Great Western Railway is cutting its timetable in order to reduce cancellations caused by the unreliability of its fleet of trains.
The operator, which is being nationalised later this year, has removed a handful of services from sale starting from Monday after disruption caused by a string of breakdowns.
It has cited technical problems with its second-hand Class 175 trains, which were supposed to replace elderly former high speed trains on regional stopping services in Devon and Cornwall. Twenty-six of the trains are being delivered to GWR, but of the 15 that have arrived only one or two have worked satisfactorily on any given day.
The timetable cut, which has not been advertised, means passengers will not qualify for delay repay on the withdrawn services.
It comes after similar turmoil at another operator, East Midlands Railway (EMR), following the introduction of brand new Hitachi express trains on London St Pancras to Nottingham and Sheffield services.
GWR did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but a note sent to stakeholders and circulated online said its new trains delivered to date “have required a higher level of recommissioning work than expected following a prolonged period in storage and out of service,” adding: “The introduction of these trains has been further affected in passenger service by technical issues, which now require immediate and targeted attention to ensure the fleet delivers the reliability and benefits our customers, the communities we serve, and our colleagues expect.”
It continued: “As a result, we know performance and punctuality on our routes in Devon and Cornwall hasn’t been good enough recently. There have been too many cancellations and delays, and customers and colleagues are rightly frustrated.
“To address the consistent performance issues and the frequent short-notice cancellations brought about by the issues outlined above, we are planning a limited number of timetable reductions to come into effect from Monday 7 September. These changes – 6 cancellations on a weekday, and a smaller number on a Saturday, between Penzance and Plymouth/Exeter – will help to provide certainty for customers instead of the ad-hoc cancellations we’ve had to make over recent weeks, and help protect capacity for the rest of our services in Devon and Cornwall.”
The note said GWR would restore the cut services “as soon as possible” and that a technical investigation team has been established jointly with the owners, Angel Trains, and the original manufacturers, Alstom. “That team will carry out a full forensic review of all reported defects, using new and existing data to better understand why faults are happening and how maintenance and repair regimes can be strengthened.”