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Autumn refresh for GWR Class 165/166 Turbos

387star

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I Understand from a GWR newsletter that the internal refurbishment of the Turbos has been signed off with work due to start imminently.

This is great news because the 166s are a disgrace internally and possibly the shabbiest trains on the network. Most of the tables are covered in unsightly marks etchings or are sticky to the touch! Many hopper windows will not close and there is the wonderful clash of green carpet and pink and blue seats!

Hopefully the refurbishment will be up to standard ! I have no idea if new seats will be fitted.
 
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Stigy

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I Understand from a GWR newsletter that the internal refurbishment of the Turbos has been signed off with work due to start imminently.

This is great news because the 166s are a disgrace internally and possibly the shabbiest trains on the network. Most of the tables are covered in unsightly marks etchings or are sticky to the touch! Many hopper windows will not close and there is the wonderful clash of green carpet and pink and blue seats!

Hopefully the refurbishment will be up to standard ! I have no idea if new seats will be fitted.
Good news, as long as they have a thorough refresh throughout. Certainly the ones on the Portsmouth-Cardiff routes need making fit for purpose with seats/tables fit for long distance commuting.
 

387star

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Good news, as long as they have a thorough refresh throughout. Certainly the ones on the Portsmouth-Cardiff routes need making fit for purpose with seats/tables fit for long distance commuting.
I agree. They aren't suitable and will not encourage people to leave their cars behind.

Here is an image of a table in a vile state. I think the way they were last refurbished was done on the cheap. New tables should have been fitted as opposed to a spray job...
 

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ScotGG

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Southeastern's Networkers are worse IMO except the 465/9
 

Mike Machin

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Waste of money, at 28 years of age they should be pensioned off and sent for recycling. I no longer use the train as the abysmal third-world conditions on the Portsmouth - Cardiff route just aren’t worth the money. I can’t see any reason to pay ridiculous amounts of money to be deafened, overheated, frozen (depending on the time of year), subjected to toxic fumes and the dubious sticky substances found in these rattling mobile Petri dishes.

My car is cheaper, quieter, climate-controlled, relaxing, hygienic and often quicker.

Unless the refurbishment includes a totally new interior, a completely new air-conditioning system, new tinted double-glazed sealed windows, a new exhaust system and some serious sound deadening, anything less is just squandering good money after bad.
 

Stigy

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Waste of money, at 28 years of age they should be pensioned off and sent for recycling. I no longer use the train as the abysmal third-world conditions on the Portsmouth - Cardiff route just aren’t worth the money. I can’t see any reason to pay ridiculous amounts of money to be deafened, overheated, frozen (depending on the time of year), subjected to toxic fumes and the dubious sticky substances found in these rattling mobile Petri dishes.

My car is cheaper, quieter, climate-controlled, relaxing, hygienic and often quicker.

Unless the refurbishment includes a totally new interior, a completely new air-conditioning system, new tinted double-glazed sealed windows, a new exhaust system and some serious sound deadening, anything less is just squandering good money after bad.
Refurbishment, when done well, makes trains look and feel like new. Unfortunately, I fear this may not be the case here. Time will tell I guess.
 

Kite159

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The proof will be when the first one comes out from getting refurbished, but agreed some of the interiors are getting a bit grim. Was on one earlier where the bin in the toilet was being held up by gaffer tape.

Decent 2+2 seating with fold down tables on the back of the seats with more full sized tables for those who want to work.
 

tiptoptaff

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The intention was always to overhaul internally and go to 2+2 seating, not all around tables, but a similar configuration/ratio of tables to airline that the 158s have.

However the DfT refused to sign it off as it presented a reduction in seating capacity.

I wouldn't get too excited about it. There are bigger issues with the 16x fleet than an interior "refresh"
 

Doomotron

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Hopefully the refurbishment will make them as nice as GWR's 150s, but I doubt it.
 

Class360/1

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I agree. They aren't suitable and will not encourage people to leave their cars behind.

