WMR Class 196 Build and Implementation

[bnsf734]

Today on the Nuneaton - Leamington service we have 2 196s:

196004 was on the 0637 Nuneaton - Leamington Spa then every even hour from Nuneaton
196001 was on the 0737 Nuneaton - Leamington Spa then every odd hour from Nuneaton

 

[Birmingham]

Single 196 on a Hereford diagram this morning. The number of carriages on the morning peak service wasn’t updated in journey planners or station CISs so passengers couldn’t know to take a preceding alternative service.

 

[Liam L]

Single 196 on a Hereford diagram this morning. The number of carriages on the morning peak service wasn’t updated in journey planners or station CISs so passengers couldn’t know to take a preceding alternative service.

I’m presuming the double pair are on the peak extra today?

 

[Techniquest]

Single 196 on a Hereford diagram this morning. The number of carriages on the morning peak service wasn’t updated in journey planners or station CISs so passengers couldn’t know to take a preceding alternative service.

Ouch to the lack of information.

Meanwhile I was at the other end of the line waiting to see what would do the 1040 to Birmingham, and when I saw 196003 roll in that was me sold!

It feels mighty odd being on a 2-car train again on the Birmingham route, I haven't seen that for a long time, especially so on a weekday!

Attached photo is a grab-shot of 196003 at Hereford prior to boarding. I had the Blue Beauty with me as well as a hot cup of coffee, so I didn't really have much opportunity for a better photo!

6 out of 12 196/0s now in the book, it won't be all that long at this rate until they're all done!

 

[Matt1981]

Ouch to the lack of information.

Meanwhile I was at the other end of the line waiting to see what would do the 1040 to Birmingham, and when I saw 196003 roll in that was me sold!

It feels mighty odd being on a 2-car train again on the Birmingham route, I haven't seen that for a long time, especially so on a weekday!

Attached photo is a grab-shot of 196003 at Hereford prior to boarding. I had the Blue Beauty with me as well as a hot cup of coffee, so I didn't really have much opportunity for a better photo!

6 out of 12 196/0s now in the book, it won't be all that long at this rate until they're all done!

you've been lucky then. I've known the diagram the 196s initially took over on the Worcester route to be a 2 car 172 at times - I wouldn't say regularly, but it certainly happened a few times. To be fair, the morning services it works into Birmingham cope as a 2 car (although they seem to slowly be getting busier of late on the days I travel), I'm not sure how the 17.50 off New Street would be as a 2 car tho.

Personally, I've now seen 001, 004, 005, 006, 007 and 008 in service on the Birmingham - Worcester/Hereford route. Overall I'm only looking for 002 and 012 of the 2 cars - annoying that I know 002 has been at Worcester too

 

[newtownmgr]

010 failed on prep this morning at Worcester depot. Hence 003 being out on its own.

 

[Techniquest]

010 failed on prep this morning at Worcester depot. Hence 003 being out on its own.

Fair enough, thanks for the gen

172003 taking me back to Hereford, cut my ride short to get back to Hereford ASAP. Two diagrams then today with just 2 carriages, not ideal but this train is pretty quiet. I joined at Malvern Link and it was quiet even there.

 

[newtownmgr]

Fair enough, thanks for the gen

172003 taking me back to Hereford, cut my ride short to get back to Hereford ASAP. Two diagrams then today with just 2 carriages, not ideal but this train is pretty quiet. I joined at Malvern Link and it was quiet even there.

The 172 was on a 3 car diagram so only down 1 coach.

 

[william.martin]

010 failed on prep this morning at Worcester depot. Hence 003 being out on its own.

Ouch to the lack of information.

Meanwhile I was at the other end of the line waiting to see what would do the 1040 to Birmingham, and when I saw 196003 roll in that was me sold!

It feels mighty odd being on a 2-car train again on the Birmingham route, I haven't seen that for a long time, especially so on a weekday!

Attached photo is a grab-shot of 196003 at Hereford prior to boarding. I had the Blue Beauty with me as well as a hot cup of coffee, so I didn't really have much opportunity for a better photo!

6 out of 12 196/0s now in the book, it won't be all that long at this rate until they're all done!

That was 003's debut then.

