Operations Track Record
cancelled at short notice, but the following 12.53 service did run using Class 158 No. 158708. The service was well loaded, arriving in Tain at 14.06 – three minutes late. On Tuesday, May 31 the 12.34 Wick to Inverness service formed of Class 158 No. 158719 ran to time throughout its journey to Invergordon, which was reached at 16.10. The train crew, from Wick, was rostered to return north the next day with the 07.00 Inverness to Wick service.
Passengers on the very busy four-coach Class 156 11.40 ScotRail service from Fort William to Glasgow on Friday, May 27 endured an overcrowded journey onwards from Crianlarich. From Tyndrum Upper, those on the train could look down across the Llen to see the two-coach Class 156 service from Oban departing Tyndrum lower, and due to join up at Crianlarich.
For unknown operational reasons, the Oban set was halted at Crianlarich, and the many passengers on that train somehow squeezed aboard the service from Fort William. It was standing room only, with luggage everywhere. Exactly how passengers fared joining en route between Crianlarich and Glasgow is not known.
The service eventually arrived in Glasgow Queen Street 20 minutes late.
On May 29, the 08.11 Leeds to Plymouth service formed of power cars Nos. 43321 and 43366 hit a fallen tree just to the south of Clay Cross tunnel between Chesterfield and
Derby. The train came to a halt at approximately 09.27 and inspections were carried out to assess the damage to the train.
Eventually the train was allowed to move at a reduced speed to Derby, reached at
12.37, and terminated there approximately three hours late. Passengers were then directed to other services. A correspondent reported that during all this time the on board staff acted in a very professional manner and kept passengers informed of the situation.
An unfortunate accident occurred on May 11 to the 09.30 Bradford Forster Square to Leeds service formed with Class 333 No. 333016. Soon after leaving Apperley Bridge and running at line speed of 70mph the train struck a horse, bringing the train to a halt. Arrival at Leeds was 25 minutes late where it was noted the unit sustained only limited damage to the glass fibre fairing.
Class 150 No. 150215 was noted in place of the usual Class 195 on the 09.17 NottinghamLeeds service on June 8. A correspondent reports that on Thursday, May 5 an attempt to travel from York to Huddersfield by Class 68 worked Nova 3 was thwarted when the 1F72/15.34 from Scarborough to Manchester Victoria was cancelled. Instead, it was necessary to use the 1P78/15.07 from Redcar Central to Manchester Airport, formed of Class 185 Nos. 185151+185106. The following day, Friday, May 6, the same York to Huddersfield journey on the 1F72 from Scarborough to Manchester Victoria ran as planned. The train was headed by DVT No. 12812 with Class 68 No. 68021 Tireless at the rear of the train. The 09.56 York-Leeds driving training run with the 10.54 return from Leeds-Heaton was formed of Class 802 No. 802214 on May 4 and No. 802213 on May 11. With the introduction of a new timetable on Monday, May 16 Class 802s are now operating some passenger services on the WCML. On that Monday, the 12.10/1S56 Manchester Airport to Edinburgh was worked by No. 802202 and on May 17 the 16.12/1M91 Edinburgh to Manchester Airport was operated by No. 802209. On May 26, the 16.40 from Manchester Airport to Saltburn was formed of three cars instead of six cars. By the time it left Manchester Victoria, it was really overcrowded. Halfway to Miles Platting it came to a halt, and after five minutes the driver reversed back to Victoria where they said the reverse was due to a bridge strike. After another five minutes, the service set off again, picking up more passengers at Huddersfield. On approaching Dewsbury it came to another stand only to be told trespassers were on the line. It arrived at York where the service was terminated. Now the new TransPennine service is linking Dunbar more regularly, a correspondent was surprised to find the 15.30 from Waverley, which they boarded in Dunbar terminated at Berwick where it crossed over on to Platform 2 the northbound line. It was to wait 10 minutes before working back to Waverley. It is understood that TPE is hoping to start an hourly service between Berwick and Waverley next spring 2023, which is great news for the Border stations, old and new. The odd thing was the Hitachi set No. 802201 was running under the wires on diesel power! Observations at Heaton Norris Junction on June 7 produced Class 68 No. 68020 while working 0Z86 LongsightDoncaster
Belmont Yard light move. No. 68027 was also sighted propelling Mk.5 Set TP01 on 5B78 Manchester Piccadilly-Cleethorpes empty TPE driver familiarisation run. and about on test runs. On Wednesday, May 18 No. 197003 was seen arriving at Shrewsbury platform 7 having worked as test train 3J11 from Crewe to Shrewsbury. The next day
No. 197001 was noted, from a passing train, in the sidings at Gresty Green. On Friday, May 20 No. 197010 was seen arriving at Shrewsbury platform 4, having worked as test train 3J03 from Crewe to Shrewsbury.
