Recent reports have confirmed that both Class 142 and 144 Pacer trains will continue in service until the next timetable change in May at the least. The plans are that they’ll be confined to Lancashire and Yorkshire with the Class 142s operating West services around Manchester whilst the Neville Hill based Class 144s will operate set routes around Leeds/Sheffield/Doncaster/Huddersfield and York.
The Class 142 fleet will be reduced to just 22 members from an original fleet of 94 whilst all 23 Class 144s will be retained. the DfT derogation letter confirms that the following Class 142s will be allowed to run but will gradually be phased out by the arrival of new CAF built units.
The oldest of the Pacers that will remain in service is 142004, which will still be seen here – Manchester Victoria. This view’s from the 22nd June 2009.
The Class 142 derogation expires at 23:59 on 31 May 2020.
A separate DfT document that confirms the dispensation allowing the Class 144s to be kept in service also specifies which routes they will be allowed to run on. These are.
• Leeds to Huddersfield
• Leeds to Sheffield
• Leeds to Knottingley
• Sheffield to Adwick
• Sheffield to Huddersfield via Penistone
• Sheffield to Gainsborough Central / Lincoln
• Huddersfield to Bradford Interchange via Halifax
• Huddersfield to Castleford via Wakefield
• Doncaster to Scunthorpe
• Sheffield to York via Rotherham and Moorthorpe
• York to Leeds via Micklefield
• York to Selby / Hull / Bridlington
• Bradford Interchange to Leeds
• Doncaster to Leeds
The permission granted by this dispensation to Arriva Rail North expires at 23:59 on 31 August 2020 but don’t assume that they’ll last until then.
The youngest of the Pacer fleet, 144023 seen en-route to Leeds at Sheffield on the 16th September 2016. The city may be having their company until August.
This means Pacer fans (and yes, they do exist!) have a few more months to search out and ride/photograph these gradually dwindling fleets of trains before the last one heads off to the scrapyard. Make the most of the reprieve as it all depends on how quickly the last of the new CAF built trains enter service! If I get details of specific routes that the Class 142s will be operating on around Manchester I’ll update this blog with details. Right now I’d expect that they’ll be seen around Victoria on services to Stalybridge and Rochdale plus at Piccadilly on trains to New Mills and Rose Hill.
If you want to see a pictorial history of the BR built Pacer fleets over the years, have a look at my earlier blog.
On the day when commuters returned to work after the New Year holiday and rail fares increased by an average 2.7% and Northern were still cancelling services, confusion reigned over the future of the Northern franchise. This morning Transport Minister Grant Shapps gave an interview to the BBC which was widely interpreted by the media as him announcing he was stripping operator Arriva of the franchise. The BBC later backtracked on this and ITV secured a quote from the Dept of Transport saying that no decision had been made.
A new CAF Class 195 stands at Sowerby Bridge earlier today whilst working 1E62, the 1224 Chester to Leeds. In the adjacent platform is a refurbished Class 158. Displaced from top link jobs by the 195s, it’s working 2L96, the 13.17 Leeds to Wigan Wallgate. Previously this would have been a Class 142 or 150 working.
So what is happening? Will Arriva lose the franchise?
Shapps has made it fairly clear this is his intention and an operator of last resort is being put into place. But it’s not going to happen overnight. Politically, it would be a popular move as Northern have come in for a huge amount of criticism over the past year. Some of it justified, some not. Elected Mayors, User groups and the passengers themselves have all given the company a good kicking. The fact the franchise’s MD has a very low profile compared to previous bosses like Heidi Mottram and Alex Hynes hasn’t helped either. They’re seen by many (including their staff) as a faceless company. But no franchise has ever been terminated purely on the grounds of poor performance…
What isn’t clear to seasoned observers is how running Northern from a desk at the DfT in Westminster is meant to improve anything. After all, the franchise was specified by the DfT in the first place! Let’s look at some of the problems Northern are facing and where responsibility lies.
Infrastructure.
