Problems with Hitachi Intercity Express Trains - discussions from 1 January 2026 onwards

[whole diary]

[ChrisB]

Chime Whistle Publishing tweeted earlier and here and here

I've just been sent the GW^» (Great Western - used as an abbreviation for the area / lines under the Great Western franchise, as opposed to FGW which includes "First", the company operating them too. For tickets - about) timetable amendments, due to come into force from 5 January, in reaction to the ongoing fuel pump issues.

Stopping short, DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) vice IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)), additional station stops etc.

Two examples are 2E74 19.08 Bristol TM^▸ (Train Manager, or Ticket Machine, or Temple Meads (Bristol), depending on context) to Gloucester and 2T63 20.09 return.

I can not find any further detail yet, but GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) will have to load them fairly soon. Eyes peeled, folks.

[Timmer]

This was posted by Plymouth based train driver ‘irish_mail’ on RailUK Forums:
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/iet-availability.293921/

I'm led to believe that we are to return to the "bad old days" of 802s only on the WofE route, and 800s being used more or less exclusively only east of Exeter. This will of course lead to potential shortforms and cancellations on SW services if an 800 cannot readily substitute for an 802 as is commonplace at present. It's noticeable since 800s began coming to the far south west regularly (since Covid), that there have been fewer short forms , and more 9 car trains and a better overall service on GWRs^▸ (Great Western Railway) "most intercity" route. These changes are apparently needed as the 800s are being downrated power wise, whilst the 802s will remain with the higher power settings needed for the more challenging WofE route. So slower journey times on 800 served routes, and less stock availability on 802 WofE routes. What isn't to like.........

On another thread it was raised about an unreliable source vs a reliable source. I do tend to find irish_rail’s posts fairly well informed, but take this as you find it. As ever, time will tell.

[ChrisB]

As for a timetable change.... The number of GU^▸ (Generation Unit - Diesel engine plus electric generator)'s isolated has dropped significantly so I can't see them making that decision now.  They believe the problem is related to contaminated fuel (salt specifically)

Chime Whistle Publishing has retweeted his claim about this timetable change, saying yesterday -

Revised timetable coming into force from 5 January, to allow for two trains to have ten hour repair slots in depot.

[Timmer]

As for a timetable change.... The number of GU^▸ (Generation Unit - Diesel engine plus electric generator)'s isolated has dropped significantly so I can't see them making that decision now.  They believe the problem is related to contaminated fuel (salt specifically)

Chime Whistle Publishing has retweeted his claim about this timetable change, saying yesterday -

Revised timetable coming into force from 5 January, to allow for two trains to have ten hour repair slots in depot.

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) don’t appear as yet to have published a list of altered services or maybe they are only rolling stock changes?

[Chris from Nailsea]

As we were already up to page 23 of pages of posts on the previous topic (at https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=24934.0 ), I have now started yet another topic here - hopefully, to keep the discussion into more manageable chunks, in the interests of clarity and ease of future reference.

Hope this helps.  CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum). 

[a-driver]

Chime Whistle Publishing has retweeted his claim about this timetable change, saying yesterday -

Revised timetable coming into force from 5 January, to allow for two trains to have ten hour repair slots in depot.

Sounds more of a few tweaks to diagrams to release two sets for longer on depot rather then a whole timetable change.

[ChrisB]

extra stops are promised on some services....as an example. no one claimed a full rewrite

[Worcester_Passenger]

I'm hoping that posting on this 'new' topic on December 31 os OK.

Prompted by some comments in a recent edition of Modern Railways, I’ve been looking at scheduled and actual running times.  I’ve used the data from RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) for the Mondays-to-Fridays from November 3 to December 12, for the section of the Cotswold line between Ascott and Evesham. These timings are only to the nearest minute at each location.

I looked at trains that do the ‘standard’ calls, at Kingham, Moreton and Honeybourne, and I excluded the trains with ‘padding’ in their timings (mostly in the up direction in the late afternoon). The ‘standard’ working timetable timing for down trains (pass Ascott to arrive Evesham) is 30 or 30.5 minutes (the variation is down to the dwell time at Honeybourne); in the up direction (depart Evesham to pass Ascott) it is 30.5 or 31 minutes.

