Killingworth
Established Member
Northern are clearly having major fleet issues at present with new replacements not due into service for another 5 years. Unfortunately the most recent new trains seem to lack reliability so older units are having to be reverse cascaded back to routes they left when the 195s were new.
We're in the middle of the Easter school holiday period. Here on the Hope Valley line demand for leisure journeys is high. It's most unfortunate that last weekend the normal 3 car 195s were replaced by 2 car units and 2 car 150s. Intending passengers were packed like sardines and some opted not to try boarding. Indeed platform staff and guards are reported to have been unable to get all aboard at some stops.
On Sundays they are already unable to operate their full timetable on the west side due to their manning issues. That should surely mean there are more units available to cover fewer services.
Today we seemed to start with the 3 diagrams covered by 3 car 195128, 3 car 195106 and 2 car 195004.
195208 seems to have remained on the route all day; https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/handler?qsearch=195128&type=detailed
195106 seems to have been pulled in the afternoon to cover the Leeds fasts from 15.51; https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/handler?qsearch=195106&type=detailed
That left it's normal Manchester bound 14.14 from Sheffield uncovered and cancelled ("This service was cancelled due to a problem with the traction equipment (MD)"; https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:L07029/2026-04-10/detailed
At stations it may have shown the reason as more trains than usual being repaired.
2 car 195004 started the 3rd diagram but was sent off to do Leeds - Nottingham/Lincoln runs. 2 car 150126 took over a diagram as did 2 car 150140 and 2 car 195008 as resources were juggled.
It must have been a challenging day to get enough units available to run almost all the day's services, albeit most of them short formed.
I'm sure there'll be users of the Calder Valley, Ashington and other lines suffering similar inconvenience
So the question is why is this still virtually new rolling stock performing so badly? CAF as makers, Eversholt as owners and Northern as operators need to get this resolved very soon. Northern's 30 million extra passengers by 2030 can't be achieved if there aren't trains available when they're needed.
(769s very poor availability is another reason why there's minimal spare stock to cover contingencies. Remaining Southport users have been very poorly served.)
We're in the middle of the Easter school holiday period. Here on the Hope Valley line demand for leisure journeys is high. It's most unfortunate that last weekend the normal 3 car 195s were replaced by 2 car units and 2 car 150s. Intending passengers were packed like sardines and some opted not to try boarding. Indeed platform staff and guards are reported to have been unable to get all aboard at some stops.
On Sundays they are already unable to operate their full timetable on the west side due to their manning issues. That should surely mean there are more units available to cover fewer services.
Today we seemed to start with the 3 diagrams covered by 3 car 195128, 3 car 195106 and 2 car 195004.
195208 seems to have remained on the route all day; https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/handler?qsearch=195128&type=detailed
195106 seems to have been pulled in the afternoon to cover the Leeds fasts from 15.51; https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/handler?qsearch=195106&type=detailed
That left it's normal Manchester bound 14.14 from Sheffield uncovered and cancelled ("This service was cancelled due to a problem with the traction equipment (MD)"; https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:L07029/2026-04-10/detailed
At stations it may have shown the reason as more trains than usual being repaired.
2 car 195004 started the 3rd diagram but was sent off to do Leeds - Nottingham/Lincoln runs. 2 car 150126 took over a diagram as did 2 car 150140 and 2 car 195008 as resources were juggled.
It must have been a challenging day to get enough units available to run almost all the day's services, albeit most of them short formed.
I'm sure there'll be users of the Calder Valley, Ashington and other lines suffering similar inconvenience
So the question is why is this still virtually new rolling stock performing so badly? CAF as makers, Eversholt as owners and Northern as operators need to get this resolved very soon. Northern's 30 million extra passengers by 2030 can't be achieved if there aren't trains available when they're needed.
(769s very poor availability is another reason why there's minimal spare stock to cover contingencies. Remaining Southport users have been very poorly served.)
