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Post by snoggle on May 31, 2018 0:42:03 GMT
To be fair, the 3 and 4 car 755s will be fine with one door per carriage in rural East Anglia. At peak times the Mark 3 coach doorways are a nightmare, I think the 745s will be an improvement. The 745s are unlikely to be stopping at Chelmsford in the peaks, Colchester commuters should be fine, many of them struggle to get on the services from Norwich as it is so the capacity increase the 745s bring over the IC sets may help. There are though a whole host of other issues that GA don't seem to have answers for. The biggest concern is over the loss of 8 car sets off-peak on both WA and GEML. GA won't say whether off-peak services will be 5 or 10 car consists. While the new 5 car Aventra's provide a similar seating capacity to an 8 car 321 set there will be less standing space and consequently more people will be crammed into a smaller space, which is not ideal. Fewer doors too. Others include, the Bi-modes' 500 mile limit between refuels, the lack of a Depot at Manningtree upon which their bid timetable was based, rumours that the consultation timetable is delayed because they just can't get it to work, and the feeling that the mix of Aventra units will be nowhere near enough to run the service. Interesting times in East Anglia approach. I hope it does go smoothly, because the Aventras will be most welcome on my commute but experience tells me otherwise. I don't think anyone is claiming rural East Anglia lines have a capacity problem. As for the rest I was relaying remarks I've seen elsewhere. I know from your comments on railforums uk that you have extensive experience of Anglia rail services and clear concerns and opinions on lots of issues. I am not surprised to see you say the proposed timetable won't work. This now seems to be a recurring theme with every franchise award which makes a mockery of whatever it is that is actually bid. The DfT seem perfectly happy to allow bidders to walk away from their commitments and I expect the current Thameslink disaster will make them even less likely to accept complex or controversial timetable changes. We've got Thameslink, Great Northern, Northern, Transpennine, SWR and possibly Greater Anglia all in a mess over timetables. I guess we can throw in Southeastern and West Midlands Trains at some point too. Let's not even think about West Coast Partnership. There seems to be a disconnect between the bidders submissions, DfT's appraisal and analysis of bid timetables / resource plans and then the subsequent exposure of the bid proposal to the harsh reality of the working railway. That's a serious problem. I was aware of the depot issues which must be causing an enormous headache but one wonders exactly what research and planning Abellio did before making such an unworkable proposal. Haven't kept up with things like 5 vs 10 car units nor the fuel range of the Stadlers. We'll see what happens with the main line EMUs. I still think Tottenham Hale will be a mess if the Stansted Expresses have long dwell times. The service frequencies for stoppers are already abysmal and show no sign of improvement because of the overprioritisation of longer distance trains and the lack of investment (aside from STAR) in the route to provide extra capacity. Even the odd judiciously placed passing loop or extra platforms to recess slows might help given the Mexican stand off over 4 tracking and who pays for it. I also think the DfT's decision to remove peak time stops at Edmonton Green for GA trains is also a huge issue lurking in the background given the trains will still run that way in the peak (no paths via Ponders End) and I expect people in Edmonton rely on them for a fast journey. I understand peak time Overground trains are packed so there's no relief there and there are no extra paths. I can see that "mess" becoming very controversial once people twig what's planned.
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Post by joefrombow on May 31, 2018 3:10:17 GMT
To be fair, the 3 and 4 car 755s will be fine with one door per carriage in rural East Anglia. At peak times the Mark 3 coach doorways are a nightmare, I think the 745s will be an improvement. The 745s are unlikely to be stopping at Chelmsford in the peaks, Colchester commuters should be fine, many of them struggle to get on the services from Norwich as it is so the capacity increase the 745s bring over the IC sets may help. There are though a whole host of other issues that GA don't seem to have answers for. The biggest concern is over the loss of 8 car sets off-peak on both WA and GEML. GA won't say whether off-peak services will be 5 or 10 car consists. While the new 5 car Aventra's provide a similar seating capacity to an 8 car 321 set there will be less standing space and consequently more people will be crammed into a smaller space, which is not ideal. Fewer doors too. Others include, the Bi-modes' 500 mile limit between refuels, the lack of a Depot at Manningtree upon which their bid timetable was based, rumours that the consultation timetable is delayed because they just can't get it to work, and the feeling that the mix of Aventra units will be nowhere near enough to run the service. Interesting times in East Anglia approach. I hope it does go smoothly, because the Aventras will be most welcome on my commute but experience tells me otherwise. Personally I think they should keep the existing Class 379's and add some "remodeled" 387 type trains for the WA and Stansted Route and get similar trains to the Class 444 for the mainline services to Norwich , I've heard elsewhere a rumour that some Class 321 refurbished "renaltus" units are to be kept as the bay platforms at Wickford are too short to hold the new Aventuras for the Southminster branch and also the Harwich branch unless the Stadler units are to be used on them , also they seem to be putting new Traction motors in a lot of 321 units which haven't been refurbished to the same standard as the "renaltus" units but seems pointless to me if the units are going next year . One thing I can't seem to find anywhere is wether the 5 car Aventuras will be of a similar length to a 5 car 321 or longer as the 345's 7 car unit is just short of the same length of a 315 ? One thing is certain though in around about two years there is going to be a lot of redundant stock that still has plenty of life left i.e the Class 360's , 365's 379's and dare I say it the 317's and 321's with all the welsh/west country electrification put on hold .