During the evening of Monday, May 23 Class 37
No. 37601 was seen arriving at Shrewsbury station working train 5Q92 from Crewe Carriage Sidings to Machynlleth Carriage Sidings delivering No. 197003 to Machynlleth for testing. On Tuesday, May 24 No. 197102 was noted, from a passing train, in the sidings adjacent to the Arriva Traincare Depot at Crewe. On the same day at Chester
No. 197101 was seen stabled in the sidings by the station, and a little later Nos. 197011 and 197004 were seen arriving on a test train from Llandudno Junction.
TfW’s Class 150 Nos. 150240+ 150279+150242 struck a stolen mini-digger left on the line at Craven Arms at about 60mph on May 22. Spilt fuel catching fire beneath Nos. 150242 and 150279 was soon extinguished, but the bodyside paintwork on both was charred. It is reported that TfW may receive two Class 150s on loan from Northern.
New Class 231 units Nos. 231007+231008 were moved from Dollands Moor to Ripple Lane and through to Cardiff on June 7, the train being observed arriving at Ripple Lane behind Class 92 No. 92041 and Class 66 No. 66002.
On Tuesday, May 24, Nos. 730006 and 730008 were seen at Wolverhampton working a test train from Oxley Carriage Maintenance Depot to Crewe. The same pair were later noted from a passing train at Crewe station. New Class 730 No. 730010 was moved from Derby to Oxley by Class 37 No. 37611 on June 1.
On Saturday, June 4, the 16.49 Lye to Kidderminster comprised Class 172 Nos. 172211+172103, the latter still in Chiltern Railways livery, and the former Chiltern fleet names, partially removed, were still visible.
Class 196 Nos. 196005+ 196112 were moved from Tyseley to Long Marston by Class 37 No. 37601 on June 13. An announcement made at Crewe on May 12 stated that the 07.02 service from Milford Haven to Manchester Piccadilly, due into Crewe at 12.30, was running eight minutes late. This delay gradually increased to 25 minutes, with the reason given as ‘attaching an additional unit’. When the service eventually arrived at Crewe, it was formed of a Class 175 No. 175105, so it was a bit difficult to understand where the ‘additional unit’ had been attached. It transpired that the service was worked by Class 150 No. 150280 to Cardiff, where it was terminated, with passengers being transferred to No. 175105. The operation of TfW’s Class 67 worked trains was observed over several days in mid-May. On Wednesday, May 18 a journey was made from Hereford to Shrewsbury on the 1W96/17.16 from Cardiff Central to Holyhead, hauled by Class 67 No. 67014, in TfW livery, but with DB Logos, and with DVT No. 82229, in RNLI livery. This made a stark contrast with the 1V97/14.34 Holyhead to Cardiff Central, which was formed of Class 153 Nos. 153312+153361. On the same day, the 1V98/16.36 from Holyhead to Cardiff Central, which would normally be worked by a Class 67, was cancelled. According to Realtime Trains this was “due to a problem with the traction equipment.” In its place, Class 175 No. 175009 ran as the 1T98/18.22 from Chester to Cardiff Central, which was seen at Shrewsbury. The following day, Thursday, May 19 the 1W91/06.45 from Cardiff Central to Holyhead booked for a Class 67 was seen at Shrewsbury formed of No. 175010. Later the same day a journey from Chester to Shrewsbury was made on the 1V98/16.36 from Holyhead to Cardiff Central, headed by DVT No. 82229 with Class 67 No. 67014 at the rear. That evening the 1W96/17.16 from Cardiff