South Western Railway (Formally South West Trains)
Jan 9, 2024 23:22:49 GMT
T.R., vjaska, and 6 more like this
Post by gwiwer on Jan 9, 2024 23:22:49 GMT
The plan, which is only verbal so far as I am aware but may be written somewhere internally, is that 701s commence service one unit at a time as crew training builds up with full service some 18 - 24 months from now.
Current priority is the Windsor duties. It was to have been Reading but Windsor is shorter and easier to resource. Currently Windsors are a mixed bag of 450 and 458 but mostly the latter, plus occasional 455s. 450s are needed back on the main line to return busy trips to their full strength; some have been reduced from 12 to 8 or 8 to 4 car to release 450s following the removal of most 707s and scrapping of a few 455s. 458s are being modified back to four-car units but where they end up is anyone's guess. They were intended for the Portmouth Direct to replace the 3+2 seated 450s which have never been popular there. This plan now looks to be on ice.
After Windsor the 701s will go on the Reading turns followed by the Hounslow rounders. That converts most "Windsor Lines" services to the type.
Beyond there they will trickle onto main suburban diagrams. Some of those inter-work between routes but Shepperton and Kingston "rounders" stay on the same duties all day. Therefore those are potentially the next for conversion with the other lines coming later in the program.
They are or were at one time also expected to cover the Ascot - Aldershot service which implies also Guildford - Farnhams and they are expected to work some Altons and some Basingstoke stoppers eventually.
The 5-car units coupled are slightly longer than a ten-car unit so might have issues at a few locations where space is tight. They are the units intended for outer suburban lines such as those through Aldershot where 5-car trains are more than ample. They can run coupled and will surely do so at times on the main suburban and Windsor Lines.
455s are being kept going with a phassed slow withdrawal to conclude by late 2025 so long as the 701s enter traffic as currently intended. A few which have been sent for scrap are in the worst condition but are providing spares. Remember they all had brand new traction packages not many years ago and most have received re-manufactured bogies within the past couple of years so money is still being spent on them. Their steel bodies are steadily rotting as can be seen by close examination of almost any 455 vehicle in traffic. Paintwork is blistered where rust has erupted, panel edges are wasting and the doors stick almost daily owing to very slight body-shell distortion caused through their 40-odd years in traffic. You can sometimes see that by looking along the roof ribs.
Current priority is the Windsor duties. It was to have been Reading but Windsor is shorter and easier to resource. Currently Windsors are a mixed bag of 450 and 458 but mostly the latter, plus occasional 455s. 450s are needed back on the main line to return busy trips to their full strength; some have been reduced from 12 to 8 or 8 to 4 car to release 450s following the removal of most 707s and scrapping of a few 455s. 458s are being modified back to four-car units but where they end up is anyone's guess. They were intended for the Portmouth Direct to replace the 3+2 seated 450s which have never been popular there. This plan now looks to be on ice.
After Windsor the 701s will go on the Reading turns followed by the Hounslow rounders. That converts most "Windsor Lines" services to the type.
Beyond there they will trickle onto main suburban diagrams. Some of those inter-work between routes but Shepperton and Kingston "rounders" stay on the same duties all day. Therefore those are potentially the next for conversion with the other lines coming later in the program.
They are or were at one time also expected to cover the Ascot - Aldershot service which implies also Guildford - Farnhams and they are expected to work some Altons and some Basingstoke stoppers eventually.
The 5-car units coupled are slightly longer than a ten-car unit so might have issues at a few locations where space is tight. They are the units intended for outer suburban lines such as those through Aldershot where 5-car trains are more than ample. They can run coupled and will surely do so at times on the main suburban and Windsor Lines.
455s are being kept going with a phassed slow withdrawal to conclude by late 2025 so long as the 701s enter traffic as currently intended. A few which have been sent for scrap are in the worst condition but are providing spares. Remember they all had brand new traction packages not many years ago and most have received re-manufactured bogies within the past couple of years so money is still being spent on them. Their steel bodies are steadily rotting as can be seen by close examination of almost any 455 vehicle in traffic. Paintwork is blistered where rust has erupted, panel edges are wasting and the doors stick almost daily owing to very slight body-shell distortion caused through their 40-odd years in traffic. You can sometimes see that by looking along the roof ribs.