Here is an image of a table in a vile state. I think the way they were last refurbished was done on the cheap. New tables should have been fitted as opposed to a spray job...
Oh my! The table looks a disgrace!
Hopefully the refurbishment will make them as nice as GWR's 150s, but I doubt it.
Thanks to the dft
 

fgwrich

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Oh my! The table looks a disgrace!

Thanks to the dft

The worst part is, is that they’ve been like that since they left Reading. It wasn’t uncommon to see tables like that, internal doors held open with tape, and the carpets so dirty they were turning brown. Apart from a replacement of carpets, the dire state has continued on Cardiff - Portsmouth, often now including notices such as “toilet awaiting parts” dated from September / October / November of last year.
 

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Parallel

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I really hope they go all out with the refurbishment here. As far as I know, the units are not planning to be retired anytime soon and they work on regional routes where passengers are likely to be making longer distance travel. They're really difficult to work or relax on as there are very few (and no fold down) tables to put your laptop or food and drink.

I'd be surprised if the air conditioning was sorted out as it wasn't on the Class 158s when they went in for their refresh, but the seats, the small toilets, blown glazing and many bodged repairs these units have need sorting out. GWR also seem to have stopped bothering to replace the spotlights in the standard part of the train that actually has tables, which leaves one of the nicer parts of the train feeling rather dingy.
 

Class360/1

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The worst part is, is that they’ve been like that since they left Reading. It wasn’t uncommon to see tables like that, internal doors held open with tape, and the carpets so dirty they were turning brown. Apart from a replacement of carpets, the dire state has continued on Cardiff - Portsmouth, often now including notices such as “toilet awaiting parts” dated from September / October / November of last year.
Those pictures made me feel so angry as to why the nobody did a thing about the abysmal state of them. They are fit for short-medium commuter journeys, but not for 5 1/2 hour long journeys. What unit(s) did you take those photos on?

May even choose an IET over a turbo when I go west then because of the state.
 

fgwrich

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Those pictures made me feel so angry as to why the nobody did a thing about the abysmal state of them. They are fit for short-medium commuter journeys, but not for 5 1/2 hour long journeys. What unit(s) did you take those photos on?

May even choose an IET over a turbo when I go west then because of the state.

The majority of them are from my commutes to Reading on them. A few are on the from a recent other trip from Portsmouth to Southampton - I’ve pretty much given up taking photos of their dire states because nothing really changes.

The worn (since replaced but the replacements are getting just as bad) carpet photos are not the carpets going threadbare, but the result of so much ingrained dirt. The Seat photos are some of the poor conditions of these units - and in some cases how they have been coming out of the depot in the morning (yes I’ve complained and no, nothing changes).
 

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LowLevel

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Well, that's quite an impressive level of dilapidation - even in the worst years of the Northern Shed or EMT initial cast offs pre refurbishment I don't think I've seen trains in a poorer condition than that in traffic.
 

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The majority of them are from my commutes to Reading on them. A few are on the from a recent other trip from Portsmouth to Southampton - I’ve pretty much given up taking photos of their dire states because nothing really changes.

The worn (since replaced but the replacements are getting just as bad) carpet photos are not the carpets going threadbare, but the result of so much ingrained dirt. The Seat photos are some of the poor conditions of these units - and in some cases how they have been coming out of the depot in the morning (yes I’ve complained and no, nothing changes).
Those pictures are from a 165 because there are no full sized first class tables. All the two car 165s have had that area replaced by standard seating with a huge bike and luggage area at the other end. All 166s have had their carpet replaced but a shame it clashes. The 165s look ok inside probably because they don't have carpet or tables!

I do find the interior doors aren't great with very old style buttons and they don't seem very responsive.

Many units have cut out holes in the empty poster frames covered with hazard tape for some reason. Damaged side panels or missing trim are also common

166205 with the GWR interior has the old first colours reappearing in a lot of places. Many seats have random rubine red grab handles and the tables reveal the original colours from being worn .
 

