European Railroad Discussion > The new order on Great Western

A pair of Hitachi class 800 bi-modes on the 10:33 Paddington to Taunton, passing the bridge to nowhere on the Kennet and Avon Canal, about 70 miles west of London

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Nice, but I'll still take an HS125, given the choice.  Good video.

Gordon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/19 08:21 by gbmott.

I must admit I'm a convert, in electric mode they accelerate like a Ferrari.

Do they usually 'double up' on the consists as here . . or varies according to passenger loads?

Craig
mcmrailvideos.com

Very nice Nick.Sharp looking units and paint job.
Regards,DK

I do like the paint scheme. Do you know how fast (approximately) that train is going? Thanks for sharing this video.

There are 5 car and 9 car IET/800 variants. So far, as best I can tell, there's some portion working with, for instance, 2 5-cars going from London to Plymouth but only one continuing to Penzance. One of the problems at the moment is they haven't all been delivered so there is a risk of having to substitue an HST for an IET/800 and vv which restricts some operational flexability.   That also leads to problems with seat reservations and if an HST has to sub for an IET/800 there may be no reservations because the IET/800 reservations are uploaded electronically but the HSTs are little printed strips stuck in the back of seats.   Don't get me started on seat reservations (oh all right, you twisted my arm!).   I've seen 2 5 car sets with coaches ABCDE FGHJK (logical) FGHJK ABCDE, KJHGF ABCDE whilst the platform indicators tell me first class is in coaches 1,5,6 and 10 - cue people running up and down platforms.

I think the video is near Crofton where the are several tight curves and, from memory, the limit is 50mph.   That particular route has a few 100mph sections and quite a lot of 90mph.   The IET/800s are timed for 125mph max speed where permitted at the moment.   In theory they can do 140mph - we'll see,

King_Coal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I do like the paint scheme. Do you know how fast
> (approximately) that train is going? Thanks for
> sharing this video.

Not very fast is the answer. It was accelerating following a check at Bedwyn, about a mile down the track, where local trains terminate. The local was crossing into the siding which would have slowed the 800 which was a couple of minutes early. The actual speed limit on this stretch is 100 mph, approaching a 70 mph restriction at Crofton, a further half a mile ahead.

The 800s are sluggish on diesel power, unable to match HST timings. A pair of 800s like this develop 4500 h.p. and weighs 492 tonnes, a 2+8 HST also develops 4500 h.p. but only weighs 408 tonnes. But when they switch to electric power the reverse is true. One of the sub classes, the 802s, whilst identical to the 800s in every other respect, have uprated diesels and bigger fuel tanks. These are the ones which will spend most of their life away from the catenary on the mainline to SW England.

Sadly this bi mode nonsense seems to be catching. Originally much of the GW fleet was to consist of class 801s (the electric only version), but as the electrification programme ran over time and spiralled over budget the bi-mode capability of the 800s was seen as a saviour to the politicians who could still deliver on their promise of new trains, but junk the electrification. This means that the only inter city passenger service out of Paddington which will be under the wires all the way will be to Cardiff. Trains to Bristol Temple Meads and Swansea will switch to diesel at the extremities of their journey. Also Didcot to Oxford has also been junked, as have the commuter branches in the Thames Valley.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/19 00:46 by 86235.