The end of Chiltern's Bubble

After more than 50 years in service on Britain's mainline railways, the Class 121 unit, have been retired from passenger service. They have been commonly referred to as Bubble cars for their round shape and airy atmosphere, with the ability to be able to see straight out the front through the driver's compartment from the passenger saloon.

Chiltern Railways had two operational units, 121020 in Chiltern blue and 121034 in British Rail green. These saw use during the Monday - Friday peak hour period operating a shuttle between Aylesbury and Princes Risborough as there was not enough available stock to cover the full mainline service and the branch line service. However, faced with ever rising maintenance costs, an influx of new units for the new Oxford services, and clever timetabling, the decision was made to retire these two workhorses without the need for any additional units.

Nearing the end

In the run up to the last day, The Branch Line Society organised a rail tour for the Bubble car which, on Sunday 2nd April 2017, visited a number of places on the Chiltern network which was uncharted territory for the Bubble. The tour visited Marylebone station, the new Bicester chord link, Oxford and the Calvert works near Quainton Road.

121034 at Northolt Park on the Branch Line Society rail tour heading towards London Marylebone
© Tommy Cooling

121034 at London Marylebone
© Tommy Cooling

Last Quaintonian
On Monday 1st May, 121034 provided a shuttle service between Aylesbury and Quainton Road for the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre's May Day bank holiday special event day. Up to twice a year, Chiltern assist the Railway Centre's special events, usually on one May bank holiday and the August bank holiday, the service was not always guaranteed to be the Bubble car, and has in the past been operated by a 2-car 165 DMU. 121034, for the last time, was booked to run on May Day 2017 for the last ever time on the Quaintonian service.

121034 at Quainton Road station
© Tommy Cooling

121034 passes 121020 heading to Quainton Road from Aylesbury.
121020 had been receiving attention at the time in preparation for the last day of the bubbles
© Tommy Cooling

The last day
The last day in service was Friday 19th May 2017, and the Bubble services were withdrawn in the Sunday 21st timetable change. With the recent increase in stock for Chiltern's new Oxford services, enough stock has been made available to cover the Bubble services. That and the huge cost increase to be able to keep the two units up to Mainline passenger condition are no longer viable. During the last week, an empty coach stock working from Aylesbury to Princes Risborough was made into an additional passenger working for those wishing the sample the last of its kind.

On the last day, a special ceremony was held at Princes Risborough for Chiltern's two units, and both were coupled together for the first time. The ceremony included cake and a presentation by Chiltern's Managing Director (MD) with the Mayor of Princes Risborough in attendance. Following this, the two Bubbles formed a series of additional passenger workings to and from Aylesbury within the normal timetable. These trips ran non-stop so not to affect the normal service. A technical failure meant the Bubbles lost one of the special trips during the afternoon, but made this up at the end of the day by replacing a Turbo unit on the last shuttle of the day.

Both of Chiltern's "Bubbles" operated together for the first time on the last day.
55020 and 55034 at Princes Risborough prior to the Class 121 ceremony
© Tommy Cooling

The other end of the duo with 121034
© Tommy Cooling

The Chinnor Railway also brought their two "Bubbles" up to Princes Risborough, to coincide with Chiltern's event perhaps?
Preserved Class 121 units W55023 and W55024 (960010) sit on the Chinnor railway link line
© Tommy Cooling

 

121020 at Princes Risborough with a special
ceremonial cake made just for the occasion
© Tommy Cooling

Class 121 poster in the ticket hall at the station
© Tommy Cooling

 

Close up of the cake, modelled on 121034
© Tommy Cooling

Chiltern's MD Dave Penney addresses the audience with the Mayor of Princes Risborough to kick of the ceremony
© Tommy Cooling

A slice of the [very tasty] chocolate cake
which was handed out to those who wanted it
© Tommy Cooling

Chiltern's MD Dave Penney cuts the cake with the
enthusiastic crowd and plethora of cameras looking on
© Tommy Cooling

The surviving end of the cake after the ceremony showing the detail and precision that went into the bake!
© Tommy Cooling

121034 and 12020 leave Princes Risborough for Aylesbury on the first of the special non-stop trips
© Tommy Cooling

034 (leading) and 020 approaching the Bishopstone/Marsh Lane level crossing heading towards Aylesbury
© Tommy Cooling

