Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 12:35 11 Jul 2025
 
- Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh says we've become 'dumbed-down machines'
- Airlines angry at planned rise in Heathrow charges
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 16/07/25 - TransWilts CRP Annual meeting
01/08/25 - Greatest Gathering
08/08/25 - Steamship Sheildhall / Poole
09/08/25 - Pathfinder to HoW

On this day
11th Jul (1929)
Swindon Tramway closed (link)

Train RunningCancelled
09:34 London Paddington to Paignton
12:32 Exeter Central to Okehampton
12:35 Barnstaple to Exeter Central
12:45 West Ealing to Greenford
12:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport
12:54 Filton Abbey Wood to Bristol Temple Meads
13:00 Greenford to West Ealing
13:24 Reading to Gatwick Airport
14:01 Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads
14:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading
15:05 Reading to Basingstoke
15:52 Basingstoke to Reading
Additional 16:13 Westbury to Cardiff Central
17:12 Westbury to Warminster
17:19 Swindon to London Paddington
Short Run
09:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
11:23 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington
11:24 Reading to Gatwick Airport
11:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
11:55 Newbury to London Paddington
12:10 Weston-Super-Mare to Severn Beach
12:13 Didcot Parkway to London Paddington
12:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
12:38 London Paddington to Didcot Parkway
12:45 Exeter St Davids to Cardiff Central
12:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading
13:05 London Paddington to Newbury
13:18 Hereford to London Paddington
13:27 Okehampton to Exeter Central
13:38 London Paddington to Didcot Parkway
14:00 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads
14:09 Gloucester to Frome
15:09 Gloucester to Weymouth
16:24 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
16:26 Frome to Bristol Temple Meads
16:45 Bristol Temple Meads to Warminster
17:27 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
17:29 Warminster to Bristol Temple Meads
17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury
18:29 Warminster to Bristol Temple Meads
20:11 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads
20:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
21:30 Cardiff Central to Frome
23:45 Bristol Temple Meads to Frome
Delayed
09:28 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
10:30 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare
10:42 Exeter St Davids to Cardiff Central
11:00 Cardiff Central to Exeter St Davids
11:09 Gloucester to Weymouth
11:27 Exeter St Davids to Penzance
11:30 Weymouth to Gloucester
11:35 Barnstaple to Exeter Central
11:46 Avonmouth to Weston-Super-Mare
12:17 Westbury to Swindon
12:46 Avonmouth to Weston-Super-Mare
13:10 Weston-Super-Mare to Severn Beach
etc
PollsThere are no open or recent polls
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
July 11, 2025, 12:46:23 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[109] Portishead Line reopening for passengers - ongoing discussion
[88] rail minister says HS2 is 'too fast'
[77] Air India flight to London Gatwick crashed in Ahmedabad - 12 J...
[44] Seen in France - July 2025
[39] Locomotives on Bank Notes
[34] 2025 - Service update and amendment log, Swindon <-> Westbury...
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: [1]
  Print  
Author Topic: More 4 car 158s for Portsmouth services  (Read 7319 times)
TJ
Full Member
***
Posts: 92



View Profile
« on: February 22, 2023, 14:44:05 »

Made known by GWR (Great Western Railway) during yesterday's Devon & Cornwall Local Transport forum was that they will be running more 4 car 158s on the Cardiff - Portsmouth services from May. Anyone know how this will be achieved? For instance does it mean that some 3 car 158s we be reformed into 2 car units. Possible end of 3 car 158s on the Tarka (Branch line from Barnstaple to Exeter) Line?
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 44408



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2023, 15:12:37 »

Made known by GWR (Great Western Railway) during yesterday's Devon & Cornwall Local Transport forum was that they will be running more 4 car 158s on the Cardiff - Portsmouth services from May. Anyone know how this will be achieved? For instance does it mean that some 3 car 158s we be reformed into 2 car units. Possible end of 3 car 158s on the Tarka (Branch line from Barnstaple to Exeter) Line?