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Post by snoggle on May 31, 2018 10:44:47 GMT
One thing I can't seem to find anywhere is wether the 5 car Aventuras will be of a similar length to a 5 car 321 or longer as the 345's 7 car unit is just short of the same length of a 315 ? Wiki says a 5 car class 720 for Gtr Anglia will be 122m long, a 10 car 243m long. That seems to be a little bit longer than a 5 car 321 would be (5 x 19.95m). Class 315s seem to be 19.8m long per car so just shy of 20m per car.
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Post by snowman on May 31, 2018 11:44:26 GMT
One thing I can't seem to find anywhere is wether the 5 car Aventuras will be of a similar length to a 5 car 321 or longer as the 345's 7 car unit is just short of the same length of a 315 ? Wiki says a 5 car class 720 for Gtr Anglia will be 122m long, a 10 car 243m long. That seems to be a little bit longer than a 5 car 321 would be (5 x 19.95m). Class 315s seem to be 19.8m long per car so just shy of 20m per car. Sounds right, think I have read somewhere 24.4m so a 10 car unit is about same length as conventional 12 x 20m. Not sure if narrower to get around curves The diesel units have a short motor car in the formation, with 4 diesel engines in 4.5 car units (4 passenger cars and the short motor car), the 3 car units only have 2 diesel engines and 2 spaces (which could later accommodate battery packs)
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Post by TNL33036 on Jun 28, 2018 17:52:09 GMT
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Post by ServerKing on Jun 30, 2018 20:15:30 GMT
Looks great! At least as bi-mode, it can deal with any cases of overhead line damage to the 1950's knitting in hot weather like this
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Post by TNL33036 on Jul 1, 2018 13:18:39 GMT
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Post by wivenswold on Aug 1, 2018 20:26:24 GMT
Canteen rumours abound regarding 156s being kept for the Norwich - Sheringham service and even the 360s being retained indefinitely.
The initial batch of timetable changes due for May 2019 have been put back to December 2019 so they appear to be going for the notorious "big bang" approach, rather than a phased change to services. Harwich appears to be favourite for the new depot now that Manningtree is dead and buried. It's also been confirmed that the Stansted service will be a mix of Stadlers and Aventras and that the 10 car Aventras will be for both East and West side services (ie WA and GEML), which is a disappointment given that we need 22 x 12 car services on GEML peaks at present so the much vaunted huge increase in capacity is looking less impressive.
Serious concerns and the GA management team seem to be suffering Brexit-style levels of denial about the reality of their aspirations at the moment.
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Post by joefrombow on Aug 2, 2018 7:04:50 GMT
Canteen rumours abound regarding 156s being kept for the Norwich - Sheringham service and even the 360s being retained indefinitely. The initial batch of timetable changes due for May 2019 have been put back to December 2019 so they appear to be going for the notorious "big bang" approach, rather than a phased change to services. Harwich appears to be favourite for the new depot now that Manningtree is dead and buried. It's also been confirmed that the Stansted service will be a mix of Stadlers and Aventras and that the 10 car Aventras will be for both East and West side services (ie WA and GEML), which is a disappointment given that we need 22 x 12 car services on GEML peaks at present so the much vaunted huge increase in capacity is looking less impressive. Serious concerns and the GA management team seem to be suffering Brexit-style levels of denial about the reality of their aspirations at the moment. Good stuff if true , the 360's are still new in my eyes , I find it hard to believe they are 14/15 years old , how time flies and as far as I know they are pretty reliable would be nice to see them on the Southminster line if all the 321s go . Is there anywhere online we can see the changes that are going to be implemented is there a consultation or a rough guide as to what changes will be happening ? And as for Brexit-Style denial does it look like we are going to have another Thameslink situation 😞 ? To give GA credit most daily issues (which there always seem to be compared to the c2c line) are down to Network Rail track issues etc there does seem to be an awful lot of trains made up short though recently 8 cars instead of 12 and cancellations due to train faults and the like.
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Post by TNL33036 on Sept 6, 2018 20:03:39 GMT
Class 755 under it’s own power:
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Post by wivenswold on Sept 8, 2018 1:18:35 GMT
They look like lovely units, I can't wait to use one.
Rail Magazine is promising big fleet news in the next two issues. If all is going well, we should see a Class 720 in the flesh in the next couple of weeks.
Latest is that 720s will start on Liverpool St to Southend Vic services in March 2019 and Liv. St. to Cambridge in April. Garnish with lashings of salt and serve.
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Sept 13, 2018 12:14:09 GMT
Looks like the first 720 has been built
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Post by snoggle on Sept 13, 2018 12:33:48 GMT
Seen some of the other tweets about the GA class 720s. The seating layout looks dreadful. Thin seats and crammed in 3+2 seating. I know they want to maximise seating but the aisle between the seats looks ridiculously narrow. Wonder if they'll get into service earlier than a year late like the LO ones??
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Post by capitalomnibus on Sept 13, 2018 14:40:02 GMT
Looks like the first 720 has been built Looks like Crossrail/Goblin trains
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Post by T.R. on Sept 18, 2018 8:56:47 GMT
Looks like the first 720 has been built Looks like Crossrail/Goblin trains They’re the same unit type (Bombardier Aventra). Interesting they kept some yellow on the front.
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