The company’s suffered from the late completion (or shelving entirely) of infrastructure enhancements like electrification that were meant to help it deliver new timetables and new services. These are the results of failings by Network Rail which is already in public control and funded by Government, plus political delays in decision-making on future enhancements like the Trans-Pennine route upgrade (which was ‘paused’ by then Transport Minister Chris Grayling) and the Manchester Oxford Rd corridor.
Trains.
Problems with the late delivery of new and refurbished trains such as the CAF built Class 331s and 195s, as well as the rebuilt Class 769 bi-mode trains have had a big impact, as have the inevitable teething problems with new fleets. None of these are Northern’s fault, but they’ve meant that the company has suffered more cancellations and-short-formed trains. It’s also going to be keeping over 45 old Pacer trains running until May (possibly August) 2020 when they should all have gone by the end of last year. This is manna from heaven for the critics, but what else can they do? Leave themselves short of trains and cancel more services? They’re caught between a rock and a hard place until all the new trains are in service (over a year late).
Staffing.
The new trains being late has had an impact on staff training and availability, which hasn’t helped service levels or delivery of the new timetables. There’s also the small matter of finding paths to run these trains in to allow mileage accumulation and time for staff to familiarise themselves with their workings. The difficulty finding paths has been exacerbated by both LNER and Trans-Pennine also introducing new fleets, leaving capacity at a premium. Sweating the Northern fleet by running complex diagrams and relying on staff working rest days hasn’t helped either. Nor have the problems at Trans-Pennine Express. Their timetabling problems have an impact on Northern services at pinch points like Leeds and Manchester.
Here’s an illustration of today’s performance for Northern and TPE, taken from the Trains.im website. Timed at 19.50.
Green is on time. Orange is between 5-30m late and Red is over 30m late or cancelled.
How will stripping Arriva of the franchise resolve these issues? It won’t.
What will happen to the franchise in the long term? There’s a lot of rumours flying around that the franchise will be split into East and West, as it was before two areas were merged to form the first Northern franchise in 2004.
If the Conservatives wanted to play clever, they might even decide to hand these franchises over to local control. Either directly to transport for the North, or (if they’re feeling really devious) they could give Manchester’s elected Mayor, Andy Burnham, a level of control. He’s a long-standing critic of Northern and as a Labour Party member he’s pushed for rail renationalisation. The expression ‘be careful what you wish for’ springs to mind here as the buck would (potentially) then stop with him. Only he’s no control over the root causes of Northern’s problems either!
Whatever is decided in the corridors of power, the franchises problems will continue until the infrastructure and capacity is sorted out. The situation with staff and new trains will ease when the new fleets are fully introduced and trains and staff are bedded in which will mean punctuality will improve but it won’t cure bottlenecks around Manchester or Leeds. If the Government is serious about investing in the North (and keeping the Labour constituencies that turned Tory at the last election) it’s going to have to address these issues by investing in HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail. But what does it do in the short-term as neither of these projects will be delivered for two general elections? A quick fix could be to devolve power and money to the North and say, ‘right, get on with it’…
Meanwhile, there’s looking like there’s going to be rail congestion at the DfT as a number of franchises are looking rocky. TPE seemed Teflon-coated as Northern got all the flack, but now they’re starting to feel the heat too and there’s no sign of a recovery plan. SouthWestern Railway is under pressure too, both financially and through strike action. There’s also the unresolved SouthEastern franchise. And what of the William’s review?
It’s not as if there’s a queue of people waiting to bid for franchises. Let’s face it, despite what some on the left claim, they’re hardly a licence to print money more like a licence to lose it – as this informative tweet from my RAIL colleague Phil Haigh demonstrates! Abellio aren’t having a happy time with a few of their franchises, including Scotrail.
So, not only can you lose your shirt, there’s also the reputational damage. Is it any wonder both Virgin and Stagecoach have now left the field? As a source at Stagecoach told me, the cost of recent unsuccessful bids wiped out the profits from their bus operations. When bidding is that expensive (£5m plus a pop) and the chances of winning so uncertain, why bother?
