Class 175s to Great Western Railway (GWR)

[whole diary]

[ChrisB]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0YO9ZzSpZA

First 175 into Paignton.

I did not use hyperlink. May work now.

Still nope.

Owner must have changed permissions as this now works for me

[REVUpminster]

Another move from Wolverton cancelled today. Probably only wanted for spare parts. The Paignton training train only lasted two days.
14 trains and lucky if a third operational. If they had shown such patience with the 769s.. GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) management must be demob happy. He who laughs last has found someone else to blame.

[REVUpminster]

175004 to Exeter depot today.

Ely :3: 175005/008, 175104 (175008 is in two halves)

Wolverton :8 :  175102/103/105/106/107/108/109/110

Laira : 14: 175002/007/009, 175114 ex Ely; 175001/003/006/011, 175101/111/112/113/115/116 ex Wolverton

Exeter : 1 : 175004 ex Wolverton

Long Rock : 1 : 175010 ex Ely

as of 23 June 2026

[REVUpminster]

Only 175001, 175009, 175114 seem to be in passenger service today and no training trains.

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have 16 175s, two have been at Laira for 18 months.

Only one extra train has been provided since last December and no strengthening of services anywhere on GWR that the 175s were meant to bring by releasing the 158s to Bristol.

Will GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) keep the management on in December?

[IndustryInsider]

Will GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) keep the management on in December?

Why wouldn’t they?

I have sympathy for ‘the management’ as they have inherited an already unreliable fleet which needed much TLC^▸ (three letter code, or tender loving care, depending on context ) to offer up OK levels of reliability with TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales) and which was left to fester for a year or two in sidings.

A far worse decision from ‘the management’ would have been to chuck them out in service at a rate of knots, and watch them screw up the main line by failing on a daily basis.

Or another poor decision would have been to take the Class 175s over a much more reliable unit…but the 175s were all that was on offer.

[REVUpminster]

Will GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) keep the management on in December?

Why wouldn’t they?

I have sympathy for ‘the management’ as they have inherited an already unreliable fleet which needed much TLC^▸ (three letter code, or tender loving care, depending on context ) to offer up OK levels of reliability with TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales) and which was left to fester for a year or two in sidings.

A far worse decision from ‘the management’ would have been to chuck them out in service at a rate of knots, and watch them screw up the main line by failing on a daily basis.

Or another poor decision would have been to take the Class 175s over a much more reliable unit…but the 175s were all that was on offer.

And if GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) had persevered with the 769s the turbos would have come west.

[The Tall Controller]

Only 175001, 175009, 175114 seem to be in passenger service today and no training trains.

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have 16 175s, two have been at Laira for 18 months.

Only one extra train has been provided since last December and no strengthening of services anywhere on GWR that the 175s were meant to bring by releasing the 158s to Bristol.

Will GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) keep the management on in December?

The 175s weren't meant to replace 158s just yet. So far, they've only released IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) which have been put straight into use on the Bristol - Oxford services.

158s will only start to be released when the 175s begin on the Barnstaple services.

[grahame]

The 175s weren't meant to replace 158s just yet.

Two months short of two years this thread - feels a very long time

[REVUpminster]

The 175s weren't meant to replace 158s just yet.

Two months short of two years this thread - feels a very long time

Which 175s have replaced IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)). The over used 150s are covering 175s giving short forms on Paignton-Exmouth (2 today, 2 yesterday). Yesterday I train on Falmouth, shortform on St Ives and two 150s on Newquay.
Something is coming from Wolverton tomorrow to Exeter believed to be a 150. Last week 175004 arrived at Exeter and must be in the shed.

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are not interested in the South West. They rebuilt  Exeter Depot with their own money but abandoned extending platform 2

[IndustryInsider]

Will GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) keep the management on in December?

Why wouldn’t they?

I have sympathy for ‘the management’ as they have inherited an already unreliable fleet which needed much TLC^▸ (three letter code, or tender loving care, depending on context ) to offer up OK levels of reliability with TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales) and which was left to fester for a year or two in sidings.

A far worse decision from ‘the management’ would have been to chuck them out in service at a rate of knots, and watch them screw up the main line by failing on a daily basis.

