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Transport for Wales hopes to have Class 175 trains back in service by mid-April

09 Apr 2023 2 minute read
Class 175 – Photo: TfW

Transport for Wales (TfW) is hoping to have its full fleet of Class 175 trains back in service within the next two weeks.

Most of the fleet was taken out of service at the beginning of March after a series of underbody fires, one of which on a Holyhead to Cardiff service in February saw passengers evacuated and a road closed.

There are 27 Class 175 trains in the Transport for Wales fleet.

Investigations have confirmed the fires were the result of poor cleaning of the engine bay area which was leading to a build-up of fuel deposits in an area where very hot exhaust gases are present.

Testing across the fleet revealed a significant number of leaks coupled with pressure test failures in the trains’ air coolers, leading to an increased risk of what TfW described as ‘thermal events’.

The engine bays of all TfW’s  Class 175s require thorough clean before they can return to service and a shortage of air coolers has delayed the replacement of all of the failed units.

According to Rail Business UK, the Office of Rail & Road has also issued an improvement notice to TfW and CAF which is responsible for maintaining the fleet.

Stand down

Speaking to Rail Business UK, Chaudhry van der Velde, TfW’s Chief Operating Officer said: “The fleet check led to decision to stand the fleet down; subsequently we have said to passengers and colleagues that we won’t put a train out unless it’s had the engine clean.

“We have also provided CAF with photographs of what a cleaned up engine should look like so the maintainers know what is expected. We are getting through the programme and every day and every week we’re getting more Class 175s back into service.

‘In the meantime, we’ve had to step down our timetable somewhat, it is painful for passengers at the moment; we are spreading the fleet a lot more thinly across the network.’

Mr van der Velde has predicted that restoration of all Class 175 trains will take until at least mid-April.


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Mab Meirion
Mab Meirion
11 months ago

Good Lord ! Kings Cross on wheels. They need a photograph to know what ‘clean’ looks like !

They’re going on about how long the SNP and the Conservative Party have been in power but we live in a one party state and complacency is perhaps the politest word I can come up with…

Adam Price what are you doing…

Mab Meirion
Mab Meirion
11 months ago

Health and Transport, what else? Museums…Takes too long to list but the Bay Bubble needs bursting ! a nod to hd…

Ernie The Smallholder
Ernie The Smallholder
11 months ago

We should NOT be using combustible fuels in passenger service vehicles.

We should be planning the full electrification of the whole rail network in Wales
The Welsh government should be telling us when this project will begin.

CWL
CWL
11 months ago

Most of the network is owned by Whitehall. The bit the Welsh Gov do have control of (Core Valley Lines) is being electrified.

Danny Coe
Danny Coe
11 months ago

I Don’t Really Like The Class 175 As Much As The Class 231 And The 197 But I Think They Are A Good Contender To Be Part Of The TFW Network

Also Can The 175’s Start Doing Services After The Rush Hour Because Where I Normally Get The Train And It’s A 175, They Are Always Jam-packed And There’s No Where To Sit, Pls🙏

Peter Cuthbert
Peter Cuthbert
11 months ago
Reply to  Danny Coe

Never mind which class, lets have more units so that we can cut the overcrowding.

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