And the duo heading away from the same crossing towards Aylesbury with 020 at the rear
© Tommy Cooling



A selection of free chocolates were brought out in
the afternoon with special chocolates for the occasion
© Tommy Cooling




121020 in miniature and full size
© Tommy Cooling

Close-up of the special chocolates
© Tommy Cooling

A model of 121020 on display in front of the real thing at Princes Risborough
© Tommy Cooling

The scene onboard the "Bubble"
© Tommy Cooling

The duo leave Princes Risborough on the first of the afternoon timetabled trips
© Tommy Cooling

The duo arriving back at Princes Risborough
© Tommy Cooling

Interior view of 121020 having run for the final time at Aylesbury
© Tommy Cooling

121020 having finished for the last time
© Tommy Cooling



121034 prepares to run light into the depot at Aylesbury for the last time
© Tommy Cooling

Gone but not forgotten

121034 on display at Old Oak Common depot open day in September 2017
Nearly four months after withdrawal from mainline passenger service, 121034 reappeared as a static "exhibit" at the GWR OOC111 open day
© Tommy Cooling

121020 has been preserved at the Bodmin & Wenford Railway, seen here in October 2017
It is planned to be used in service on the heritage railway, but perhaps not one its own! The railway also own a 2-car DMU which this bubble would couple up to.
© Tommy Cooling

Post by Tommy Cooling
Some of these images and more can be found on my Flickr page:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127662272@N07/

Please do not reproduce any of my images without permission

The future is electric, the future is green, the future is here!

Monday 16th October 2017 marked a new milestone in Great Western Railway history when the first new electric Hitachi IEP Inter-city Express Train, UK Class 800, made its first fare paying passenger service. GWR 800 008 & 800 009 formed 1C03, the 07:00 Paddington to Bristol service. There was a second booked working for an IEP train this morning, however this suffered technical difficulties and was subsequently taken out of service.


I had the pleasure of riding on the 11:45 service out of Paddington to Reading. Herein follows a pictorial report of that trip on the first day of public service for the new Intercity Express Trains.

The departure from Paddington was swift, smooth and quiet. The train had racked up 125mph before Southall. In diesel mode however, the train is restricted to 110mph only. The train ran in electric mode as far as Taplow, and then diesel onwards. This is due to the wires beyond Maidenhead not being signed off for use. This is supposed to be done by the December timetable change to allow electric trains to run as far as Didcot, and to allow Crossrail 345s to begin testing up to Reading.

GWR 800 008 arriving into Paddington have travelled in service from Bristol
© Tommy Cooling
 

First Class designation from outside including electronic display of the destination, carriage letter and what looks like the next stopping point and time, though why it says 09:30 Bath Spa upon arrival at Paddington is not known!
© Tommy Cooling



First interior view of Standard Class accommodation
© Tommy Cooling

The dreaded windowless seats in Standard Class
© Tommy Cooling

Standard Class 2+2 seating with table
© Tommy Cooling

Interior view of First Class accommodation
© Tommy Cooling

Red First Class headrests
Note on the top of the seat the slot provision for the current GWR reservation "tags".
It was noted that 800 008 arrived with reservation tags in place, but none in 800 009.
© Tommy Cooling



Socket and USB charging point between seats in
First Class accommodation
© Tommy Cooling



Promotional GWR poster depicting
IEPs, in one of the new IEPs
© Tommy Cooling

Seat reservation screens - free seats in green
© Tommy Cooling

Seat reservation screens - partially available seats in yellow, telling you where it's free from/to and when it is reserved
© Tommy Cooling

Seat reservation screens - seats reserved for the entire journey in red
© Tommy Cooling

Interior view with seat reservations shown on the carriage side walls above the windows
(Hint, look for the "green seats" for a free seat)
© Tommy Cooling

 

View of the new on-board receptive accessible toilets
© Tommy Cooling

GWR 800 009, just fitting on the end of the platform at Paddington
© Tommy Cooling

Side-on view of the IEP showing the location of the numbered seats in the carriage
© Tommy Cooling

"Welcome to London Paddington"
Still will take getting used to seeing IEPs here.
© Tommy Cooling



GWR 800 009 at Reading, the end of my journey for today with an HST (43152) lurking in the background
© Tommy Cooling

There are now supposed to be two daily IEP workings, running from Paddington to either Bristol, Cardiff or Swansea, with some Sunday services to/from Weston-Super-Mare. This will be joined by a further two booked workings in November. The plan is to bring one or two new trains into service each week until May 2018.