 

[Liam L]

Finally had a go on a 196 today - 003 did the honours. Not bad units to be honest but there is some negatives from what I’ve noticed.

- Lack of armrests
- seat wasn’t very comfortable but the unit is new so may improve
- the ride quality is not great
- lack of luggage racks

Overall an improvement over the 172s I would say, can’t say over a 170 yet, need a proper run which isn’t Birmingham - University to decide that.

 

[RailWonderer]

Just caught 196 104 (a 4 car) on a Shrewsbury Brum having just had a 175 and the 196 smells just like a new train so I don’t know how long it’s been in service, but the carpet is spotless.

FISA lean seats without armrests are strange but at least they have tables so they are an upgrade from the 172s but not a 170 at all. The ride quality is on par with a 195 and the aircon is feeble but the guard made an announcement saying he is trying to turn it up. A decent train but they won’t be doing journeys over 1h 20 so not so bad. Legroom is average in airline seats but the bays have plenty.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

FISA lean seats without armrests are strange

What's stranger is the fact that was specified. I wonder what they thought there was to gain by choosing to omit armrests?

 

[Techniquest]

That was 003's debut then.

I had a feeling it might be its first day out

Bring on more of them I say, I'll be having another look later in the week!

 

[AJDesiro]

What's stranger is the fact that was specified. I wonder what they thought there was to gain by choosing to omit armrests?

Most likely shorter dwell times, you don't have to have people performing gymnastics to move around them because they don't realise they can move them. 730/0s don't have them either, and from pictures I've seen, they have a similar seating layout to the 196s (for the most part, there is a bit of 1+1 seating on the 730s) just with larger door standoffs.

 

[Bletchleyite]

What's stranger is the fact that was specified. I wonder what they thought there was to gain by choosing to omit armrests?

Like the Class 700 (which has spacers but not armrests) it's so people can move around the train easier in very heavy loaded conditions. I've seen one full and standing and it was a veritable people eater. The seats are wide enough for most adults to fit within the width, so removing the armrest widens the aisle by about 4".

The 172 also has spacers but no armrests, and these are mostly used on services similar to the ones 172s work.

Think of them as a posh 172.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 May 2023 ==

Most likely shorter dwell times, you don't have to have people performing gymnastics to move around them because they don't realise they can move them. 730/0s don't have them either, and from pictures I've seen, they have a similar seating layout to the 196s (for the most part, there is a bit of 1+1 seating on the 730s) just with larger door standoffs.

Probably that too.

 

[Class172]

The 172 also has spacers but no armrests, and these are mostly used on services similar to the ones 172s work.

Whilst it's no long distance regional service such as Cardiff-Nottingham, the Hereford and Shrewsbury services certainly don't fall into the same category as the Snow Hill services that the 172s work on.

Agreed however that the lack of armrests is likely to aid passenger movement in more heavily loaded scenarios, something that will certainly make a difference on the 'school run' services around Worcester as well as the peak services to/from Birmingham.

 

[william.martin]

The 172 also has spacers but no armrests, and these are mostly used on services similar to the ones 172s work.

Think of them as a posh 172.

I have to strongly disagree with this, I have rode a 172 from Birmingham to Solihull a few times, an hour and a bit of that would of been plain brutality, however I can easily cope with a 196. May I just say that the 172's are high density commuter trains and the 196's are in my opinion regional trains, give them arm rests and I could cope with London to Manchester on them easily (in terms of the seat.)

 

[Liam L]

I have to strongly disagree with this, I have rode a 172 from Birmingham to Solihull a few times,

172s are prefect for that journey to be honest. However Hereford route wasn’t one of my most enjoyable journeys on them.

 

[bnsf734]

Today (Wednesday) on the Nuneaton - Leamington service we have 2 more 196s:

196001 on the 0637 Nuneaton - Leamington Spa then every even hour from Nuneaton
196006 on the 0737 Nuneaton - Leamington Spa then every odd hour from Nuneaton.

Todays gen brought with much thanks to Parttimespotter. but I will be having a ride out later for these 2.

