time) which rather suggests they are not leaving soon

Class 153 C4 and C6 Exams

• Source: Find a Tender
• Published: Tue 21 Nov 2023
• Deadline: Fri 22 Dec 2023

The focus of the project described within this Request for Proposal (the RfP) concerns the heave maintenance coded repairs C4 and C6 for Class 153s rolling stock that operate on the Heart of Wales Line between Swansea and Shrewsbury via various market towns and villages.

UK – Tender Notices

Find UK government contracts. Procurement notices from OJEU and Contracts Finder. 822 matched over past week.

bidstats.uk