When are Transport for Wales releasing 158s?
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
Timmer
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6666


View Profile
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2023, 21:51:47 »

Made known by GWR (Great Western Railway) during yesterday's Devon & Cornwall Local Transport forum was that they will be running more 4 car 158s on the Cardiff - Portsmouth services from May. Anyone know how this will be achieved? For instance does it mean that some 3 car 158s we be reformed into 2 car units. Possible end of 3 car 158s on the Tarka (Branch line from Barnstaple to Exeter) Line?
I just had a feeling that they would be coming back. Not that they have ever really left with 2-3 daily diagrams being 158 operated the norm.
Logged
Hafren
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 339


View Profile
« Reply #3 on: February 22, 2023, 22:39:50 »


When are Transport for Wales releasing 158s?

No inside information, but I can't see it being any time soon. From what I've read the 175s will be the first to leave TfW (Transport for Wales), and overall stock availability still seems quite tight. And the 158s with their attachment to the Cambrian lines and the amount of splitting and attaching that creates a tangled web of diagrams for the 197s to take over.
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 44408



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2023, 23:30:00 »

I worked out from Real Time Trains what's happening in May 2023 ... and prepared a summary for this evenings's WWRUG» (West Wiltshire Rail Users Group - about) meeting - just a couple of slides.  I checked them for accuracy with GWR (Great Western Railway) this afternoon - updates as per their additional feedback prior to the meeting.  Now posted to WWRUG pages at https://www.facebook.com/groups/wwrug/posts/1010154083434711/ and also mirrored on our site within the whole of my presentation for this evening.

There are some really good winners in there on the boundary of the WECA» (West of England Combined Authority - about) area and as a result of the Bristol Metro.  And it has moved on from being validated by Network Rail to being at the following stage which is DfT» (Department for Transport - about) signoff.  As part of the Bristol Metro project, not funded by the DfT, this has been characterised to me as being quite close to a formality.
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
John D
Full Member
***
Posts: 71


View Profile
« Reply #5 on: March 11, 2025, 17:28:53 »

The idea of 4car 158s has fallen apart.

Today 1F25 16:27 and 1F27 17:27 Cardiff - Portsmouth (the busy peak hour workings) are both reduced to just a 2car unit

Earlier 1F18 from Portsmouth conked out at Fareham and continued to Bristol as empty 5F18
Logged
ChrisB
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 13443


View Profile Email
« Reply #6 on: March 11, 2025, 17:30:12 »

Not another temporary casualty of Cheltenham Festival?
Logged
John D
Full Member
***
Posts: 71


View Profile
« Reply #7 on: July 01, 2025, 07:48:59 »

Yesterday (Monday) some services were reduced to just 2car 158s

Today, it seems some services have also been reduced to mere 2car units, with average train length being 3cars

Whatever happened to 4car working ?
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 44408



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #8 on: July 01, 2025, 10:35:40 »

Yesterday (Monday) some services were reduced to just 2car 158s

Today, it seems some services have also been reduced to mere 2car units, with average train length being 3cars

Whatever happened to 4car working ?


Today - Bath Spa through trains to Portsmouth are reported as
4 at 2 cars
7 at 3 cars
5 at 4 cars
1 at 5 cars
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 44408



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #9 on: July 02, 2025, 06:22:39 »

Yesterday (Monday) some services were reduced to just 2car 158s

Today, it seems some services have also been reduced to mere 2car units, with average train length being 3cars

Whatever happened to 4car working ?


Today - Bath Spa through trains to Portsmouth are reported as
4 at 2 cars
7 at 3 cars
5 at 4 cars
1 at 5 cars

Took the 15:35 from Bath Spa to Portsmouth and Southsea.    3 car train that looked like it would have been good on a commuter run in the autumn.  No space for luggage, overheating (no working air con) small (3+2) seating and far more passengers that was comfortable, especially as a number  had their luggage on the seat beside them.    On time from Bath Spa ... waited at Batheaston, waited at Dundas, 8 minutes late by Bradford-on-Avon
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
Mark A
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 2059


View Profile
« Reply #10 on: July 02, 2025, 08:42:20 »

**snip**
overheating (no working air con)
**snip**

Coming back from Weymouth the other Friday on the day that SWR» (South Western Railway - about) had run into the sand, staff came through the 3 carriage Bristol train opening anything that wasn't already open: I'd forgotten that these even had aircon. Perhaps it was the same set as on the way down.

Mark
Logged
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules via admin@railcustomer.info. Full legal statement (here).

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page