GW 769s to Scotrail?

[collosus]

have the blue 769s doors been changed to the scotrail door colour

 

[Deepgreen]

First thought would be component recovery for 318 / 320 but the wrong ownership for that as 769 are Porterbrook, 318 and 320 are Eversholt, so that can probably be discounted as a theory.

Oh, what wonderful flexibility and efficiency privatisation brought...!

Stop gap involves training staff for short term use. That doesn't sound cheap to do.

Are the 769s better than 156s? There would no doubt be a period when the 769s lead to an unreliable service.

GWR couldn't get them into service after years, so very doubtful if anyone else would even try.

 

[43096]

Oh, what wonderful flexibility and efficiency privatisation brought...!

There's probably rather less in common that you might think. 320/321 being bog standard 25kV AC units with Brush electrical equipment and thyristor control, whereas Class 319 has GEC traction systems using GTO choppers.

 

[fgwrich]

Oh, what wonderful flexibility and efficiency privatisation brought...!


GWR couldn't get them into service after years, so very doubtful if anyone else would even try.

GWR could have and nearly did as @Clarence Yard has said previously (At least 6 units if I recall were ready to go) but the DfT pulled the rug out from under everyone's feet citing post covid costs. So, no doubt Brodies (now partly owned by Porterbrook) will have picked form those 6 and with both Brodies & Porterbrooks combined engineering expertise, might actually be able to make them work reliably and successfully.

 

[Senna1210]

The units are in good order and it would be a sin for them not to see operation in more than one form or another going forward.

 

[Energy]

GWR could have and nearly did as @Clarence Yard has said previously (At least 6 units if I recall were ready to go) but the DfT pulled the rug out from under everyone's feet citing post covid costs.

The DfT received the same amount of money from the Treasury but had a real term cut due to the high inflation from the Liz Truss mini-budget. Operators were told they would need to cut costs, for GWR cutting the 769s (or not extending the lease) is an obvious choice.

To be fair to the DfT, they don't decide how much money they get.

 

[lumitumey12345]

Found this thought id post it here

 

[CarrotPie]

Found this thought id post it here

You've been beaten to it...by 15 days!

 

[jamieintercity]

After shuttling between kilmarnock and barassie over the past few weeks. The 769s appear to going even further this week with a trips on the ayrshire coast this evening before returning to kilmarnock tonight via Glasgow central and barrhead

 

[RJMC]

My son wanted to go and see it for his YouTube channel so we managed to catch it going through Lochwinnoch, I have to say it’s definitely not Scotrail blue, it’s slightly darker. Not sure if I’m allowed to post a link to the video here or not

 

[Anonymous10]

My son wanted to go and see it for his YouTube channel so we managed to catch it going through Lochwinnoch, I have to say it’s definitely not Scotrail blue, it’s slightly darker. Not sure if I’m allowed to post a link to the video here or not

The forum certainly wouldn't have an issue from what I've seen in other threads.

 

[collosus]

My son wanted to go and see it for his YouTube channel so we managed to catch it going through Lochwinnoch, I have to say it’s definitely not Scotrail blue, it’s slightly darker. Not sure if I’m allowed to post a link to the video here or not

Please let me know the channel name

 

[RJMC]

Here is the video, channel should be accessible from the link as well

 

[Anonymous10]

Here is the video, channel should be accessible from the link as well

If anything it has a similar shade to what gwr used to use.

 

[danbarjon]

Here is the video, channel should be accessible from the link as well

Great video, definitely a mysterious colour choice for the 769. I've liked and subscribed.

 

[Snow1964]

Another video has surfaced of pair of769s passing Prestwick

 

[snowball]

Another video has surfaced of pair of769s passing Preswich

Seems to work well on 750V DC ... or perhaps it was Prestwick.

 

[collosus]

Didn’t There contact shoes get removed

 

[snowball]

Didn’t There contact shoes get removed

Maybe, but Prestwich, originally mentioned in #166, is on Metrolink, 750 V DC overhead. It has since been edited to Prestwick, possibly in response to #167.

 

[gc4946]

How reliable are the 769s now after all these test runs?

 

[ToddMeister]

If it's in the location I suspect it's in, it's very close to the running line and signal stops adjacent to the place are fairly common, so he'd likely have plenty of opportunity?

Brodies is directly next to the running line at Kilmarnock. Units are easily viewable when arriving and departing station either from Glasgow direction or the Barassie branch line.

 

[moffatcalum]

Seems they have been testing the units for the last fortnight (weekdays) without any breakdowns sofar that I can determine
Good catch RJMC, I also subbed and liked