The refurbishment of first-class carriages in 2014 included interiors that featured a new GWR logo,[26] with no First branding. The whole company was rebranded Great Western Railway (GWR) on 20 September 2015,[27] with the introduction of a green livery in recognition of the former Great Western Railway which existed between 1835 and 1947.[28][29] The new livery was introduced when HST interiors were refurbished, and on sleeper carriages and Class 57/6 locomotives.[30]
Train Simulator: EWS Class 92 Loco Add-On crack
Great Western Railway is now the only major UK rail operator with restaurant cars. These operate on certain West Country and Wales trains to or from London Paddington. They are available to first-class and standard-class passengers, though only first-class passengers may make advance reservations, and they have priority over seats in the restaurant.[41] Meals in the restaurant car are not included in the price of rail tickets.
In April 2021, cracks were discovered in the yaw damper brackets (part of the suspension system) of Class 800 and 802 InterCity Express Trains (IETs). Eight trains were withdrawn from service and an investigation started into the cause.[76] On 8 May, all these trains and similar ones operated by other companies were taken out of service. Cracks had now been found in the lifting pads (a component fixed near the bogie) and it was feared that if these were to fall off they may cause injury or derailment.[77][78]
The only IETs that were permitted to operate were those which had been carefully inspected and found to have no significant cracks. This meant that most of GWR's 93 IETs were unavailable which led to significant disruption to long-distance services. Class 387s operated additional services from London Paddington to Didcot which were later extended to Swindon and Bristol Parkway after approval was given for them to operate in service on this route. Three additional 387s were loaned from c2c and were modified to work with GWR's fleet, mostly on services to Newbury. CrossCountry operated a service on behalf of GWR from Swindon to Bristol Temple Meads and the few available 800s and 802s were concentrated on services west of Swindon and to Plymouth.[79] Plans were agreed on 13 May to increase inspections of the lifting pads and yaw dampers so that more trains could be returned to service.[80][81] A further six Class 387s were loaned from Govia Thameslink Railway in July 2021 and used in a common pool with GWR's existing 387/1 fleet, being surplus to requirements while the Gatwick Express service was suspended.[82]
Most Great Western Railway intercity services are operated by a fleet of 57 Class 800 trains from the Hitachi A-train family. GWR operates most of its long-distance services between London and destinations such as Swindon, Chippenham, Bath Spa, Bristol Temple Meads, Newport, Cardiff Central, Swansea, Carmarthen, Cheltenham Spa, Oxford, Worcester Shrub Hill and Hereford, using these trains, which gradually replaced the older InterCity 125 sets between autumn 2017 and spring 2019. On 28 April 2021, six Class 800s were withdrawn from service due to cracks being found during maintenance and were sent to Hitachi for inspection.[83]
Bombardier Transportation at Ilford Depot had modified twelve of these trains by December 2020, installing new first-class seating, Wi-Fi, luggage racks and on-board entertainment, to be used on Heathrow Express services. Rebranded as "Heathrow Express", and refurbished with Heathrow Express moquette, they replaced the existing Class 332,[93] entering service on 29 December 2020.
GWR's High Speed Train fleet were refurbished by Bombardier in Derby and Ilford between 2006 and 2008,[100] with leather seats introduced in first class, redesigned toilets, a redesigned buffet, and at-seat power points. The company opted for mainly airline seats, giving more seats per train.
Locomotive-hauled trains were in use on services between Cardiff, Bristol, Taunton and Paignton from December 2008 until November 2010 using Virgin Trains Class 57 locomotives with Mark 2 coaching stock. A second set hauled by EWS Class 67s was used between December 2009 and October 2010. These were withdrawn when sufficient DMUs were available following the transfer of six Class 150/1 sets from London Overground.[119] First Great Western issued a tender in May 2013 so that locomotive-hauled trains, or other train formations, could be operated on the Taunton-Cardiff route again, proposed to start in December 2013, to cover for DMUs out of service for refurbishment on Monday-to-Friday diagrams.[120] GWR also runs loco-hauled sets composed of seating coaches and a Class 57 locomotive from the Night Riviera service between Penzance and Exeter St Davids as part of the summer timetable to release a DMU for other services.
Saturday 13th August 2016 provided the first ever visit of LMS Jubilee No.45699 'Galatea' to Taunton. The locomotive was used by The Railway Touring Company on their 'West Somerset Express' charter to Minehead from London Paddington. Riding on the back of the charter was popular heritage Class 47 No.47580 'County of Essex'. This was also the first visit of the locomotive to the West Somerset Railway. 47580 was also removed from the train at Bishops Lydeard but later operated the tour back to London from Bishops Lydeard.
The United States Army Transportation Corps S160 Class is a class of 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotive designed for use in Europe during World War II for heavy freight work. A total of 2,120 were built and they worked on railroads across the world, including Africa, Asia, all of Europe and South America.
A number of locomotives built for Euro Cargo Rail in France with roof-mounted air conditioning are classed Class 77. In Germany ECR units operated for DB Schenker were numbered as class 247, re-classified as class 266 by the Eisenbahn-Bundesamt to match other Class 66 locomotives operating in Germany.
The Deutsche Reichsbahn's Class 52[1] was a German steam locomotive built in large numbers during the Second World War. It was the most produced type of the so-called Kriegslokomotiven or Kriegsloks (war locomotives). The Class 52 was a wartime development of the pre-war DRG Class 50, using fewer parts and less expensive materials to speed production. They were designed by Wagner who was Chief Engineer of the Central Design Office at the Locomotive Standards Bureau of the DRG. About a dozen classes of locomotive were referred to as Kriegslokomotiven, however the three main classes were the Class 52, 50 and 42.
The Deutsche Reichsbahn's Class 52[1] was a German steam locomotive built in large numbers during the Second World War. It was the most produced type of the so-called Kriegslokomotiven or Kriegsloks (war locomotives). The Class 52 was a wartime development of the pre-war DRG Class 50, using fewer parts and expensive materials to speed production. They were designed by Wagner who was Chief Engineer of the Central Design Office at the Locomotive Standards Bureau of the DRG. About a dozen classes of locomotive were referred to as Kriegslokomotiven, however the three main classes were the Class 52, 50 and 42. 2ff7e9595c
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