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Post by snoggle on Jul 3, 2018 15:35:00 GMT
442’s apparently not being retractioned as apparently the issues with Vossloh(?) equipment on 455’s (traction equipment catching fire and exploding, well the one at Guildford anyway) means they are not taking risk with the 442’s Oh dear. Wonder if that rather imperils the use of the 442s as they were not very reliable on the Brighton Line. Do SWR really want to take the risk with unreliable rolling stock on a main line route? Is the Vossloh stuff the kit Stagecoach bought to improve the 455's traction reliability? I'm surprised it's even out of warranty so I'd expect SWR to be talking to Vossloh about that.
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Post by thewintersoldier on Jul 3, 2018 15:39:48 GMT
442’s apparently not being retractioned as apparently the issues with Vossloh(?) equipment on 455’s (traction equipment catching fire and exploding, well the one at Guildford anyway) means they are not taking risk with the 442’s Oh dear. Wonder if that rather imperils the use of the 442s as they were not very reliable on the Brighton Line. Do SWR really want to take the risk with unreliable rolling stock on a main line route? Is the Vossloh stuff the kit Stagecoach bought to improve the 455's traction reliability? I'm surprised it's even out of warranty so I'd expect SWR to be talking to Vossloh about that. A lot of the old guard reckon that they would struggle on the pompey on the Guildford - Haslemere section anyway. Apparently southern did some modifications to them and they are better than they were but it might not be enough. This though is just rumours. Yes. That was it. We’ve had reliability issues, with 3 separate small explosions, well 2, one could have caused a beheading. Apparently SWR have received compensation and made a tidy profit overall from the conversions as vossloh paid out. Nonetheless 442 driver training has begun at Bournemouth and they are now cleared for test runs between Woking and Poole
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Post by John tuthill on Jul 3, 2018 20:37:53 GMT
442’s apparently not being retractioned as apparently the issues with Vossloh(?) equipment on 455’s (traction equipment catching fire and exploding, well the one at Guildford anyway) means they are not taking risk with the 442’s Better put your Nomex suit on then
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Post by snowman on Jul 10, 2018 6:07:06 GMT
The December 2019 timetable change which was to have brought improvements (although some local cuts) has been postponed until sometime in 2020
Apparently a national decision following the Thameslink and Northern timetable change shambles few week ago
Don’t know any more yet, but some other Operators also been stopped from December changes
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Post by snoggle on Jul 10, 2018 10:31:46 GMT
The December 2019 timetable change which was to have brought improvements (although some local cuts) has been postponed until sometime in 2020 Apparently a national decision following the Thameslink and Northern timetable change shambles few week ago Don’t know any more yet, but some other Operators also been stopped from December changes. Idiotic move really. All it is doing is storing up problems for later. If a TOC and Network Rail have run the process properly and are fully resourced for a change then it should proceed. Given that about 7 or 8 TOCs have been prevented from making timetable changes this indicates one of two things - one, that they're all useless and couldn't get drunk in a brewery or, two, people (including Failing Grayling) have taken fright for no good reason. If a change is unable to proceed due to genuine risks that can't be wholly mitigated by December then fair enough but otherwise this is stupid. All that will happen is that benefits to passengers are delayed, new trains sit in sidings unable to run and the DfT have a pile of claims from TOCs about the financial impact on their agreed franchise plans. Pushing timetable changes forever backwards just creates a much bigger bow wave of changes in the future with the potential for new risks to emerge later on when people try to mesh together timetables that were never intended to work together. It is noteworthy that London Overground has now been caught up in this mess meaning that enhanced timetables due off the back of the 710s coming into service are now kyboshed (ref the change to the 440 and the enhanced Richmond line service quoted in the consultation document).