Stigy

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It doesn’t help that the cleaning regime seems to have fallen by the wayside. To the extent that I’m surprised more aren’t failed on the depot as not being fit for service. I get that deep cleaning isn’t feasible that regularly, but when there’s McDonald’s packaging from the previous day’s service and old Metros etc, it’s a bit much. More so since Covid became a thing, and all TOCs pledged to clean trains regularly, with their extra special cleaning agents..
 

Bluejays

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One of the turbos had the full gwr refresh a few years ago, new seats, new colour scheme . Made it into a nice unit in my opinion. There's definitely scope for them to become nice units. Sorting out the air con would be huge, not only for temperature but also because it stops the noise coming in through open windows.
 

LowLevel

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It doesn’t help that the cleaning regime seems to have fallen by the wayside. To the extent that I’m surprised more aren’t failed on the depot as not being fit for service. I get that deep cleaning isn’t feasible that regularly, but when there’s McDonald’s packaging from the previous day’s service and old Metros etc, it’s a bit much. More so since Covid became a thing, and all TOCs pledged to clean trains regularly, with their extra special cleaning agents..

I believe at least one TOC has had a visit from "The Man from the Ministry" over falling short on their cleaning commitments, with the issue being rectified with almost comic haste afterwards :lol:
 

adc82140

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It's not taken a massive amount of time to get in this state. When was the last refresh? Under Thames Trains they still retained their original NSE interiors, but I'm sure it never got as bad as this. Those former first class seats have always been more prone to falling apart than the standard class ones. Is that still the case?
 

43096

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It doesn’t help that the cleaning regime seems to have fallen by the wayside. To the extent that I’m surprised more aren’t failed on the depot as not being fit for service. I get that deep cleaning isn’t feasible that regularly, but when there’s McDonald’s packaging from the previous day’s service and old Metros etc, it’s a bit much. More so since Covid became a thing, and all TOCs pledged to clean trains regularly, with their extra special cleaning agents..
So all the crowing from the railway about "enhanced cleaning regimes" being in place for Covid is actually a pack of lies. There's a surprise!
 

Bluejays

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It doesn’t help that the cleaning regime seems to have fallen by the wayside. To the extent that I’m surprised more aren’t failed on the depot as not being fit for service. I get that deep cleaning isn’t feasible that regularly, but when there’s McDonald’s packaging from the previous day’s service and old Metros etc, it’s a bit much. More so since Covid became a thing, and all TOCs pledged to clean trains regularly, with their extra special cleaning agents..
I wonder if the 'covid cleaning' regimes have made things worse in some ways. Never seems to actually be any cleaning happening, just wiping antibac/antiviral fluid over the tops of everything.
A lot of the trains need a real good deep clean, rather than just wiping another layer over the dirt
 

RPM

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I'm quite shocked at the state of the pictured units. I had no idea thay had got so bad. They are in a far worse state than the Chiltern 165s despite IIRC the GWR units having been refurbished/refreshed more recently.
 

Stigy

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So all the crowing from the railway about "enhanced cleaning regimes" being in place for Covid is actually a pack of lies. There's a surprise!
They have “cab cleaning” certificates in them, so the cabs are usually cleaned, but it’s debatable how thoroughly to be honest.
 

py_megapixel

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I'm quite shocked at the state of the pictured units. I had no idea thay had got so bad. They are in a far worse state than the Chiltern 165s despite IIRC the GWR units having been refurbished/refreshed more recently.
Yes, they're in a dire state. The only things I remember being worse in recent times were some of the Serco-Abellio Northern 150s and 142s towards the end of the franchise, where the seats were actually falling apart. Really shocking how bad GWR have let them become.
 

Wilts Wanderer

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Those pictures aren’t representative of all the GWR sets, just a few worse-case examples. The West units I regularly ride are clean and tidy inside, if a bit threadbare in places. Perhaps the Reading sets are in a worse condition?
 

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