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Post by T.R. on Jan 23, 2017 11:23:38 GMT
So I had my first trip on the Class 700s last weekend.
Pros: fast doors, the loading indicator and the info about the Tube.
Cons The seats. without a doubt, the 4th most uncomfortable seats after the Urban 90, Ciclo, and the NBfL.
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Jan 25, 2017 18:41:57 GMT
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Post by tony4387 on Jan 25, 2017 21:17:05 GMT
Maybe instead of stripping go ahead and govia of the southern franchise it's time for southern to sack the guards and be done with it after guards are now becoming a thing of the past and now most of the door controls on some lines are now done by the driver themselves
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2017 21:48:03 GMT
Maybe instead of stripping go ahead and govia of the southern franchise it's time for southern to sack the guards and be done with it after guards are now becoming a thing of the past and now most of the door controls on some lines are now done by the driver themselves Not an option. If they did, you would have seriously prolonged industrial action which would spread to other firms. It takes years to train a driver, so I'm afraid the workforce has the upper hand. Quite how are disabled people supposed to board and alight trains without a guard for example ?
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Post by snoggle on Jan 26, 2017 0:30:39 GMT
I am left wondering why the RMT want GTR to be directly managed by the DfT. This does not read to me as if it is Directly Operated Railways. It reads as if Mr Grayling's direct appointee does exactly what he tells them to do without the interference of banks, shareholders etc. That's a recipe for a complete putsch against the unions. The RMT and ASLEF may hate Govia but they are a small cushion against the demands of an ideological Secretary of State. Govia have their own interests to protect and just occasionally that may be to the unions' advantage. I'm only mildly surprised that contingency plans are being considered by the DfT. Where it does get interesting is what happens to the actual Thameslink project. NR's works seem to be broadly on track at London Bridge, less sure about the resignalling and ATO. Siemens are behind programme on the 700s and that's causing a load of other issues around cascading stock. If DfT do take direct control I wonder what that will mean for the relationship with Network Rail - also really controlled by the DfT and Treasury. Will be see things like the Great Northern inner services seeing their planned improvements scaled back? Interesting times ahead if GTR are booted out.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2017 4:55:00 GMT
I am left wondering why the RMT want GTR to be directly managed by the DfT. This does not read to me as if it is Directly Operated Railways. It reads as if Mr Grayling's direct appointee does exactly what he tells them to do without the interference of banks, shareholders etc. That's a recipe for a complete putsch against the unions. The RMT and ASLEF may hate Govia but they are a small cushion against the demands of an ideological Secretary of State. Govia have their own interests to protect and just occasionally that may be to the unions' advantage. I'm only mildly surprised that contingency plans are being considered by the DfT. Where it does get interesting is what happens to the actual Thameslink project. NR's works seem to be broadly on track at London Bridge, less sure about the resignalling and ATO. Siemens are behind programme on the 700s and that's causing a load of other issues around cascading stock. If DfT do take direct control I wonder what that will mean for the relationship with Network Rail - also really controlled by the DfT and Treasury. Will be see things like the Great Northern inner services seeing their planned improvements scaled back? Interesting times ahead if GTR are booted out. A government take over of Southern is headline news on the Telegraph this morning
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2017 5:03:04 GMT
I am left wondering why the RMT want GTR to be directly managed by the DfT. This does not read to me as if it is Directly Operated Railways. It reads as if Mr Grayling's direct appointee does exactly what he tells them to do without the interference of banks, shareholders etc. That's a recipe for a complete putsch against the unions. The RMT and ASLEF may hate Govia but they are a small cushion against the demands of an ideological Secretary of State. Govia have their own interests to protect and just occasionally that may be to the unions' advantage. I'm only mildly surprised that contingency plans are being considered by the DfT. Where it does get interesting is what happens to the actual Thameslink project. NR's works seem to be broadly on track at London Bridge, less sure about the resignalling and ATO. Siemens are behind programme on the 700s and that's causing a load of other issues around cascading stock. If DfT do take direct control I wonder what that will mean for the relationship with Network Rail - also really controlled by the DfT and Treasury. Will be see things like the Great Northern inner services seeing their planned improvements scaled back? Interesting times ahead if GTR are booted out. Well this is tricky. I recall when Connex was booted off, for much less than this by the way.... Fellow franchise operators will be waiting in the wings hoping for Go Via to fall from grace. Surely that franchise was far too big in the first place ? Go Via have handled the dispute badly, thinking the government would always be by their side. Maybe they are about to find out the doors are being closed on them.
