Transport for Wales Class 230

[simonmpoulton]

I presume with Vivarail going bust now it's probably quite difficult to get these units sorted?
Can't help but think they would've been better off planning to keep a few 158's when they've been replaced to run this service!

 

[Caaardiff]

I presume with Vivarail going bust now it's probably quite difficult to get these units sorted?
Can't help but think they would've been better off planning to keep a few 158's when they've been replaced to run this service!

158's will never keep to time on that line.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I presume with Vivarail going bust now it's probably quite difficult to get these units sorted?
Can't help but think they would've been better off planning to keep a few 158's when they've been replaced to run this service!

Or add a few 197s to the order… not sure why you’d keep a microfleet of old 158s. Think they should have done that instead of keeping ancient 153s too. Though I’d better leave speculation there.

I wonder how long TfW’s patience with these things will last…

 

[L401CJF]

230006 noted on the wash road at Birkenhead depot today, 230010 was also outside and moved away from the shed toward the wash/exit.

 

[JonathanH]

Any sign of 230010? It hasn't been out for over 2 months.

230010 was also outside and moved away from the shed toward the wash/exit.

230010 appears (on RTT) to be in service today, as well as yesterday evening.

 

[Steve B]

230010 appears (on RTT) to be in service today, as well as yesterday evening.

I don't know about today, but yesterday evening although it said 230010 on RTT in reality it was 230007 - I was on it!
Yesterday wasn't a good day - a late running freight train caused a significant delay at the beginning of the day, then there was a bridge strike around lunch time causing some further disruption.

 

[Jamesrob637]

I don't know about today, but yesterday evening although it said 230010 on RTT in reality it was 230007 - I was on it!
Yesterday wasn't a good day - a late running freight train caused a significant delay at the beginning of the day, then there was a bridge strike around lunch time causing some further disruption.

At least neither of those were to do with the 230s themselves though.

 

[JonathanH]

I don't know about today, but yesterday evening although it said 230010 on RTT in reality it was 230007 - I was on it!

Ah, well today was 230010, as I was on the 1458 from Shotton to Wrexham Central (which left at 1512). The preceding northbound train had run non stop to recover some time.

 

[CaergwrleKen]

Not only will the Borderlands regulars (those that are left) have to continue to put up with Class 230s but it looks as though there is a shambolic timetable being introduced to accommodate them. What is it about these awful trains that TFW/assembly seem to be bending over backwards and spending what it takes to keep them going?

According to RTT here are the Bidston departures from Wrexham General from the December timetable -

0620, 0656, 0746, 0832, 0908, 1002, 1047, 1131, 1217, 1308, 1347, 1432, 1517, 1602, 1634, 1745, 1823, 1946, 2155

What an absolute mess of a ‘timetable’.

 

[Purple Train]

Not only will the Borderlands regulars (those that are left) have to continue to put up with Class 230s but it looks as though there is a shambolic timetable being introduced to accommodate them. What is it about these awful trains that TFW/assembly seem to be bending over backwards and spending what it takes to keep them going?

According to RTT here are the Bidston departures from Wrexham General from the December timetable -

0620, 0656, 0746, 0832, 0908, 1002, 1047, 1131, 1217, 1308, 1347, 1432, 1517, 1602, 1634, 1745, 1823, 1946, 2155

What an absolute mess of a ‘timetable’.

It's irregular, yes, but presumably won't have instant turnarounds and consequently dreadful reliability all day due to even the most minor delay?

 

[CaergwrleKen]

It's irregular, yes, but presumably won't have instant turnarounds and consequently dreadful reliability all day due to even the most minor delay?

If the fleet of 230s was proving its worth (30 million pound and counting) the 5 units would be providing a reliable regular timetable but they still can’t even get one to do a full day so they have to produce that ridiculous schedule. Another feather in the cap of the Assembly and those of you who don’t live on the route and just see a novelty train

 

[Steve B]

Not only will the Borderlands regulars (those that are left) have to continue to put up with Class 230s but it looks as though there is a shambolic timetable being introduced to accommodate them. What is it about these awful trains that TFW/assembly seem to be bending over backwards and spending what it takes to keep them going?

According to RTT here are the Bidston departures from Wrexham General from the December timetable -

0620, 0656, 0746, 0832, 0908, 1002, 1047, 1131, 1217, 1308, 1347, 1432, 1517, 1602, 1634, 1745, 1823, 1946, 2155

What an absolute mess of a ‘timetable’.

As has been commented on this is much more irregular, but on the other hand it is a more frequent service - most of the time (you can see the gaps which I assume are where the freights fit in).

This will obviously require an additional train - I'm curious to know if they are actually intending to run it entirely with 230s or whether we will still have a mixture - time will tell.

Steve B

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not only will the Borderlands regulars (those that are left) have to continue to put up with Class 230s but it looks as though there is a shambolic timetable being introduced to accommodate them. What is it about these awful trains that TFW/assembly seem to be bending over backwards and spending what it takes to keep them going?

According to RTT here are the Bidston departures from Wrexham General from the December timetable -

0620, 0656, 0746, 0832, 0908, 1002, 1047, 1131, 1217, 1308, 1347, 1432, 1517, 1602, 1634, 1745, 1823, 1946, 2155

What an absolute mess of a ‘timetable’.