Central to Holyhead, was seen at Shrewsbury station headed by No. 67010, in DB red livery with ‘First choice for rail freight in the UK’ slogan, and with DVT No. 82226, in Alzheimer’s Society Cymru livery, at the rear of the train. The following day the 1W91/06.45 from Cardiff Central to Holyhead was seen at Shrewsbury station headed by No. 67014, with DVT 82229. Later that day the 1V98/16.36 from Holyhead to Cardiff Central with No. 67010, and the 1W96/17.16 from Cardiff Central to Holyhead with No. 67014 were both seen at Shrewsbury station. New Class 197 units are out Observations of the new Class 777 units at various dates produced the following: at Crewe, April 25 Nos. 777002, 777005 + 777014; April 26: 777001, 777006; April 27: 777004. At Kirkdale May 12: 777010, 777015; May 16: 777009, 777010, 777049
With the uncertainty over the long-term future of the Class 68s at Chiltern, a journey was made on Wednesday, May 18 from Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street on the 1R93/12.10. This was headed by Class 68 No. 68013 Peter Wreford-Bush with DVT No. 82301 at the rear of the train. Having left Marylebone on time, the train was delayed by 13 minutes at High Wycombe whilst staff dealt with a fare evader.
A small part of the delay was then made up with eventual arrival at Moor Street nine minutes late. No. 68009, in
DRS livery, was noted from the passing train at Wembley Light Maintenance Depot.
Reformations of the Class 222 Meridian to create a uniform fleet of five-car units continued in early May, with former sevencar No. 222006 seen in five-car formation on May 6, forming the 1C32/09.37 Sheffield-London St Pancras. Nos. 222101, 222102 and 222104 were all seen in fivecar formation on May 13, 14 and 15 respectively.
A signal failure at Market Harborough caused disruption on the morning of May 16, with services diverted via Corby and Oakham. Class 710 No. 710374 was top-and-tailed by Class 37 Nos. 37608+37884 from Derby to Old Dalby on May 17.
Thameslink services restarted on May 16 with the 05.52 Littlehampton to Bedford and return 15.43 to Littlehampton. Observed were Nos. 700110 on May 16; No. 700143 on May 18; and No. 700137 on May 20.
The 15.43 Bedford to Littlehampton on June 6 was cancelled due to a shortage of drivers. Due to the cancellation, a special ECS move from
Three Bridges Depot (18.00) to Littlehampton ran, the unit being No. 700020 instead of a 12- car. Then No. 700020 worked the 05.52 to Bedford the next day. As was widely reported, the Queen made a surprise visit to Paddington station on Tuesday, May 17, to see the completed Elizabeth Line and unveil a plaque to mark the completion of the Crossrail project. The following Tuesday, May 24, Elizabeth Line services began running on the Crossrail core route across central London, with an initial 12 trains per hour linking Paddington station in the west to Abbey Wood in the southeast. The following week a correspondent explored the new line on Monday, May 30. The day’s travels began at Ealing Broadway joining the 9P83/13.22 from Heathrow Central to London Paddington formed of Class 345 No. 345052. This was the wellestablished service on the Great
Western, formerly known as TfL Rail and now rebranded Elizabeth Line. Arrival at Paddington was at platform 11, from where there is rather a long walk to platform A to make a journey over the newly opened line to Abbey Wood on the 9U07/14.13 formed of
No. 345057.