The new year’s got off to slow start. Not because of hangovers or anything like that but because it was lovely to be able to have a lie-in! The year also started with a beautifully clear, crisp sunny morning which made us decide we needed to go walking. Sadly, by the time we’d had breakfast and got ready mist and hazy cloud had rolled in from the South. It didn’t affect our walk but it was a little frustrating from my perspective I was looking forward to getting some pictures to kick off the year. In the end, this was the best I could get.
New CAF Unit 195121 approaches Milner Royd Junction just outside Sowerby Bridge whilst working a Manchester Victoria – Leeds service. The ‘feathers’ on the signal indicate that the route is set via Halifax rather than Brighouse.
Our walk took us down into the valley floor before we climbed up the opposite side to head on to Norland Moor and before visiting the nearby Moorcock Inn for a drink and to chance to warm up for a while as despite the day being mild, the wind-chill up by the moor really makes a difference. Despite the pub only being open until six and its menu limited to selling their exotic range of bar snacks the place was really busy.
Once we’d torn ourselves away we rolled back downhill via Sowerby Bridge which was surprisingly quiet with most of the pubs and restaurants deserted, albeit it was only 5pm. I suspect many people were still at home in their dressing gowns and nursing an Alaka-Seltzer!
A power-walk back up the hill soon had us back at home, which is where we’ve stayed for the rest of the evening. Having walked a total of seven miles we’d earned our supper and polished off another slice of yesterday’s nut roast, roasted parsnips and potato’s with relish. As much as I love travelling, having quality time at home (especially in winter) is something to savour…
Where the hell’s 2019 gone? In fact, where’s the decade gone? The last few days have seen me in an introspective mood, looking back at all the things that have happened in the past 10 years – both good and bad. But, on balance, the good’s far outweighed the bad. In one respect I’m lucky in that – as a photographer – I have the photographic evidence that documents events as proof!
There’s no doubt that the 2020’s are going to be ‘interesting times’ to live in as the old Chinese curse mentions. Thankfully, I’m in a position to weather what’s coming far better than many people which leaves me with mixed feelings of sadness and hope.
What I’m looking forward to is being able to refocus on what’s important. So, expect to see me make huge inroads on the stack of old slides I have that have never made it onto my Zenfolio website. I’m also looking at writing up some of my old diaries as a travel story. Back in 1991-92 I travelled overland through Asia from India as far as Australia. In those days there was no internet or mobile phones. Backpackers were that, not ‘flashpackers’. You travelled overland, not just dipped in and out of places by hopping around on a series of domestic flights. A lot’s changed since those days but I think it’s a story worth telling as the world’s changed so much.
Of course I’m still going to be adding all the old railway pictures too – and new ones of course. Britain’s railways are changing at an ever increasing rate and this next year will see construction of the new HS2 high-speed rail line begin in earnest. I’m also looking forward to getting stuck into a lot more writing not just taking pictures. Later in 2020 I’ll be off on my round Britain trip for RAIL magazine which will see the biggest changes since I started writing the series back in 2004. I’ve lots of ideas for other things to write about too.
No doubt there’ll still be a few blogs containing wry observations on the state of British politics but they’ll be very much be from the side-lines. Brexit supporters have ‘won’, which means they can no longer pass the buck for their failures and the fact Unicorns don’t exist. Now they’ve no-one else to blame. Us ‘remoaners’ have been vanquished (for now), so we can sit back with the popcorn and watch as they try and deliver on their impossible promises – and downright lies! Right now my sympathies are reserved for my EU friends in the UK and my UK friends in the EU, many of whom face a completely unknown future.
Back In the here and now Dawn and I have opted for a quiet New Year at home, doing one of the things we both love doing – cooking. Admittedly, we nipped out for a ‘quick one’ at the ‘Big 6’ (our local pub) but not before preparing most of a repast for tonight. We’re going veggie more and more nowadays, although the current term seems to be ‘plant based’. Earlier the two of us were busy in the kitchen putting together a nut roast. But this is no ordinary nut roast – this is a super-duper pistachio and cranberry nut roast!
