Class 800 - Updates

[GWRPhil]

A CLASS 800 APPROACHES LAIRA JUNCTION ON TEST RUN THIS MORNING.

 

[GWRPhil]

Wasn’t content with just one lot of photos today. Headed up to a spot I know near Cornwood where I got these photos. Video to follow later.

 

1107 Penzance to Exeter st David’s.

 

HERES THE VIDEO FROM THE ABOVE PHOTOS TAKEN TODAY NEAR CORNWOOD

 

[Siberian Snooper]

Any views on the performance of these 800's in Devon and Cornwall? I'm assuming that they are 800's.

[GWRPhil]

Any views on the performance of these 800's in Devon and Cornwall? I'm assuming that they are 800's.

Haven’t ridden one yet. Would like too. They certainly are quieter than the hsts. Given other people opinions they are certainly looking like they’re gonna be there than the voyagers. I’m reserving judgement on how I view them compared to hsts. Also I’ll reserve judgement depending on how they are run by GWR. If the run a lot of short take ones that could end up meaning that they’re will be 5 car 800 running on services that did have 8 coach hst. That doesn’t always go as smoothly as companies think.

[159220]

A CLASS 800 APPROACHES LAIRA JUNCTION ON TEST RUN THIS MORNING.

 

 

HERES THE VIDEO FROM THE ABOVE PHOTOS TAKEN TODAY NEAR CORNWOOD

 

 

 

Great to see, just to be pedantic. The unit in those videos is a class 802. I believe 802001. 

 

Now delivered, as of today, into the UK is 802001-008 & 101

 

All 802 run diagrams into the Westcountry from Paddington shall be either 9-car 802/1s or 10-car 2x802/0s. Of course there shall be some splitting/joining once in the Westcountry. 

Edited June 7, 2018 by 159220

[159220]

We're almost at the stage of 50:50 HSTs and IETs on the GWML.

 

 

The first two 9 car 800/3 diagrams start on the 11th June, so not to long off. With the first two 802/0 diagrams starting down West on the 16th July. Expect the revolution to be August time. 

 

With 48 diagrams this summer... (shall call 800/0, 800/3 & 802/0 diagrams IET for sake of ease)

 

June - 19 x IET 29 x HST (might be early 802 diagrams - TBC)

July - 23 x IET 25 x HST 

Aug - expect Aug to be it! 27 IET x 22 HST

 

Usual disclaimers with this and the actual practices shall deviate. This is just to illustrate the swap. 

 

 

I can update this now and actually, good news! The change over is next Month not August! 

 

June - 19 x IET & 29 HST diagrams

July - 25 IET & 23 HST diagrams  (23rd of July to be specific) - dependant on 802 introduction going ahead as planned - driver training has started. 

 

It has been reported that the 800/3s now start on the 18th June, with more the week after and then two more in July.

[Coryton]

I recently did a journey partly on an 800 and partly on a Voyager.

 

The 800 definitely came off best. I commented a while back on how quiet the engine had been on my previous Voyager trip and somebody suggested that the engine had failed or been turned off. I think they were right. This time the engine noise was very evident on the Voyager, while I could only hear it on the 800 when accelerating out of a station. (And yes, I was in a coach with an engine, generating unit or whatever they're called under the floor).

 

The electronic reservation system on the 800 beats the one on the Voyagers hands down. Coloured lights so you can just look down the coach and see straight away what seats are free, and a very easy to read screen which even tells you when a seat has split reservations on it - very useful when sitting in an un-taken reserved seat. On the Voyager, peering at the little screens and waiting for the messages to scroll past is not pleasant (never mind the fact that the un-reserved seat you choose might become reserved further on in the journey).

 

If I was going to be critical, I might suggest that the system on the 800 would have been more useful if the displays had been correct, rather than showing reservations for (I presume) a different journey. There were seat back tickets which did seem to be correct, but it's a bit hard to ask someone to leave your reserved seat if there is a green light and a screen showing "available" above it.

 

It's also occurred to me that although for now they are still putting card tickets up, if the displays are playing up it's rather hard to know which coach is which so you can find your reservation - or even which set your seat is going to be in. I saw trains with the 'low lettered' coaches at both the London and the Country end so there doesn't seem to be a fixed rule as to which way round they go (or maybe there is but the coach letters on the screens were wrong?)

[HillsideDepot]

Peter Jeffree on the IET & HST Appreciation Society Facebook page reports: 

800305 This morning.
1W14 0652 London Paddington to Great Malvern
1P25 0954 Great Malvern to London Paddington

 

 

This is the first time that I have seen a 9-car reported in service.

