Stadler to supply driverless trains to Glasgow Subway

[philthetube]

Words do develop different meanings over time, without being a great example. (used to mean outside, as in the green hill.) Oops and that full stop should have been without of those brackets.

[Dstock7080]

The first Stadler trains entered passenger service today:

units 302 and 306.

New Subway fleet enters passenger service

First new trains in 43 years enter service on Glasgow Subway

[ijmad]

I know not everyone is a fan of these sorts of designs but personally I think they look fantastic!

[spsmiler]

Its good to see these actually entering service ... just await Tyneside now.


btw, how long before the old Glasgow Subway trains have been replaced?

[jimbo]

There are many of us who still miss the original 1896 cars which ran until 1977. Modern stuff just doesn't last like the originals did!

[Dstock7080]

[spsmiler]

I missed the 1896 trains - was still a teenage schoolboy when they were withdrawn - but I do vaguely recall seeing something on the TV news about the Subway closing for rebuilding when it happened.

Anyway, I must be mad but for the week coming I'm booked on a 7:30 am red eye train from Euston to Glasgow and hope to see the preserved train in a museum as well as the new and 'soon retiring' fleets.

[towerman]

What’s happening to the redundant drivers when the line goes driverless?

[ijmad]

Surely it won't be for many more years given they've stated they want to install platform edge doors and build a new NOC before any possibility of driverless is considered.

[towerman]

Sure I saw in the blurb about the new stock they will be driverless in the near future.

[Dstock7080]

hence the thread title and information in the first post.

[spsmiler]

Yesterday I had my Awayday to Glasgow - 5am start, the 7:30 train from Euston and the 17:30 back, which alas left Glasgow about 30 minutes late, arrived at Milton Keynes 33 minutes late and then (because it had missed its timetable slot) was put on the slow tracks* so that it was behind a stopping train and finally reached Euston a whopping 63 minutes late!

*) My comments on this additional delay are in the 'incandescent with anger' category.

Anyway, I saw and travelled on the 1980s Metro Cammell trains (which looked a bit like a twin door leaf variant of the 1983ts) and the brand new Stadler trains, plus at the Riverside Museum I saw two generations of older Subway trains. This museum is about 15 minutes walk from Kelvinhall Subway station

Below are some tweets with photos

========================

To travel on the Subway I bought a ride-at-will day ticket. I discovered that this is an ITSO compliant smartcard. I put it in the same wallet as my London Oyster card as well as my other travel tickets for the Avanti train between London and Glasgow.

In Glasgow the ticket gate smart card readers ignored my Oyster card.

At Euston the ticket gate gave a 'card clash' error message.

I also tweeted about this ticket as now that I have proof positive that such is possible I'd much rather be able to buy similar for use in London - rather than use PAYG. Note that I did not see any facility for magnetic stripe tickets on the Subway

[greatkingrat]

Feb 14, 2024 13:44:50 GMT spsmiler said:

Yesterday I had my Awayday to Glasgow - 5am start, the 7:30 train from Euston and the 17:30 back, which alas left Glasgow about 30 minutes late, arrived at Milton Keynes 33 minutes late and then (because it had missed its timetable slot) was put on the slow tracks* so that it was behind a stopping train and finally reached Euston a whopping 63 minutes late!

*) My comments on this additional delay are in the 'incandescent with anger' category.

The issue was planned engineering work on the fast lines overnight. Your train was scheduled to go via the fast lines just before they closed, however the late departure meant the work had already started by the time you got to Milton Keynes and therefore the slow lines were the only available option.

[spsmiler]

Feb 14, 2024 14:50:43 GMT greatkingrat said:

The issue was planned engineering work on the fast lines overnight. Your train was scheduled to go via the fast lines just before they closed, however the late departure meant the work had already started by the time you got to Milton Keynes and therefore the slow lines were the only available option.

Thank you for the reply - this is just about the only reason that I could think of that would make sense - I had been expecting the train to go 'as fast as line speed allows' to try to reduce the delay below 30 minutes and reduce the 'delay repay' refunds. For the record, I bought my travel tickets during the 'Great Rail Sale' period so the 100% refund will be just £30.50. This was even less than my ticket would have cost had I used my Senior Railcard.

I was poised to complain to the Railway Ombudsman, but will not now do so.

[spsmiler]

Following my recent trip to Glasgow I've now created an 11 minute video showing the older and newer trains

This includes rides on both types of train - for the Metro Cammell trains I was able to travel in a near-empty carriage, which was convenient, and I was able to film a complete ride between two stations, including doors opening and closing, etc. I also added a little footage from the 1990s when these trains were in their 'Clockwork Orange' livery.

I had two opportunities to ride a Stadler train and both times it was too full to film exactly as I would have liked. But, I managed.

btw, i did not use a stopwatch but the older trains felt faster at station stops, the doors open and close sooner as there is less 'beep beep beep' alert sounds.

Enjoy, Simon

Glasgow Subway Older And Newer Trains

[Dstock7080]

[xplaistow]

[brigham]

Only 43 years?

Are they really in need of replacement?

[Chris M]

Although I've not been able to find a definitive statement, it seems the design life of the old stock was about 30-35 years.

[starlight73]

Brigham could have been joking, but I guess it’s a good idea to replace something
1. while funding is available
2. before it becomes too unreliable

[jimbo]

TfL complains that others are funded to replace younger rolling stock whilst they are forced to sweat their old trains beyond normal retirement age, ultimately at a higher long-term cost.

[brigham]

I blame that "levelling-up" bloke.

[Chris M]

Apr 15, 2024 9:26:39 GMT brigham said:

I blame that "levelling-up" bloke.

Moderator note: You are free to blame whomever you want, but you are not free to discuss politics on this forum. Levelling up and those responsible for it fall squarely within that realm.

[Dstock7080]

Re-xplaistow post of 12 April:

[Dstock7080]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crgedre0qexo



106+207+120 Inner
119+203+103 Outer
are the last Metro-Cammell (Hunslet-Barclay trailers) stock running in service today.

[melikepie]

And here is their potential fates