Before the year and the decade ends (OK, not for you Lisa in New Zealand and other friends further East, you’re already way past your bedtime!) I’d just like to thank you all for continuing to pop in to read my ramblings. I hope I’ve been able to both entertain and inform over the past year, and that you’ll find my future scribblings as interesting.
It’s the penultimate day of the year and the weather’s been glorious here in the Calder Valley. We’ve had wall to wall sunshine for most of the day and temperatures that would shame the South. Sadly, I’ve not had the time to enjoy the climactic conditions in the way I’d have liked as I’m too busy playing catch-up after a week away ‘down South’ and the imminent new year. That said, I’m also determined to up my exercise levels as the Surrey sojourn did little for me in that respect so I’ve enjoyed an afternoon constitutional by strolling up hill and down dale whilst shopping. The masochist in me secretly enjoys the fact that I’ve got to yomp uphill from the Sowerby Bridge shops. It certainly beats paying to use a gym!
The fact that we’re at the end of another decade has only just started to sink in as the last one’s been tumultuous to say the least. I’ll blog more about that as soon as I have the time, because for me, there’s a huge amount to look back and reflect upon.
Shopping aside, most of my day’s been spent immersed in swapping between paperwork and computer screens but this evening I have had chance to experiment on the culinary front and try a new dahl recipe from the Dishoom book that Darren (my brother-in-law) bought me for Christmas. It’s the ‘house black dahl’. Despite the fact it takes hours to cook it’s looking pretty good…
I do love cooking. I see it as a form of relaxation and therapy as well as the chance to always try something new. I’d certainly try this recipe again as it was a hearty dahl that was ideal for a winter’s night. Admittedly, I might tinker with it next time by adding a bit more chilli to suit our tastes, but otherwise it’s a lovely dish.
Whilst I was preparing this and keeping a watchful eye on its progress Dawn’s also been busy in the kitchen, preparing the ingredients for tomorrow’s meal. Whilst we’ll be nipping out for a few drinks with friends in the afternoon we’ve decided to flag the traditional New Year’s piss-up and spend the night at home together instead. The theory is that we’ll be entering the new decade bright-eyed and bushy tailed, ready to take on whatever the next ten years throws at us. I’ll let you know how we get on with that!
‘Celebrity environmentalist’ Chris Packham had arranged yet another stophs2 protest to ‘save’ the trees. You know, the one’s he’s never been honest with people about and continually made up numbers regarding. Like the claim HS2’s causing the greatest deforestation since WW1 (tosh I exposed here). Or that 108 woods will be ‘destroyed’ by HS2 (they won’t, as I exposed here). His latest numerical flight of fancy was to claim that his little campaign has 5 million ‘supporters’ – as can be seen mentioned on the box he handed in to Downing St in this picture.
Where this number came from is as mysterious as all his other made up numbers. It has no basis in reality, but then a lot of what Packham claims fits into that category.
Clearly, with such vast support, the ramble from Denham today must have brought the place to a standstill as all those supporters rallied to his flag, no? After all, Denham is less than 20 mins by train from London Marylebone and it’s right in the Nimby heartlands on phase 1 which is supposedly united in its opposition to HS2.
No.
Even Packham’s been forced to admit that the turnout has been pretty abysmal. He’s claimed “over 1000”, which seems remarkably generous judging by the pictures appearing on Twitter. Here’s a selection. First up, Packham’s tweet.
Packham’s attached a 20 second long video which shows a few dozen people walking past the camera and err, that’s it! Notice something else? How few of the ‘5 million’ have liked or retweeted this so far…Spot the 1000s? Nope, me neither…A nice, tightly cropped picture, showing just a few dozen people. Where’s everyone else? Another Packham self-publicity shot with the silly train set and the 1000s gathered who turned up for the ramble behind him. Oh, wait…”Tell the truth”? That’s rich coming from Packham, man who’s continually made stuff up!
Still, never mind. This must be trending on Twitter and across social media, right? I mean, 5 million people pumping this out will make a huge impact, won’t it?