YouTube videos by Waverley John show units as high as 800314 (out of 21 ordered) on the Hitachi test track, although one from this week also shows a driving end body shell arriving on a lorry which is described as being for 800312. 800309 is shown as leaving on June 12th on its delivery run.

 

Back with the 5-cars GWR has applied "#trainbow" stripes to the driving ends of 800008 to celebrate various Pride events across its region this summer, but many services remain a single unit when booked for two. A former colleague reported on Tuesday

 

There used to be ten coaches but today going up in the morning peak we only had five. Guard said "...anyone thinking of getting off at Swindon and getting the one behind, forget it. That was also 5 coaches instead of ten."
Tonight..1800 from Paddington..5 coaches instead of 10.

[Banger Blue]

800304 worked over the North Cotswolds yesterday, the first 9 car 800 Passenger Service was 1W29 the 14:21 London Paddington - Worcester Foregate Street and the corresponding back working.

 

That just happened to be my train home yesterday, the usual pax loading certainly didn’t put any pressures on the 9 coaches! I was in coach C from Reading and there were only approx 10-15 people dotted throughout.

 

Due to the short platforms between Oxford & Worcester only the front 3 or 4 coaches would be platformed at the intermediate stations so those coaches saw more punters take up seats as they moved down the train on leaving Oxford.

 

A rubbish phone shot of 800304 arriving at Reading 13/06/18:

 

Edited June 14, 2018 by Banger Blue

[Steadfast]

The green paint definitely looks a lot smarter than the vinyls

 

Jo

[exet1095]

The same train was on the delayed 1725 off Oxford onto the Cotswold Line today. Air con not working in some of the train, Wi-fi off, and warnings from the guard to check there is a platform before you get off as there had been problems...

[The Fatadder]

Finally traveled in Standard Class on a 800 back form London yesterday,

Certainly the seats are not particularly comfortable, however it did feel like there was a lot more leg room than on the outbound HST.  The air conditioning didnt feel particularly good on a hot day (the circle line train was a better temperature!) 

 

On electric it certainly felt very rapid pulling out of Paddington.  Could have done without the unscheduled stop between Didcot and Swindon resulting in missing my connection back to Stonehouse.

[Barry Ten]

When I arrived in Cardiff last week after boarding an IEP in Didcot, I meant to put my rubbish in a bin but I couldn't find one between my seat and the vestibule. I didn't have time to go all the

way up and down the coach, though as the train was not terminating in Cardiff. Seems odd not to have a bin in the vestibule, so you can dump your coffee cups etc when getting off the train?

[Ron Ron Ron]

When I arrived in Cardiff last week after boarding an IEP in Didcot, I meant to put my rubbish in a bin but I couldn't find one between my seat and the vestibule. I didn't have time to go all the

way up and down the coach, though as the train was not terminating in Cardiff. Seems odd not to have a bin in the vestibule, so you can dump your coffee cups etc when getting off the train?

 

 

Finding a waste bin is becoming a very common problem now, not only on new trains, but in stations and many other public areas.

I guess it's down to a combination of the cost of emptying and maintaining the facility and the security issues (the possibility of bins being used as a convenient place to plant an explosive device).

 

On a recent trip, I couldn't find a waste bin on leaving a SWR Class 444.

It was a right under my nose in the vestibule, but I didn't see it at first.

 

 

.

[Zomboid]

Bombs in bins is not really the method used by modern terrorists, which I suspect is the reason why they're appearing more in city centres than they used to be.

 

It's not a new thing on trains though (possibly harking back to IRA times) - I was on an EMT HST earlier this week, and there was as far as I could tell no bin in the passenger saloon.

[caradoc]

Personally I find the situation, in stations at least, much better than it was in the dark days of the 1980s and 1990s; Many stations now have bins consisting of see-through bags or bins, and often they have separate receptacles for material which can be recycled or not, as well. 

Edited June 15, 2018 by caradoc

[Arun Sharma]

Bombs in bins is not really the method used by modern terrorists, which I suspect is the reason why they're appearing more in city centres than they used to be.

 

It's not a new thing on trains though (possibly harking back to IRA times) - I was on an EMT HST earlier this week, and there was as far as I could tell no bin in the passenger saloon.

It's just as likely that the reason bins are appearing again is that the almost universal presence of CCTV means that the likelihood of getting away with putting an IED in a public place [unless you're a committed suicide bomber] is pretty small. 

[Banger Blue]

The green paint definitely looks a lot smarter than the vinyls

Jo

Definitely a lot more shiny, didn’t realise just how much, till I looked back at this I took this morning. Almost mirror like:

 

800305 at Reading

 

[lefrog97]

Saw a uni running north through shaftholme junction on the ECML at around 3.30 today. I believe it was unit 800103; I have to admit they look pretty smart!