Or another poor decision would have been to take the Class 175s over a much more reliable unit…but the 175s were all that was on offer.

And if GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) had persevered with the 769s the turbos would have come west.

And they were told not to persevere with the 769s by the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) to cut costs.

And had they persevered, they would probably have been less reliable than the 175s!

https://www.railbusinessuk.com/traction-rolling-stock/2022/12/23/gwr-fleet-to-shrink-further-as-it-abandons-class-769-introduction/

[REVUpminster]

Will GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) keep the management on in December?

Why wouldn’t they?

I have sympathy for ‘the management’ as they have inherited an already unreliable fleet which needed much TLC^▸ (three letter code, or tender loving care, depending on context ) to offer up OK levels of reliability with TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales) and which was left to fester for a year or two in sidings.

A far worse decision from ‘the management’ would have been to chuck them out in service at a rate of knots, and watch them screw up the main line by failing on a daily basis.

Or another poor decision would have been to take the Class 175s over a much more reliable unit…but the 175s were all that was on offer.

And if GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) had persevered with the 769s the turbos would have come west.

And they were told not to persevere with the 769s by the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) to cut costs.

And had they persevered, they would probably have been less reliable than the 175s!

https://www.railbusinessuk.com/traction-rolling-stock/2022/12/23/gwr-fleet-to-shrink-further-as-it-abandons-class-769-introduction/

And stopped Alliance Rail using them this year.

[REVUpminster]

Today Newquay 2 hour gap but looks like 175003 coming off training to take up the diagram. 175114, 175115, 175009, and a 150 working the HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) diagrams. Paignton had a one gap and a later short form probably to fill the missing train.

[eightonedee]

Will GBR^▸ (Great British Railways)▸ (Great British Railways) keep the management on in December?

One of the lessons of being a member of this forum for many years is that DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) (and presumably, behind them, the Treasury) are the real decision makers, down to quite a low level of detail. It will be interesting to see how much latitude GBR will have to get on with managing things themselves. I expect that the high level of investment it requires will restrict its ability to do so.

[REVUpminster]

175005 moved by road, unable to be dragged, to Wolverton reported on another site. Also half of 008 is at Wolverton

Ely :2: 175008 (half), 175104

Wolverton : 9 : 175005.  175102/103/105/106/107/108/109/110

Laira : 14: 175002/007/009, 175114 ex Ely; 175001/003/006/011, 175101/111/112/113/115/116 ex Wolverton

Exeter : 1 : 175004 ex Wolverton

Long Rock : 1 : 175010 ex Ely

as of 1 July 2026

[TaplowGreen]

Will GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) keep the management on in December?

Why wouldn’t they?

I have sympathy for ‘the management’ as they have inherited an already unreliable fleet which needed much TLC^▸ (three letter code, or tender loving care, depending on context ) to offer up OK levels of reliability with TfW^▸ (Transport for Wales) and which was left to fester for a year or two in sidings.

A far worse decision from ‘the management’ would have been to chuck them out in service at a rate of knots, and watch them screw up the main line by failing on a daily basis.

Or another poor decision would have been to take the Class 175s over a much more reliable unit…but the 175s were all that was on offer.

I'm not so sure.

I wonder if GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) and their senior management presented their CVs for consideration, listing their "achievements" whilst at the controls, how would they stack up against (for example) a new team with fresher ideas and (for example) a more customer driven culture?

For sure they've had to deal with issues such as these ageing hand-me-downs, but if you look at the relative "newness" of much of the fleet (800 series, Electrostars etc) and all the opportunities they had to deal with historic issues when more was within their control, perhaps history may not be quite so forgiving.

Maybe, as with the onset of GBR, it's just time for a change all round.

No-one's irreplaceable, after all.

That said, other than a new colour scheme, I foresee very little (positive) change under GBR - I remember the excitement on these pages when it was first announced several years ago, and having asked the well informed people here at the time what real positive difference it would make to customers, I'm still waiting for an answer.............that's not a reflection on any forum members by the way, more on reality!

Perhaps the experience with the 175s are a metaphor for the future.