I excluded Friday November 14 – there was an issue about defective track between Evesham and Moreton.  I also excluded an occasion when the ‘halts’ train was cancelled (when the following train did these calls), and a couple of occasions when trains skipped stops to catch up with the timetable.

That left me with 476 timings in the down direction and 327 in the up direction.

I’ve plotted the results as cumulative distributions on the two attached charts.  In the down direction, the scheduled running time is 30.25 minutes, depending on the dwell time at Honeybourne. But the median actual running time (achieved by half of the trains) is 32.5 minutes.  And 25% of trains take 34 minutes or longer – some 12% slower than the timetable.
Only 26% of trains take 31 minutes or less.

The chart for the up direction is broadly similar – a scheduled average of 30.75 minutes, a median of 32.5 minutes, and 28% taking 34 minutes or longer.

What this is telling me is that the trains can’t keep up with the current timetable, and that it’s not all surprising to find them being turned short – down Hereford trains only getting as far as Malvern and so on.

The Cotswold line may well suffer badly in this regard – the standard calling pattern between Oxford and Worcester Shrub Hill (57 miles) has 8 intermediate stops, so the station-to-station distance averages out at 6.3 miles. Over that distance, acceleration is very important, and that will be badly affected by engines that are not working.

Unless Hitachi can get the engines working properly soon, an emergency timetable looks very likely.

[Chris from Nailsea]

I'm hoping that posting on this 'new' topic on December 31 is OK.
...

Unless Hitachi can get the engines working properly soon, an emergency timetable looks very likely.

I'm comfortable with your post appearing here, Worcester_Passenger. Your excellent research will no doubt provide very useful reference material in this ongoing discussion.

CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum). 

[Worcester_Passenger]

I'm comfortable with your post appearing here, Worcester_Passenger. Your excellent research will no doubt provide very useful reference material in this ongoing discussion.

CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum). 

Thanks!

[ChrisB]

Just DM^▸ (Dilton Marsh (more correctly DMH^▸ (Dilton Marsh Halt)), or a Direct Message (a personal message ('pm') sent from one member to another on the forum), or Down Main (railway track), depending on context)'d you, Worcester Passenger!

[IndustryInsider]

I'm hoping that posting on this 'new' topic on December 31 is OK.
...

Unless Hitachi can get the engines working properly soon, an emergency timetable looks very likely.

I'm comfortable with your post appearing here, Worcester_Passenger. Your excellent research will no doubt provide very useful reference material in this ongoing discussion.

CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum). 

Yes, it’s interesting data and well done for producing it.

I don’t wish to pour any scorn on it…but…

There are a few related issues that need to be factored in.

1)  The data is mostly within the leaf fall period.  IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) are better at dealing with that than all the traction that has recently operated along the line - Turbos^▸ (Class 165 and 166 trains used on Thames Valley services), 180s, and (especially) HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)).  But their performance will be affected by wheelslip/slide and the more defensive technique drivers will be using to mitigate its affects.

2)  There has been a long speed restriction of 40mph between Campden Tunnel and Honeybourne in the down direction.  I forget exactly when it was introduced but it would have been during the data period at some point.  It’s over 2 miles long so is causing an additional minute at least to be added.

3) The SRT^» (Sectional Running Time, or Smart Railway Technology - about)’s among that stretch of line are generally very tight, so all it takes is for a small station delay to make it impossible to keep to time even with all engines firing.

I guess without another set of data at the same time of year when there are no/few engines isolated amongst the fleet, it is difficult to know exactly what delays are being specifically caused by the current poor engine availability.

[Mark A]

Thanks for this. SRT^» (Sectional Running Time, or Smart Railway Technology - about) is another acronym to pop in the acronmym box, mind.

Mark

[Chris from Nailsea]

Done!  My first for 2026. 

[GBM]

06:12 Penzance to London Paddington due 11:49
06:12 Penzance to London Paddington due 11:49 will be started from Plymouth.
It will no longer call at Penzance, Camborne, Redruth, Truro, St Austell, Par, Bodmin Parkway, Liskeard, St Germans and Saltash.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
Will be formed of 5 coaches instead of 10.