[jamesg]

800305 was working 1W21 09:22 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street and 1P47 12:06 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington yesterday (16th June).

 

1W29 on Thursday 14th June was 800028 (it was 800304 on 13th June), so for the time being, it looks like the diagrams are interchangeable between 5- and 9-coach sets.  Some diagrams were interchangeable between 5-coach 800s and HSTs as the 800s were coming in, so that's no surprise.

[159220]

1W29 on Thursday 14th June was 800028 (it was 800304 on 13th June), so for the time being, it looks like the diagrams are interchangeable between 5- and 9-coach sets. 

 

 

As both 800304/305 have been accepted by Agility Trains West and by GWR for passenger service, they were introduced this week due to the reported availability issues surrounding the 800/0s. 

 

As stated, their actual diagrams were delayed from 11th June until 18th June (tomorrow) due to late acceptance of 305. 800306 should be accepted by Agility Trains West/GWR anytime soon (might of already happened). 

 

800307 should be delivered and accepted by Monday 25th, when two further diagrams are introduced. You shall notice from the updated status below, just how close to availability the diagrams are running. As you need to account for two driver trainer diagrams and maintenance (for a unit that is not delivering the promise miles per failure). Thus next Monday's diagrams could be subject to failure with 4 units for 4 diagrams. (Shall improve when 800308 is delivered (planned) next weekend - but then shall need miles accumulation and acceptance before introduction). 

 

Just a note, as it is interesting. The 800/0 & 800/3 diagrams shall not be interchangeable, only occurred this week for operational reasons. But... come the IEP Timetable change (now reported pushed back from Jan to Mar and likely May 2019 - hence why rumour are rife about some full rake HSTs might be staying in the short term....) most diagrams currently 2x800/0 shall become 800/3 (as in Padd - S. Wales and Bristol via Bath). 

 

The 800/3 diagrams I am reliably informed should be: 

 

07:36 Paddington Cheltenham 09:52

10:36 Cheltenham Paddington 12:43

13:36 Paddington Cheltenham 15:52

16:33 Cheltenham Paddington 18:35

 

11:36 Paddington Cheltenham 13:52

14:36 Cheltenham Paddington 16:43

17:22 Paddington Hereford 20:24

21:51 Hereford Paddington 01:14

 

800/0 Status update. 15/06/18 

 

003-004 - Hitachi Test Units, various locations.

005-036 - GWR Accepted/Passenger Service. Total available units: 32 for a required 30 daily. 

001 - Agility Trains West Acceptance/Mileage, Bristol/North Pole. 

002 - Hitachi Commissioning, Doncaster.

 

Note 001 have been loaned to GWR for a driver training 5X diagram

 

800/3 Status update. 

 

301 - Unknown - Japan?

302/303 - Hitachi Test Unit, various locations.

304/305 - GWR Accepted. Total available units: 2 for a required 2 daily. (18/06)

306 - Agility Trains West Acceptance/Mileage, Bristol/North Pole.

307-309 - Hitachi Commissioning, Doncaster.

310/313-314 - Hitachi Static Testing, Newton Aycliffe.

311-312/315-321 - Hitachi In Build, Newton Aycliffe 

 

Note 800311/312 are to receive original DTPF from 800001/002 (001/002 received 311/312 DTPF)

 

802/0 Status update. 

 

001-002 - GWR Accepted

 - Passenger Service (16/07)

003-010 - Hitachi Commissioning, North Pole

011-022 - Hitachi, Pistoia, Italy. All built, under testing

 

As you shall notice, the Italian built 802s are coming on stream fast (in terms of deliveries to North Pole) without delay after the French threw a challenge in the way of the 003/004 delivery. Where as there have been delays to those coming out of Newton Aycliffe. With the new tube for London going to Siemens. I would not be surprised if NA does not assemble much after the current orders, with any AT200/300 ordered for a UK ROSCO being built in Italy. 

Edited June 17, 2018 by 159220

[GWRPhil]

Here’s a few photos from two test runs of the class 800’s this morning. First are of stoke Gifford to Laira test run. Second Plymouth to Paddington test run

 

Set 1

 

 

Set 2

 

[GWRPhil]

Stoke Gifford to Laira test

 

 

Laira to Paddington test

 

[GWRPhil]

Didn’t realise till I’d done upload I’d taken first video in slow-mo mode on phone. Looks cool though.

[royaloak]

They are driver training runs, not test runs.