Given that there are no gaps of over an hour in that except in the evening when it presumably drops to a single unit, why can't they just do hourly clockface with long layovers? Presumably it's three units?

Or can't that be done with the single platform termini?

 

[JonathanH]

Or can't that be done with the single platform termini?

Bidston needs to be a quick in and out because of the Merseyrail service, although it could technically run onwards to Birkenhead North, although even there the signalling doesn't seem to be set up properly for reversals.

 

[Caaardiff]

There's sidings to shunt to just outside of Bidston. They may layover there

 

[lrailadventure]

According to RTT here are the Bidston departures from Wrexham General from the December timetable -

0620, 0656, 0746, 0832, 0908, 1002, 1047, 1131, 1217, 1308, 1347, 1432, 1517, 1602, 1634, 1745, 1823, 1946, 2155

What an absolute mess of a ‘timetable’.

That means there are 4 additional trains a day to Wrexham from Bidston compared to the line currently. I'd consider that a positive thing...

It appears however that TfW haven't really increased the amount of turnaround time at either end of the line (the turnaround time at Wrexham is now a range of times from 1 minute to 10 minutes, but most are around 4-5 minutes from what I can see on RTT..) so they're not really solving the fundamental issue that the delays which inevitably occur (on both the 150s and 230s before anyone claims that delays are exclusive to the 230s again) cannot be recovered from because of how long the line is compared to how short the turn around time is.

Yes the timings are irregular, but I expect the planners have had to work around all of the freight movements that occur and therefore they're never going to get a "perfect" timetable.

 

[Kite159]

Not only will the Borderlands regulars (those that are left) have to continue to put up with Class 230s but it looks as though there is a shambolic timetable being introduced to accommodate them. What is it about these awful trains that TFW/assembly seem to be bending over backwards and spending what it takes to keep them going?

According to RTT here are the Bidston departures from Wrexham General from the December timetable -

0620, 0656, 0746, 0832, 0908, 1002, 1047, 1131, 1217, 1308, 1347, 1432, 1517, 1602, 1634, 1745, 1823, 1946, 2155

What an absolute mess of a ‘timetable’.

The question is how do those departures fit with trains on the Shrewsbury - Chester route, is it still a crap connection at some times of the day, where the Bidston train is timetabled to depart just before a train towards Shrewsbury* arrives or as a train towards Chester arrives. (Or is timetabled to depart a minute after the long distance train arrives meaning it's unofficial)

(*Continuing to Birmingham/Cardiff etc)

 

[rich.davies]

Just a heads up:

"More trains that usual needing repairs at the same time means a reduced service will run between Wrexham Central and Bidston. Trains may be cancelled or revised

Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Alternative travel advice:
Departures from Wrexham Central at 07:32, 09:35, 11:34, 13:34, 15:45, 17:42 and departures from Bidston at 08:33, 10:34, 12:34, 14:34, 16:33 and 18:47 are replaced by road transport supplied by Pat's Coaches.

Incident: Wrexham Central | National Rail

Reduced service between Wrexham Central and Bidston expected until the end of the day. Find details of all current incidents on National Rail Enquiries.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

 

[DLAYKEGER]

That looks like the services run by the 230s being up the wall It is made worse by the first 150 of day also cancelled due to a train crew issue. Earliest you could get to Liverpool is around 10am if catching a train. How can 5 x 230 trains not be available

 

[Caaardiff]

Has the whole fleet been pulled out of service? Sounds a big issue.

 

[Wyrleybart]

Has the whole fleet been pulled out of service? Sounds a big issue.

150285 is the only allocation all day, but things could change.
Of course it is now November - the big month for writing off wheelsets. I wonder how much meat there is on the wheelsets of the 230s, and whether there are spare wheelsets at Birkenhead. Not suggesting that is the reason the five are out of service, but you obviously need at least two serviceable units for one to enter traffic.

 

[31160]

We're the 230s sold to tfw by a guy outside a portacabin wearing a sheep's skin coat or what?

 

[Caaardiff]

We're the 230s sold to tfw by a guy outside a portacabin wearing a sheep's skin coat or what?

No. Not a portacabin, but next to a yellow 3 wheeled van.

 

[Peter Sarf]

No. Not a portacabin, but next to a yellow 3 wheeled van.

Also, from London......

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

For those who have been contributors to this website for a good number of years when Vivarail was first beginning to launch the Class 230 project, they will remember that quite a number of thread contributors were enamoured of the idea and the word "innovative" was often used in their postings. Are we now seeing another dictionary definition of the word "innovative"?

 

[rich.davies]

Even the 150 is having difficulty keeping to time today.

 

[Zontar]

Sounds fishy....3 days of no 230s, and no real announcement...

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Sounds fishy....3 days of no 230s, and no real announcement...

That's really what you call "innovation"...

Don't forget it soon will be the Pantomime season.

 

[Ribbleman]

That's really what you call "innovation"...

Don't forget it soon will be the Pantomime season.

I’ve heard that one of the sets rolled whilst on Birkenhead North Depot and that Stadler refused to let any leave pending an investigation into the cause.

 

[rich.davies]

I’ve heard that one of the sets rolled whilst on Birkenhead North Depot and that Stadler refused to let any leave pending an investigation into the cause.

Forgive my lack of knowledge in such things but i guess it was a break issue from what you have said?