4 carriages reduced to 2 - is this the end of GWR pacers?

[whole diary]

[AMLAG]

The class 158 unit for the 0708 Exeter St D to Barnstaple currently comes,
rather UNrobustly, at 0515 from St Phillips Marsh depot arriving at St D at 0656.
Obviously this is operationally undesirable and in cases of late running then local
Exeter management initiatives are instigated.

[REVUpminster]

The class 158 unit for the 0708 Exeter St D to Barnstaple currently comes,
rather UNrobustly, at 0515 from St Phillips Marsh depot arriving at St D at 0656.
Obviously this is operationally undesirable and in cases of late running then local
Exeter management initiatives are instigated.

When does it go back?  This seems so costly an exercise.

[grahame]

143 working 2T20 just seen on Dawlish cams. They're getting there monies worth. Modern Railways say Exeter's are very reliable beating newer stock/

Just 3 days to go on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ... though if you still want to ride a 143, I note that 15 have been given a derogation to be used until 31st May 2021 there - that's if you can get permission to go to Wales.  Also 9 Porterbrook and 4 Angel trains class 153s - not all their 153s, I don't think - some have had work done to make them compliant ...

From Nation Cymru

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have branded as a ?disgrace? a decision to keep pacer trains on in Wales for another year ? noting that they were scrapped in Tehran 15 years ago.

Wales is now the only place on earth where pacer trains, built by British Rail in the early 1980s with a planned lifespan of 15-20 years, are still in operation.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Rodney Berman said that Transport for Wales and Ken Skates should apologise to travellers for the failure to replace the trains with new stock

[phile]

The class 158 unit for the 0708 Exeter St D to Barnstaple currently comes,
rather UNrobustly, at 0515 from St Phillips Marsh depot arriving at St D at 0656.
Obviously this is operationally undesirable and in cases of late running then local
Exeter management initiatives are instigated.

When does it go back?  This seems so costly an exercise.

It stays at Exeter for 3 days for the Barneys and then goes back ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) at the end of the third day.      How else do you think it should get there and back.   St Phillips Marsh is their Home Depot

[phile]

143 working 2T20 just seen on Dawlish cams. They're getting there monies worth. Modern Railways say Exeter's are very reliable beating newer stock/

From Nation Cymru

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have branded as a ?disgrace? a decision to keep pacer trains on in Wales for another year ? noting that they were scrapped in Tehran 15 years ago.

Wales is now the only place on earth where pacer trains, built by British Rail in the early 1980s with a planned lifespan of 15-20 years, are still in operation.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Rodney Berman said that Transport for Wales and Ken Skates should apologise to travellers for the failure to replace the trains with new stock

TFW started to make moves when they took over from ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))).    Before the Welsh Government became responsible,  the responsibility lies with the DFT^▸ (Department for Transport)

[REVUpminster]

The class 158 unit for the 0708 Exeter St D to Barnstaple currently comes,
rather UNrobustly, at 0515 from St Phillips Marsh depot arriving at St D at 0656.
Obviously this is operationally undesirable and in cases of late running then local
Exeter management initiatives are instigated.

When does it go back?  This seems so costly an exercise.

It stays at Exeter for 3 days for the Barneys and then goes back ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) at the end of the third day.      How else do you think it should get there and back.   St Phillips Marsh is their Home Depot

Exeter Train depot february 2018 by Robert, on Flickr

The illustration of the refurbished depot at Exeter has 158s in it's artists impression which is three years old so I would think that depot is going to take over full maintenance of the stock it has. 150s 166/165s and 158s.
Earlier in the thread I posted a 166211 at Paignton on 13 DMR (timetable day) and at the same time a week later a 158.

[REVUpminster]

exeter depot by Robert, on Flickr

Exeter depot has a lifting road and bogie turntables so they can do some heavy maintenance. They will also be able to do limited maintenance to an 802.

The plans above show a three coach train (158/166?) on the lifting road.
The next road has a 3 coach and a 2 coach (150/2?)
and the next road a five car 802? to illustrate the flexibility of the depot.

