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The new GWR Hitachi trains - my verdict

A lunch train from Swansea and a return South Wales "dinner" train would be superb. I reckon there is enough business for it

I enjoy my red wine - but 2 bottles of Malbec and 4 lagers before would be pushing it , but prepared for a bottle and maybe a brandy with a coffee. Were it ever to come to pass..living in hope and and so on.
 
And another great seat for me!

IMG_20191119_103101.jpg

I've moved to another seat but seeing as the reservation indicators aren't working (again) I'm not sure if I'm in someone's seat or not.

#bringbackic125
 
Bring back the 125s!

Six trains, part of a new high-speed fleet, have been taken out of service after hairline cracks were discovered.
Great Western Railway (GWR) said the cracks were found during routine maintenance of two of its Hitachi 800 trains.
It said "possible issues" had been discovered on another six trains, which had been withdrawn from service while investigation work was carried out.
Click to expand...
www.bbc.co.uk

High-speed GWR trains withdrawn over crack fears - BBC News

Cracks were discovered during routine maintenance of two Hitachi 800 trains.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
 
I did a lot of work with the company that built the trains, watched them grow from 30 to over 2000 employees. Disappointing to hear about this, especially given they’re in charge of the maintenance too.
 
I hope I can still get a train from Bristol to London on Monday as GWR are affected .....I really don't want to go on the coach.
 
A pity. I always enjoyed heading out from Paddington with an eight pack of brew dog under my arm enjoying the modern Hitachi seating on the much improved GWR service.
 
platinumsage said:
Highly unlikely you’ll be able to get a GWR train, might want to try the slower Waterloo route, or even via Birmingham.
Click to expand...

Keep an eye on things on Sunday. Some of the 800's are back in service today (but being concentrated on the South Wales and West Country routes - sparingly !) , but you can guarantee there will be concentrated checking on the fleet so there may be better news for Monday. (they got over 20 back in on the LNER route by early afternoon)
 
Another complaint; you must book bike on in advance and spots are rare. When you do get one there is a cupboard that supposedly stores two bikes…

9B07C2F7-C3BE-4BF4-A4BD-53C01F870BC5.jpeg


The bikes are supposed to go vertically on the wall, my bike is not massive but is too tall to do that, not withstanding that the cupboard is too narrow for the handlebars to fit through the door…
 
Hitachi in a JV with Bombardier are preferred bidder on HS2 so I imagine there’ll be crap bike provision there too.

Glad I got out while I did!
 
Bahnhof Strasse said:
Another complaint; you must book bike on in advance and spots are rare. When you do get one there is a cupboard that supposedly stores two bikes…

View attachment 292026


The bikes are supposed to go vertically on the wall, my bike is not massive but is too tall to do that, not withstanding that the cupboard is too narrow for the handlebars to fit through the door…
Click to expand...
Bike storage on U.K. trains is an absolute joke.
 
That’s risible. They had racks like that on some of the ‘super sprinter’ 158s, my Pashley with the wide basket on the front wouldn’t even fit through the door. Bring back brake coaches/DVTs with their ample storage (like the ones on the ECML they’ve just binned).
 
Bahnhof Strasse said:
Another complaint; you must book bike on in advance and spots are rare. When you do get one there is a cupboard that supposedly stores two bikes…

View attachment 292026


The bikes are supposed to go vertically on the wall, my bike is not massive but is too tall to do that, not withstanding that the cupboard is too narrow for the handlebars to fit through the door…
Click to expand...

I‘m sure you could easily rack that on an Audi Q8. It seems like this country wants to make train travel harder than car travel in every single little way imaginable.

No way I’d stick myself in one of these sardine cans with those solid upright seats for several hours and desired engines under the floor, and pay over the odds for the privilege when a car offers does everything better

However I would have happily paid more for a 125 journey over driving - comfy seats, a buffet car, leisurely strolls down the entire train, nice big tables, bike with the guard etc..
 
Did a trip London Paddington to Penzance this week.

Leg out: No buffet trolley - no hot water. Cold water distributed after 3 hours.

Leg bag: No buffet trolley, no hot water, a few free 'snack's and bottles of cold water distributed.

Up until these new trains, you could pretty much guarantee a buffet car, on these the trolley service seems pretty hit and miss. Service is completely shit now.. <rant over>
 
Hollis said:
Did a trip London Paddington to Penzance this week.

Leg out: No buffet trolley - no hot water. Cold water distributed after 3 hours.

Leg bag: No buffet trolley, no hot water, a few free 'snack's and bottles of cold water distributed.

Up until these new trains, you could pretty much guarantee a buffet car, on these the trolley service seems pretty hit and miss. Service is completely shit now.. <rant over>
Click to expand...
Same last time I was on one. Buffet trolley, but no hot water :rolleyes:
 
I also had to contend with several fellow passengers deciding it's now okay to 'play out' whatever crap they're listening to on their mobiles... okay one was playing Joy Division - but I still didn't want to hear it.

Found peace after changing carriages twice.. :hmm: :facepalm::facepalm:
 
The GWR buffet trolley service really is a complete mystery. On the train down it failed to materialise at all despite being announced at the start of the journey

I'm not too optimistic on the way back now...
 
On an Avanti West coast train to Birmingham... And "no hot water", and only cold drinks and snacks available. Amazing how difficult these train operators seem to find it to have a reliable supply of hot water.. :facepalm: :facepalm:

Bring back Maxpax coffee. All is forgiven.
 
Well my last trip involved the unexploded bomb... can't realy blame GWR for that... and another 1 hour+ delay on the way back from Penzance.

Drove me nuts submitting the 'Delay Repay' claim...they don't make it easy. But I have managed to get 100% refund on the ticket.. :thumbs:
 
Hollis said:
On an Avanti West coast train to Birmingham... And "no hot water", and only cold drinks and snacks available. Amazing how difficult these train operators seem to find it to have a reliable supply of hot water.. :facepalm: :facepalm:

Bring back Maxpax coffee. All is forgiven.
Click to expand...
Take a thermos
 
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