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Post by thewintersoldier on Jul 13, 2018 14:53:05 GMT
Some internal communication
We’re incredibly busy across all the engineering teams but I wanted to update you on a couple of programmes that will deliver some real improvements to customer experience in the next few months. Kiepe are working hard to deliver the Class 442 refurbishment programme at Eastleigh works so that the units will enter service later this year. As an important component of our capacity improvement plans, we will be working hard to deliver them so that they can be introduced into the timetable. Originally, we planned to retraction and refresh the 18 units, however, the retraction programme will now happen in 2019. This won’t delay the reintroduction of the refreshed units and we look forward to driver and guard colleagues seeing the first completed units in August. We are pleased that we have been able to incorporate some of the requirements in the refurbishment phase and we will build other requirements into the retraction phase. The interior refurbishment will deliver several customer improvement initiatives including new seats, carpets and curtains and inductive charging for mobiles (in first class). Other great on board features will be the improved wifi, updated Passenger Information System and the new on board infotainment system.
Over the coming weeks we will be seeking to confirm plans as to how the 90 additional Class 442 vehicles, which are presently being refurbished, can be progressively introduced into service in the existing timetable. The refurbishment and internal reconfiguration of the Class 444/450 fleets will also deliver a progressive increase in seating capacity through to spring 2019.
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Post by ADH45258 on Jul 13, 2018 16:43:43 GMT
Why has the interior refurbishment of the Class 450's only included new seats and carpets, but the 159s have repainted handrails/poles as well?
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Post by ADH45258 on Jul 20, 2018 6:18:05 GMT
Which rolling stock operates the following routes?
- Waterloo to Shepperton via Kingston - Waterloo circular via Richmond, Strawberry Hill and Kingston - Waterloo circular via Brentford, Hounslow and Richmond
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Post by snowman on Jul 20, 2018 7:43:18 GMT
Which rolling stock operates the following routes? - Waterloo to Shepperton via Kingston - Waterloo circular via Richmond, Strawberry Hill and Kingston - Waterloo circular via Brentford, Hounslow and Richmond Normally 455+455+456 for first 2, some use 707+707, small number of pairs of 458s or 450s Hounslow circulars normally pairs of 707s (but some others)
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Post by galwhv69 on Jul 24, 2018 10:06:21 GMT
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Post by galwhv69 on Jul 24, 2018 10:11:31 GMT
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Post by TNL33036 on Jul 25, 2018 13:54:11 GMT
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Post by snoggle on Jul 25, 2018 15:49:38 GMT
No shock there. The postponement of the timetable change at government instruction blows a huge hole in the franchise mathematics. If there are other issues such as Network Rail performance then the franchise will be well off course. Interestingly two days ago Grayling denied that any franchises were in trouble (other than First have made a provision for losses on TransPennine) and that none had attracted the department's attention. Looks like that statement wasn't quite right or else people in the DfT aren't doing their job properly in monitoring franchise performance / emerging issues.
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Post by snowman on Aug 24, 2018 6:47:53 GMT
No shock there. The postponement of the timetable change at government instruction blows a huge hole in the franchise mathematics. If there are other issues such as Network Rail performance then the franchise will be well off course. Interestingly two days ago Grayling denied that any franchises were in trouble (other than First have made a provision for losses on TransPennine) and that none had attracted the department's attention. Looks like that statement wasn't quite right or else people in the DfT aren't doing their job properly in monitoring franchise performance / emerging issues. There is further evidence emerging that SWR franchise is having problems. An ORR report (page 3 on link) refers to South Western having lost 18m journeys in a year Page 4 says 4m journeys less in Q4 (Jan-Mar 2018) than year earlier (when it was SWT) orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/28013/passenger-rail-usage-2017-18-q4.pdfAfter last summer engineering work at Waterloo, there have been a number of strikes, all of which are likely to have negative impact, but clearly ongoing 1m+ less journeys per month is a mess. According to Roger Ford in Modern Railways there is also a gap between the traction supply limitations and requirements for proposed timetable (now deferred from December to May 2019). In simple terms the extra and longer trains would overheat some existing substations, so weren’t approved by Network Rail as improvements aren’t funded. So appears DfT has agreed a franchise with enhanced timetable that Network provider cannot provide. I predict some grovelling for more DfT money due to this (and timetable delay)
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Post by thewintersoldier on Sept 9, 2018 23:26:11 GMT
Looks like the depot at Feltham is now beginning to take shape. Public consultation this Friday and they’ve began to write to residents. Network rail are due to submit plans to Hounslow Borough.
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