[REVUpminster]

The "cavalcade " went early leaving the depot at 11.25. Glad I did not go to get a photo. Maybe someone else has. It arrived at St Phillip Marsh nearly 2 hours early.

[REVUpminster]

From another site: 
The cavalcade was 143603/618/617 and 150207, 8 coaches.

[PhilWakely]

exeter depot by Robert, on Flickr

Exeter depot has a lifting road and bogie turntables so they can do some heavy maintenance. They will also be able to do limited maintenance to an 802.

The plans above show a three coach train (158/166?) on the lifting road.
The next road has a 3 coach and a 2 coach (150/2?)
and the next road a five car 802? to illustrate the flexibility of the depot.

I can understand the idea of doing 'overnight maintenance' (i.e. simple preparation for the following day's diagram) on an IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train), but I thought that, contractually, all other maintenance had to be done by Hitachi at either North Pole or Stoke Gifford. Hence, the recent very slow excursion of an 802 with severe wheel flats from Plymouth to Stoke Gifford, even though Laira possesses a lathe for the purpose ? ? ?

[REVUpminster]

I don't expect 802s to be lifted or wheels turned but the current 802 that presently stables in new yard on Saturday night could go into the depot for servicing. There are two floors of office above for staff which looks like Exeter will become the main hub for GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) in the South West.

[stuving]

I can understand the idea of doing 'overnight maintenance' (i.e. simple preparation for the following day's diagram) on an IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train), but I thought that, contractually, all other maintenance had to be done by Hitachi at either North Pole or Stoke Gifford. Hence, the recent very slow excursion of an 802 with severe wheel flats from Plymouth to Stoke Gifford, even though Laira possesses a lathe for the purpose ? ? ?

Contractually - as written down in the TARA^▸ (Train Availability and Reliability Agreement) - all maintenance is done by the TSP^▸ (Train Service Provider) (Hitachi), and so is normal overnight preparation such as emptying retention tanks and filling the other ones. This can be done with prior notification (so TSP staff can get here) at defined out-stabling locations: Hereford, Exeter, Taunton and Worcester. Other locations can be used if the TSP agrees. Bear in mind that all cleaning, inside and out, also has to be done overnight by the TSP, with penalties for any "Presentation KPI Standards Failure or Cleaning KPI Standards Failure,".

[REVUpminster]

I can understand the idea of doing 'overnight maintenance' (i.e. simple preparation for the following day's diagram) on an IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train), but I thought that, contractually, all other maintenance had to be done by Hitachi at either North Pole or Stoke Gifford. Hence, the recent very slow excursion of an 802 with severe wheel flats from Plymouth to Stoke Gifford, even though Laira possesses a lathe for the purpose ? ? ?

Contractually - as written down in the TARA^▸ (Train Availability and Reliability Agreement) - all maintenance is done by the TSP^▸ (Train Service Provider) (Hitachi), and so is normal overnight preparation such as emptying retention tanks and filling the other ones. This can be done with prior notification (so TSP staff can get here) at defined out-stabling locations: Hereford, Exeter, Taunton and Worcester. Other locations can be used if the TSP agrees. Bear in mind that all cleaning, inside and out, also has to be done overnight by the TSP, with penalties for any "Presentation KPI Standards Failure or Cleaning KPI Standards Failure,".

Sorry blinded by the abbreviations.

[REVUpminster]

Replacing the 143s with shortened castle class sets is the wrong train in the wrong place.

[grahame]

From another site: 
The cavalcade was 143603/618/617 and 150207, 8 coaches.

Has a 150 been lost to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) too, or was that just a stock move?

Replacing the 143s with shortened castle class sets is the wrong train in the wrong place.

Maybe (I will leave other to comment on suitabilities), but is there not scope for moving things around - for example replacing remaining DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) with Castles on Cardiff - Taunton where that hadn't been done, releasing turbos for runs like Exmouth - Paignton.

Sorry blinded by the abbreviations.

IAGY (I agree with you). Significant need to update our acronyms page which is due heavy maintenance. AND a request to posters to fill in what things stand for the first time they use them!

I don't know who TARA^▸ (Train Availability and Reliability Agreement) is.  To me, that's Tara Street Station ...