Like hell. The #rethinkHs2 hashtag’s got nowhere! Meanwhile, over on the Stophs2 Facebook page, there’s one or two more revealing videos that show just how few have turned up. You can find them here.
To put all this nonsense in perspective. Many millions of us repeatedly marched against Brexit. Did we succeed? So, how will this little circus stop Hs2?
The really sad thing here is the way Packham and the other single-issue campaigners like the Woodland Trust are exploiting people for their own ends. None of this is going to stop Hs2 in the slightest, it’s basically a cheap publicity stunt for Packham and his friends where he’s exploited his ‘celebrity’ to suck people into believing the nonsense he spouts. My frustration is the way people are being misled over the true impact of HS2 and the fact they’re not actually protecting anything in the long term, exactly the opposite in fact.
Without HS2 we simply don’t have the rail capacity for the future to get people & freight off roads and cut transport Co2 emissions to tackle global Climate Change. Stopping HS2 isn’t ‘green’. This is the classic example of not being able to see the woods for the trees and the oil companies and road lobby must be rubbing their hands in glee at how easy it is to get ‘greens’ to do their work for them. Packham offers no solutions. He has none, because it’s always easier to oppose things and leave solutions to others. Here’s something else he doesn’t tell you. Here’s all that woodland ‘destruction’ put into perspective when you compare it to just a single road scheme in SE England. Of course, the LTC would have been greater than HS2 until the Woodland Trust mysteriously upped their figure from 40.2 ha when someone drew their attention to it, without providing a shred of evidence to back up or explain the increase. Funny, that…
One last thing that made me laugh about today? The complete absence of pictorial or other evidence that any of the remaining StopHs2 Twitter trolls managed to drag their sorry arses away from their keyboards and out of their armchairs to be there – even the ones within a 20 mile radius. They may rant on social media, but that’s all they do…
We’ve been up since 07:00 having breakfast and finishing packing up the chalet to begin the drive back to Yorkshire later today. This could be interesting as Dawn and her parents may have left a lot of presents behind, but they’ve gained a load too and now there’s me and my camera bag to fit into the vehicle! This could get cosy!
Fortunately, the weather’s looking OK. We’ve a mild but cloudy day to look forward to with no rain forecast anywhere on the 4 hour drive back to West Yorkshire – although as we’ll be stopping off on the way for coffee and lunch we’ll be on the road for longer than that. Let’s see how this goes…
10:00.
It all fits! Mind you, you should see what’s in with the rest of us in the passenger saloon…
So, it’s goodbye to the chalet that’s been our home for the past week.
Next stop, coffee with Darren & the kids in Farnham…
11:45.
Fuelled – up on coffee, pain au raison and having bid adieu to the Surrey branch of Dawn’s family it’s time to hit the road, thankful that we’ve dodged the elderly idiot in a Bentley who nealy caused a crash in the Waitrose car park! Well, it would be, wouldn’t it?
12:35.
We’ve just come off the M4 at Junction 13 to head cross-country on the A34. Apart from the ever-busy M4 the roads have been surprisingly quiet allowing us to make good time.
13:15.
Well, the A34’s lived down to expectations! Despite the general lack of HGV traffic on the roads this route is a main freight artery to/from the busy port of Southampton. Add in the fact Oxford’s saturated with cars and the A34’s the town’s by-pass we’ve now got snarled up in heavy traffic.
14:50.
We made it through the traffic before flitting along an equally congested M40 for one junction then headed up a less busy A43 to reach the M1 where traffic was heavy Southbound but reasonable (for the M1) heading North.
We’re now having a pit-stop at Watford Gap services. The busiest of the eateries here is the one I never use anyway – McDonald’s, where folk tap in their orders to touchscreens before queuing for their burgers. Whilst Dawn and her folks relaxed in the adjacent Costa coffee I went for a wander and took this shot looking North up the M1.
The M1 at Watford Gap. Surprisingly quiet.
19:06.
Home! The rest of the journey wasn’t bad at all. Traffic thinned out the further North we got and the only surprise was when we passed above the car parks of the Meadowhall Shopping Centre outside of Sheffield. They were absolutely rammed!