 

[uniquicity]

196007 and 008 are on the usual diagram, 0850 from New Street to Hereford onwards
196003 and 010 were the set which heads back to Tyseley after doing the 08.42 GMV to New Street

 

[bnsf734]

Today (Thursday 25 May) on the Nuneaton - Leamington service we welcome another new 196 onto the service (196005) and following its overnight rest at Leamington Spa 196006 has moved onto the other diagram so we have:

196006 on the 0637 Nuneaton - Leamington Spa then every even hour from Nuneaton
196005 on the 0737 Nuneaton - Leamington Spa then every odd hour from Nuneaton.

Once again much thanks to Parttimespotter for saving me a trip to the station to report on these developments.

 

[Jacob Porrett]

Today (Thursday 25 May) on the Nuneaton - Leamington service we welcome another new 196 onto the service (196005) and following its overnight rest at Leamington Spa 196006 has moved onto the other diagram so we have:

196006 on the 0637 Nuneaton - Leamington Spa then every even hour from Nuneaton
196005 on the 0737 Nuneaton - Leamington Spa then every odd hour from Nuneaton.

Once again much thanks to Parttimespotter for saving me a trip to the station to report on these developments.

So is it two 196s on that route now? No more 172s?

 

[Techniquest]

Today's 0850 Birmingham New Street to Hereford was in the hands of 196007+196008. Well that's saved me a trip to Ledbury!

 

[CharlieSpotted]

Had a pretty poor experience on a 196 yesterday at New Street, sitting at the platform waiting to head out to Shrewsbury, the guard made an announcement that there was a problem and the train needed to be reset. She advised people that the lights would go off and the doors would lock, and anyone who wasn't comfortable with that could go and wait on the platform. Surely enough, everything went off, everything came on again... and we still didn't set off. Heard a tone which sounded like the internal comms system and a fitter appeared. The train went off and on again at least a couple more times. The guard started making an announcement: "Ladies and Gentlemen, sorry for the delay, but I'm glad to say..." and the power went off. People tried to leave, but the doors were locked. Train rebooted again. When it came back on, she apologised for the previous aborted message and announced we would be on the move. Shortly after, the train pulled off, went about 3 metres down the platform and stopped again.

One final announcement told us that there was a problem with the train's computer reporting a smoke detector activation when there were actually no problems with smoke detectors. We were informed that the fitter was heading back to the train and to hold tight.

At this point most people gave up and headed for another train, and I had the joy of standing next to a stinking toilet on a stiflingly hot TfW dogbox instead.

Not surprisingly, the 196 ended up cancelled:

Realtime Trains | 2J34 1756 Birmingham New Street to Shrewsbury | 24/05/2023

Real-time train running information for 2J34 1756 departure from Birmingham New Street to Shrewsbury on 24/05/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

First one I've had that's failed, but it did cause some drama sitting down at New Street in the Evening peak, not ideal.

 

[Chris172]

Today (Thursday 25 May) on the Nuneaton - Leamington service we welcome another new 196 onto the service (196005) and following its overnight rest at Leamington Spa 196006 has moved onto the other diagram so we have:

196006 on the 0637 Nuneaton - Leamington Spa then every even hour from Nuneaton
196005 on the 0737 Nuneaton - Leamington Spa then every odd hour from Nuneaton.

Once again much thanks to Parttimespotter for saving me a trip to the station to report on these developments.

196005 was in service on Sunday between Birmingham Snow Hill and Hereford

 

[Liam L]

So is it two 196s on that route now? No more 172s?

They’re only two diagrams so yes.

 

[bnsf734]

196005 was in service on Sunday between Birmingham Snow Hill and Hereford

My bad - I meant new to the route - 196001/004/005/006 so far this week as the units cycle through the diagrams. I wonder how long before they all work the route?

 

[newtownmgr]

010 failed again at Worcs this morning. 003 will likely be paired up with 001 this afternoon for the 17:50 worcs

 

[Jacob Porrett]

They’re only two diagrams so yes.

Thank you

 

[Birmingham]

010 failed again at Worcs this morning. 003 will likely be paired up with 001 this afternoon for the 17:50 worcs

Just as well it wasn’t another short-form on the peak services today… (not the peak extra diagram, but the actual peak services i.e. 1M56 and 1V21)