Passing through Bond Street station, the roundels were noted to alternately display ‘Station Closed’ and ‘Opening Soon’, rather than the station name. The return from Abbey Wood as far as Whitechapel was made on the 9Y17/14.50 from Abbey Wood to London Paddington, formed of No. 345002.
Exploration at Whitechapel found that the new platforms for the Elizabeth Line have been integrated into the existing station serving the London Overground and District Lines. The key strength of the new line appears to be its integration with the existing rail (and bus) links, which is unfortunately temporarily marred by the changes needed at Paddington and Liverpool Street.
The journey was continued from Whitechapel as far as Liverpool Street on the 9Y21/15.10 formed of No.
345001. At Liverpool Street the walk from platform B to the high numbered platforms used by the Shenfield services was not as long as that at Paddington, but its elimination will be equally welcome. Engineering work in the Sevenoaks area on June 11 saw the Charing Cross to Hastings and vice versa services diverted via Redhill and stopping additionally at East Croydon. Units observed at East Croydon were Nos 375611/24/26/2830, 375703/10/15, 375807/10/11/14/15/24/26, 375911/24.
Sunday engineering work in the Sevenoaks area on June 12 saw more Class 375s at
Redhill with Nos. 375611/30, 375706/08/09/13/15, 375807/08/ 10/12/18/25/26/29/30, 375911/16/24 being observed. Scrap movements of the Class 455 units continue on a regular basis from Stewarts Lane to Sims, Newport, with Nos. 455809+455816 being moved by Class 66 No. 66793 on May 17; No. 66703 + Nos. 455835+455841 on May 19; 66765 + Nos. 455828+455846 on May 24; 66726 + Nos. 455811+455824 on May 26; 66744 + Nos. 455821+455845 on May 30. 66744 + Nos. 455818+455832 on June 1. 66798 + Nos. 455805+455808 on June 7; 66798 + Nos. 455802+455829 on June 9; and 66793 + Nos. 458803+455806 on June 16. Class 377 No. 377455 worked the 16.52 Brighton to Littlehampton and 17.51 return working on May 12 instead of the booked Class 313. The 13.45 Victoria to Littlehampton terminated at Worthing due to a train fault on Class 377 Nos. 377401+377155 on May 13. On the same day Class 313 No. 313207 was declared a failure at Littlehampton with a train fault before working the 17.55 service to Portsmouth. No. 313207 was taken to Brighton Depot and returned with No. 313205 to start the 18.57 ex-Portsmouth at Barnham. May 20 was a bad day for the Class 313s. The 06.47 Brighton to Littlehampton failed in service with a train fault and was pulled out of service at Littlehampton and declared a complete failure, No. 313209 was the culprit and needed assistance back to Brighton depot which came in the shape of No. 313204 which departed around 11.30. The booked return service, the 07.55, was cancelled. The 12.03 Brighton to Portsmouth with No. 313205 terminated at Worthing and pulled out of service also with a train fault. The unit returned to Brighton depot and the return working 13.29 from Portsmouth was cancelled. Littlehampton had a very busy weekend May 21/22 as football fans made their way to Wembley. Normal Saturday service operated on May 21 but on May 22, the early morning services were strengthened to capacity. The 06.22 to Brighton was formed of Nos. 377449+377444; the 06.50 to London Bridge Thameslink charter was No. 700136 which ran non-stop from Hove. The 07.12 to London Bridge had Nos. 377110+377463; the 07.35 to Brighton Nos. 377434+377102+377115; the 08.13 to London Bridge Nos. 377139+377402+377473; and the 09.13 to London Bridge Nos. 377102+377432+377156. All weekend services were diverted to London Bridge due to engineering work between East Croydon and London Victoria. Class 377 Nos. 377163+ 377164 have returned to Southern from South Eastern. No. 377163 was observed at Littlehampton working the 06.19 service to Portsmouth Harbour on June 11.