The end of Northern rail.

[swisstrains]

Originally Posted by davat

......................Oh the 180's that Northern use are being returned to the leasing companies...........................

That's a blow. The 180's are the nearest thing that Northern have got to a half decent train.

[steam for ever]

Originally Posted by Deathbyteacup

Just out of curiosity, what sort of thing is out of place?

Well I can tell you lots of things. A while back I saw one of their 142s that had obviously had an accident in the yard. The corner of the cab had been bashed in.
The simply put masking tape over it to stop bits falling out. If that is the standard theya re living to it is a wonder no-one has been killed yet.

Also a large number of doors on the trains do not work. If there was an emergency this could prevent people getting away safely.

Some of the problems are really quite easy to solve, but the repair and maintaining guys just do nothing. I could afterall hardly call the gaurd giving the door a kick to open it safe. There are worse things that go on, including loose seats and wobbly hand rails, but I think that the problem hear is pretty easy to see.

By the way I think that the problem with the 180s are just too nice for us up here in the company's eyes I think.
One thing we can look forward too is the fact that the 150s will have been with another comany for a while and so will be in a much better state than the ones we see now. We might even see them in a more cheerful livery for a bit too.

[62440]

And the winner of the 4x156's is................................................ .................................EAST MIDLANDS TRAINS!

Thanks a bunch Northern.

Not amused, 62440.

[steam for ever]

Sout west trains and East midlands trains seem to be the ones who get anything nice we may have. As soon as we get them, they join the waiting list for them- at the very top. I can see a pattern emerging here. Of course a branch of that company could be taking over Northern I suppose. They at least have a bright livery.

[faltskog36abba]

had a bash on the 17.19 man vic blackpool north 180 last week as heard they were going,the train was busy,but loads of people piled on at salford central too,they have worked out the diagrams and know most of them can get a seat,can just see a 150 or 142 maybe coupled entering salford central on the same path-and see the scores of passengers trying to board,its a shame they are going,never quite understood why trains capable of 125 mph were used on stopping services tho,think the fastest it went was when it joined the west coast main line before preston and that was about for 5 minutes,do agree about northerns maintenance issues,dodgy seats,142 doors not opening properly etc,but i do find them reliable-compared with first north western and northern spirit-the latter was very unreliable,think whoever takes over will have problems tho due to the age of the dmus,just before northern started,i got the 17.06 man vic blackpool train operated by a 158[a nice train once]the platform staff had to shut the door with a shove,i was sat in the seat next to the door,the train stopped at farnworth[not a stop on its route]i then heard driver speaking to someone in his cab about a faulty door,i moved away from that seat straight away,wrote to railtrack -as then,about my concerns about newton heath depot,they assured me no train would leave the depot with a faulty door-yeah right,think they want to meet targets rather than take dmus out of service,for erm important maintenance.

[Deathbyteacup]

First day back from holiday, and my Pacer is currently in a siding at Wigan Wallgate, having been declared a failure. 25 minutes late.

Good start, Northern.

[steam for ever]

After looking in my diary I can recollect a time last year when visiting my friend who lives next to navigation road. I was waiting for my train back there- it was a pacer, which looked like it would conk out at any moment.
I got on it in the first carriage and sat down on a sideways seat next to the bike rack and I heard the doors closing and the dirvers buzzer. However the door in fron tof me failed to close and we were at five miles an hour before the gaurd took any notice of the shouts from our coach and he stopped the train and kicked it shut. Honestly I think the passengers would have been safer walking on the track.

[Eccles71B]

Originally Posted by steam for ever

After looking in my diary I can recollect a time last year when visiting my friend who lives next to navigation road. I was waiting for my train back there- it was a pacer, which looked like it would conk out at any moment.
I got on it in the first carriage and sat down on a sideways seat next to the bike rack and I heard the doors closing and the dirvers buzzer. However the door in fron tof me failed to close and we were at five miles an hour before the gaurd took any notice of the shouts from our coach and he stopped the train and kicked it shut. Honestly I think the passengers would have been safer walking on the track.

Tell me you're not being serious.

[steam for ever]

I'm afraid that this is true. Worst of all there was a lady with a pram just a few feet away. That gaurd and driver were then subject to a damn good screaming at.
I have only ever seen that once and I never want to see that again. No one was hurt thankfully and the train was for once not that crowded, but if it was full to bursting like it would be normally with people standing in the door wells, it doesn't bear thinking about really.
Walking on the track would at least provide a safer journey than that ordeal.

[ccmmick]

You say a Pacer SFE was it a 142 or another class of Pacer i find this very hard to believe because if the doors dont shut properly the drivers brake will not release and if it did happen the train shoud have come out of service right away.

ccmmick.