Vanmanyo
@vanmanyo
I make (mostly) educational YouTube videos on Britain's rail network! Student
Good morning from your new Chiltern Railways "Explorer" Mk5a train! A real party atmosphere here today with 13 5 carriage Mk5as being rolled out for the December timetable change! Today was the official launch although a set did run yesterday!
9,000 Subscribers! Super happy to hit this milestone, one step closer to 10,000!!! Thanks to anyone who's subscribed over the years, and if you haven't done so yet - what are you waiting for!!!!
Some recent bus/tram pics whilst out in Manchester! Quite happy with a few of these to be fair 😆
Went to the pretty interesting station of Sankey for Penketh on Friday. A station which was de facto replaced by the nearby Warrington West in 2019, but still receives a skeleton 4 trains a day service! Having visited at noon on a Friday, it was pretty desolate. Expect a video soon on the topic 👀
Just hit 8,000 subscribers on YouTube! A big achievement which I am so so happy about! Thanks to everyone who's ever watched, liked, commented or subscribed! I'm celebrating by doing a Q&A so if you have anything you want to ask me, let me know in the comments!!! Thanks again!
Been pretty busy recently including my first ride on a Eurostar 373, a full long-distance run on a refurbished Chiltern 168, my first ever TGV run and my first ICE train (amongst other thigns such as my first time in Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia!)
Confirmation then that Chiltern Railways will lease all of the ex TPE CAF mk5a coaches with the first to enter service by April 2026 as 5 car sets to replace MK3 coaches. Will still use class 68s but different specific locos.
So SWR is now nationalised! (I know I'm a bit late!) Here's some pics of the day before nationalisation when First MTR still ran the trains! Do check out my video on nationalisation here: youtu.be/UnfjhxNDlew
On Sunday the 25 May South Western Railway was nationalised! I've made a video on the nationalisation and what I believe it could entail (Such as GBR) as well as exploring the SWR network for one last time before nationalisation (filmed Saturday 24 May). Do give it a watch: youtu.be/UnfjhxNDlew
Seems as though this week is the first week that every diagram on the Borderlands line is ran by a class 230! Last week most were but there were still the odd 197 diagram. Since yesterday every service has been a 230! Great to see TFW managing to get the units reliable enough to run all diagrams now
Finally ticked off the Princes Risborough - Aylesbury line which was the last bit of Chiltern I haven't been on yet! Can now say I've completed the whole Chiltern route 🫡
It is on LNWR as well (so all of WMT) but unfortunately no separate 350/2 livery and no drawing for the 150 on the Marston Vale 😥
Real-time trains "Know Your Train" feature now on WMR giving us this cute little 139 drawing!
Rather cool new toy - my Traintrackr Elizabeth line display! Would highly recommend they are so cool and are super easy to set up #notsponsored
On this week's franchise video I'm looking at the Thames franchise and their two operators - Thames Trains & FGWL! You can watch now on my Patreon :) www.patreon.com/vanmanyo?utm...
Lots of progress on the Butetown branch line since I last visited - the island platform at Cardiff Bay is in (With working information displays too!) and platforms at Butetown are also in place, as I am sure @swmetroupdates.online have been keeping up to date with!
Fairwater and Wuan-Gron Park also completed! I've now been to every station between Cardiff and Pontypridd except Danescourt - that can wait for another time! Also went to the Gavin & Stacey place...
The whole reason for my visit to Wales yesterday - the new 756s! They are awesome trains and the changeover from battery/diesel to overhead electric power is seamless! So excited for more of these to be rolled out over the network - finally we have electric commuter trains in Wales.
Taffs Well ✅ Pretty cool station with awesome views from the soon-to-be old footbridge. A first look at the new class 398 tram-trains in person for me too!
Trefforest Estate ✅ 12tph in each direction for a tiny station like this was pretty fun and also impressive given that it is mostly ran by class 150s!
Well TFW's first weekday of the new timetable could've gone better: passengers unable to board a peak time 16:51 Cardiff to Swansea service formed of 197008, leaving many stranded on the platform. Use of platform 0 certainly didn't help - ticket checks being conducted by a singular staff member!
Cheltenham Spa - new station for me! A pair of dogboxes takes me into the Welsh Capital, around 8 minutes late too!
So, SWR will be nationalised by May next year meaning the South Western franchise will be the first to be privatised and will be the first nationalised (properly)! Now the question is, can the class 455s out live privatisation - would be some feat..