What type of rolling stock is used on the TfW Crewe-Chester shuttle.

[AM9]

Title says it all, could anybody please tell me what is usually diagrammed to run the TfW shuttle (xx:24/xx:54) on weekdays between the peaks? The last time I did the journey it was a horrible class 150 thrashing along for 20 minutes.
TIA

 

[JonathanH]

Title says it all, could anybody please tell me what is usually diagrammed to run the TfW shuttle (xx:24/xx:54) on weekdays between the peaks? The last time I did the journey it was a horrible class 150 thrashing along for 20 minutes.
TIA

158826 today
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se...-0159?stp=WVS&show=pax-calls&order=wtt&toc=AW

 

[matt]

Was two 153s when I was on it a few weeks ago

 

[martinsh]

2 x 153 normally

 

[Watershed]

Just about anything - 150s, 153s, 158s or 175s.

Just as an idea of the variety you get, on Monday the shuttle was a 150, yesterday it was a double 153 and today it's a 158!

You can see what's booked to form your service on the day, as TfW now have their allocations on RTT.

 

[PHILIPE]

The booked unit is 2 x 153s although, as has been said, various others may work it on the day.

 

[AM9]

So nothing much has improved over the last 32 months. Thanks all for the (not so good) news. I'll check RTT on the day.

 

[Eccles1983]

So nothing much has improved over the last 32 months. Thanks all for the (not so good) news. I'll check RTT on the day.

What are you expecting? It's a shuttle. Why would you expect it to be anything special?

 

[Class 170101]

Isn't it supposed to be a Class 230?

 

[Anonymous10]

Isn't it supposed to be a Class 230?

they are still in testing for tfw and i think are confidened to the Wrexham to bidston line

 

[AM9]

What are you expecting? It's a shuttle. Why would you expect it to be anything special?

I wasn'rt expecting anything in particular but I think I've seen a 175 (which is nothing special) there and some time soon the 150s will start to be pensioned off. A 769 would be nice though.

 

[Anonymous10]

I wasn'rt expecting anything in particular but I think I've seen a 175 (which is nothing special) there and some time soon the 150s will start to be pensioned off. A 769 would be nice though.

769s are notoriously unreliable speaking of a regular computer by rail ive used everything from a hst to a 142 to commute my 30 min journey and have no real issues with the 150/153 other than noise which is expected on their age they are also due replacing in 2 years and the 158s and 175s are quite nice trains if you ask me

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

What are you expecting? It's a shuttle. Why would you expect it to be anything special?

I expect 197s will figure once they are in service.
Early and late in the day this service is used to position trains from Chester depot for the Marches route at Crewe (continuing to Manchester).
It might be a shuttle but it is an important link in the WCML network, especially with Avanti running fewer through trains to Chester at the moment.
It used to be practically an all-175 route before Cardiff pinched most of them, getting the sprinters by return.

 

[Eccles1983]

That link to the wcml doesn't change the fact that its a 25 minute dash. 197's will become a mainstay of it. But not in this calender year (and even then very late in the next one)

Leave the 153/150 booked traction on it. It's a waste of 158/175 resources for the longer trips.

 

[AM9]

... It might be a shuttle but it is an important link in the WCML network, especially with Avanti running fewer through trains to Chester at the moment.
It used to be practically an all-175 route before Cardiff pinched most of them, getting the sprinters by return.

That was what I wondered about. Well, it's looking like it'll be the same contrast as before, a climbdown from a 390 to a (now even more) decrepit 150.
The 769 comment was a genuine wish; they may fail sometimes but nowhere as much as some claim here, - and they are much quieter. Indeed they could be useful on that link, but that's for another thread.

 

[berneyarms]

Said Class 150s are currently receiving a very smart interior refurbishment so won’t be “decrepit”.

 

[scrapy]

I wasn'rt expecting anything in particular but I think I've seen a 175 (which is nothing special) there and some time soon the 150s will start to be pensioned off. A 769 would be nice though.

I'd be very surprised if class 150s are gone within the next 10 years.

 

[PHILIPE]

Isn't it supposed to be a Class 230?

Ir was decided that 230s would be unsuitable ages ago.

 

[Strat-tastic]

I had a 221 on it recently.

 

[PHILIPE]

I had a 221 on it recently.

Not on the TFW shuttle you didn't. It would have been the Avanti service which run to and from North Wales and share the route. There is a half hourly service between Chester and Crewe, a through train between North wales and Euston or Chester and Euston worked by a 221and which have been amended during COVID. The other half hour is covered by TFW with a train which shuttles backwards and forwards all day.

 

[6Gman]

Pre-Covid my experience was 150, 153, 158,175 (in that order). More recently the 150 & 153 seem to have exchanged positions.

I have to say I find the 150s fine (they are much better than the Northern equivalents).

And if it was to be upgraded to a 158 or 175 where would you downgrade to a 150?

 

[PHILIPE]

Pre-Covid my experience was 150, 153, 158,175 (in that order). More recently the 150 & 153 seem to have exchanged positions.

I have to say I find the 150s fine (they are much better than the Northern equivalents).

And if it was to be upgraded to a 158 or 175 where would you downgrade to a 150?

The pairing of 2x153s was introduced with the December 2019 Timetable (Pre COVID) taking over from a 150. That had been the booked traction for some years after taking over from a 158. It has never been booked for a 175 but they have worked it on numerous occasions but standing in. As mentioned earlier, it is now booked for 2 x 153s and has been for nearly two years.

 

[Strat-tastic]

Not on the TFW shuttle you didn't. It would have been the Avanti service which run to and from North Wales and share the route. There is a half hourly service between Chester and Crewe, a through train between North wales and Euston or Chester and Euston worked by a 221and which have been amended during COVID. The other half hour is covered by TFW with a train which shuttles backwards and forwards all day.

Then what this service?

Realtime Trains - 1D88 1548 Crewe to Chester

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

It turned round and went back into the terminator at Crewe.

Edit

Just noticed the thread title.
My bag.

 

[berneyarms]

Then what this service?

Realtime Trains - 1D88 1548 Crewe to Chester

Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

It turned round and went back into the terminator at Crewe.

Edit

Just noticed the thread title.
My bag.

Avanti are operating a reduced service to Chester and North Wales, which involves limited shuttles to/from Crewe and a couple of services to/from Euston, which is what you were on.

Normally there is an hourly Euston-Chester service all day (with extensions to North Wales).

Tfw operate a shuttle all day long between Chester and Crewe at xx:54 amd returns at xx:24, which connects with Avanti West Coast services at Crewe. That's what's being discussed here.

 

[AM9]

Said Class 150s are currently receiving a very smart interior refurbishment so won’t be “decrepit”.

I'll wait and see. Thanks to all.

 

[craigybagel]

Whilst on paper a 150 or 2 153s might seem like a bit of a comedown, especially when most of the passengers tend to be connecting in or out of something a bit fancier at Crewe, it's only for 20 minutes. Swapping it for a 158 or 175 would most likely mean someone "suffering" on a sprinter for a lot longer!

The route was indeed meant to temporarily switch to 230s, but thankfully that was abandoned a while back (it's hard to think of a more inappropriate train to use). Instead the 153s will need to hold out until what was always planned to be the permanent replacement arrives: 197s.

 

[Polarbear]

Oh for the days when said shuttle was a 1st generation DMU, that barely exceeded 65 mph, or even the halcyon days of pacers turning up on the run!