Post by Tommy Cooling
All these images and more can be found on my Flickr page:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127662272@N07/

Please do not reproduce any of my images without permission

Return to Uxbridge

Route 222 was last operated from Uxbridge Garage under First Centrewest back on 16th September 2000. Once this was lost in tender to London United, it stayed with London United for 17 years, before returning to what was Centrewest on 16th September 2017.

VWH2170 arrives at Hounslow Bus Station at the end of its 222 trip from Uxbridge on the first morning with Metroline
© Tommy Cooling

Bringing a second former Hounslow route into the Metroline realm with yet again, more hybrid Volvo B5LH/Wright Eclipse Gemini 3s after the 120 moved to Perivale earlier in the year, the 222 was, for most of its recent history, based in Uxbridge garage.


An all London United affair last year, now the 120 and 222 have left Hounslow for pastures new-ish. Metroline West VWH2170 on Route 222 and Metroline VWH2277 on Route 120 are the non-native buses at London United's Hounslow Garage where London United SP40072 is based, on Route H98.
(© Aubrey)

Other than the first night, where there was an operational hiccup and there were unexplained gaps in service, the 222 since then ran a fairly normal day service on the first day.


On the first day, VWH2168 on Route 222 sits alongside London United's TA40250 on Route H32
(© Aubrey)

The current buses on the 222 are the 114's batch of buses, as the 222 requires the buses on the route to be hybrid. As the buses for the 114 for are blinded, these are temporarily on the 222.


VWH2181 picks up passengers at Harlington Corner, where it wouldn't look out of place as 140 has had similar buses for the past year now. A Hounslow based SP loads on the 111 behind.
(© Aubrey)

19 brand new Wrightbus Gemini 3 B5LHs were ordered for the route, VWH2345-2363. However, the Wrightbus delivery schedule had gone awry, such that on the first day of the 222 contract, only four out of 19 had been delivered, and none of which had passed their pre-service checks. In the weeks leading up to the new contract, numerous plans had been put forward as ideas of what to do should the situation of having no new vehicles arise. This was made even trickier by Wrightbus' continual guarantee to have all 19 vehicles with Metroline by early September. The plan that was put into place was to utilise the large number of Willesden-bound hybrids sat in store at Hayes on the 114, and use the 114s vehicles which had been reblinded for the 222, on the 222. Thus the 222 contract of Euro VI was satisfied from day one using buses that had the correct displays.


As the buses for the 222 are late, new buses intended for Willesden Garage routes have temporary displays for Route 114. VWH2323 shows the situation at Ruislip Station.
(© Aubrey)

The 114 then had the rest. This included up to 17 newer VWHs but as these were Willesden-bound, they already had Willesden blinds fitted. Therefore 114 slipboards had to be drawn up (with examples displayed above)! In addition, five TEs due to arrive at Uxbridge as part of the U4 contract, which will replace the VPs, were also hastily moved from Potters Bar to Uxbridge to provide additional cover. These were to provide the safety float between the 114 and 222 as they had blinds for both routes.


A slightly confused driver puts up Hounslow West Station on VWH2185, when actually enroute to Hounslow Bus Station.
(CC Aubrey)

Although the buses are pre-existing to Metroline West, the some of the drivers are new to Metroline West, as some drivers transferred from London United.
However, except for the normal first day hiccups and bunching, the service has since started to settle down. The frequency decrease for the route has led to buses getting much busier, but the first day may have been an exaggeration due to the extent of bus bunching that happened.


VWH2183 runs home at Uxbridge after another run on the 222
(© Aubrey)

The first new buses for the 222 has now entered service. This will allow Willesden buses to enter their intended services, and the 114 to regain some of its own buses back, with full blinds again. Although the contract is stated for hybrids, other blinded buses have entered service on the route, including a Volvo B7TL (VW) and an Enviro 400 (TE). Luckily, no buses with no blinds for the route have entered service on the 222, so far.


Post and photos by Aubrey Morandarte and Tommy Cooling.