Leaving the M1 at Junction 35a we headed over to Huddersfield to drop off ‘the folks’ and their bags, then (considerably lighter) we drove cross-country back to home. Despite it being Saturday night, life in West Yorkshire seems quite subdued. Most of the restaurants and pubs we passed were mostly empty. Presumably people are hording what money they’ve got left from the Christmas excesses for New Year. I can’t say either of us are going to be painting the town red tonight either. The moggie needs some TLC and there’s plenty to sort out before year (and decade) end…
Today’s our final day in Surrey before heading back to Yorkshire tomorrow and it feels like the country’s starting to emerge from its festive hibernation. Trains have resumed running, the stock markets have re-opened and the shops have resumed their sales after having a less than merry Christmas. That said, you could tell that social media was still suffering from a slow news day. My timeline was full of folks outraged by a QC admitting he’d killed a fox with a baseball bat to protect his chickens whilst others were having an attack of the vapours because the “Gavin and Stacey” Xmas special on TV had used the original lyrics of the Pogues song which included the word “faggot”. Ho ho ho…
After a slow start due to the gloomy, overcast weather the four of us ventured into Farnham to collect some groceries and also check out some of the sales. The town’s not blessed with the panoply of outlets that nearby Guildford can boast of but it still has more than many. I managed to pick up a very nice long-sleeved polo shirt from ‘Fatface’ for £20, which was 50% cheaper than a few days ago. To be honest, I’d rather have piles than go shopping, but when needs must at least getting a bargain takes the sting out of things!
Despite the sales Farnham seemed fairly subdued. There certainly wasn’t the frenetic activity I’d seen just before Christmas when it seemed folks were stockpiling for the Zombie Apocalypse more than anything else (Firearms excepted, obviously). The busiest place we encountered was the nearby by-pass which had all the haste of a funeral cortege.
We’re now back at my brother-in-law’s after a quick visit to the local pub. The parents are dozing in the TV room, the kids are holed-up in their bedrooms playing on various electronic devices and I’m sat in front of the fire with the dog whilst typing this. Meanwhile, Dawn and Darren are busy in the kitchen preparing chicken chasseur. I’m on stand-by for washing-up and veg-peeling duties if needed but they seem to have everything under control.
After such stunning Christmas Day weather Boxing Day’s been a real disappointment here in Surrey. The morning’s been dominated by continuous rain and heavy winds. Foolishly, I hadn’t brought my full set of waterproofs and didn’t fancy getting a soaking, so I reluctantly flagged the traditional Tilford Boxing day walk. Dawn and her parents decided to have the day out in the car whilst I stayed at ‘home’ in the chalet and crack on catching up on some work (the beauty and the curse of being freelance, there’s always something to do, no matter what the season).
The silver lining was the fact our chalet is within a stones throw of the Duke of Cambridge pub which was one of the pit-stops for the walkers so I had chance to join them for a quick drink. Despite the weather, the mixed group of adults, kids and dogs were in good spirits – especially after drying off in a pub for a while!
After an hour or so they left to complete their walk and I headed back to the chalet to finish the work I’d lined-up. Whilst I was at ‘home’ I turned on the TV in the vain hope of finding a mild diversion that I could half-watch/listen to whilst concentrating on other things. That’s when I realised once again that you can have dozens of TV channels in a TV package but 95% of them are utter shite unless you’re a child or someone with the attention-span of a Goldfish. Looking through the schedule I’ve found one ancient Hollywood film that was pure propaganda for the US during the Vietnam War (The ‘Green Berets’, directed by and starring John Wayne) plus loads of channels that are all about flogging you stuff. I ended up turning it off and listened to music instead.
It’s Christmas day and there’s a long list of family commitments ahead, so there’s going to be little, if any time for blogging today despite me having plenty of thoughts that I could pen. Instead, I’ll restrict myself to wishing all my readers a very Merry Christmas (wherever you are). I hope you all have a peaceful and enjoyable day.
Here’s one of the presents that was under the tree for me…
Paul Bigland 