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Post by snoggle on Jan 26, 2017 9:43:57 GMT
I am left wondering why the RMT want GTR to be directly managed by the DfT. This does not read to me as if it is Directly Operated Railways. It reads as if Mr Grayling's direct appointee does exactly what he tells them to do without the interference of banks, shareholders etc. That's a recipe for a complete putsch against the unions. The RMT and ASLEF may hate Govia but they are a small cushion against the demands of an ideological Secretary of State. Govia have their own interests to protect and just occasionally that may be to the unions' advantage. I'm only mildly surprised that contingency plans are being considered by the DfT. Where it does get interesting is what happens to the actual Thameslink project. NR's works seem to be broadly on track at London Bridge, less sure about the resignalling and ATO. Siemens are behind programme on the 700s and that's causing a load of other issues around cascading stock. If DfT do take direct control I wonder what that will mean for the relationship with Network Rail - also really controlled by the DfT and Treasury. Will be see things like the Great Northern inner services seeing their planned improvements scaled back? Interesting times ahead if GTR are booted out. Well this is tricky. I recall when Connex was booted off, for much less than this by the way.... Fellow franchise operators will be waiting in the wings hoping for Go Via to fall from grace. Surely that franchise was far too big in the first place ? Go Via have handled the dispute badly, thinking the government would always be by their side. Maybe they are about to find out the doors are being closed on them. A few thoughts. 1. I'm pretty convinced govt has been happy until very recently to have Govia in place. I think the political heat from the ASLEF strikes may have started to change government's view. They're perfectly happy to keep the pressure on the RMT given all the guards have signed new contracts. 2. I think Connex fell from grace because of financial irregularities. That's an immediate breach of contract as it's either illegal or borderline illegal (depending on the issue). Once you're in that territory it's a total "no no" and government can't be seen to endorse such behaviour. 3. I'm not convinced there's a queue of people willing to take on TSGN. The franchise is a basket case with ruinous industrial relations, huge migration and transition issues, long standing inherited problems on the Southern side of things, chronic staffing problems inherited from FCC on the Thameslink route. If anyone is daft enough to bid then are going to put in a lot of risk even though DfT tak revenue risk. Government therefore have no guarantee of a same cost railway nor that services will improve quickly. I can see why someone might have concluded that direct control may be the only way forward in the short term. I'm not claiming any of this is easy - it's difficult no matter which way you turn. Being selfish I'm glad I have little or no reason to ever use GTR's services.
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Post by John tuthill on Jan 26, 2017 11:21:27 GMT
I am left wondering why the RMT want GTR to be directly managed by the DfT. This does not read to me as if it is Directly Operated Railways. It reads as if Mr Grayling's direct appointee does exactly what he tells them to do without the interference of banks, shareholders etc. That's a recipe for a complete putsch against the unions. The RMT and ASLEF may hate Govia but they are a small cushion against the demands of an ideological Secretary of State. Govia have their own interests to protect and just occasionally that may be to the unions' advantage. I'm only mildly surprised that contingency plans are being considered by the DfT. Where it does get interesting is what happens to the actual Thameslink project. NR's works seem to be broadly on track at London Bridge, less sure about the resignalling and ATO. Siemens are behind programme on the 700s and that's causing a load of other issues around cascading stock. If DfT do take direct control I wonder what that will mean for the relationship with Network Rail - also really controlled by the DfT and Treasury. Will be see things like the Great Northern inner services seeing their planned improvements scaled back? Interesting times ahead if GTR are booted out. Well this is tricky. I recall when Connex was booted off, for much less than this by the way.... Fellow franchise operators will be waiting in the wings hoping for Go Via to fall from grace. Surely that franchise was far too big in the first place ? Go Via have handled the dispute badly, thinking the government would always be by their side. Maybe they are about to find out the doors are being closed on them. Give the franchises to the unions and lets see what they could do
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Post by vjaska on Jan 26, 2017 11:33:41 GMT
Well this is tricky. I recall when Connex was booted off, for much less than this by the way.... Fellow franchise operators will be waiting in the wings hoping for Go Via to fall from grace. Surely that franchise was far too big in the first place ? Go Via have handled the dispute badly, thinking the government would always be by their side. Maybe they are about to find out the doors are being closed on them. Give the franchises to the unions and lets see what they could do They'd all be bankrupt after a year lol.
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Post by snoggle on Jan 26, 2017 16:06:24 GMT
Well this is tricky. I recall when Connex was booted off, for much less than this by the way.... Fellow franchise operators will be waiting in the wings hoping for Go Via to fall from grace. Surely that franchise was far too big in the first place ? Go Via have handled the dispute badly, thinking the government would always be by their side. Maybe they are about to find out the doors are being closed on them. Give the franchises to the unions and lets see what they could do All franchisees have to provide multi million pound bond facilities for things like season ticket monies and other items. This is in case of franchise default / bankruptcy so that people don't lose out financially. I suspect the unions would struggle to raise the financial backing for those facilities. I could also see a malevolent DfT just creating a situation that causes default and then they call in the facilities and hope to financially cripple the unions. Slightly more seriously I suspect some trade unions could make a decent fist of running a franchise. After all they have local members who have incredible intelligence networks about what is actually happening "on the ground" so they'd know about all sorts of things that could affect the running of a franchise. They might struggle to negotiate with themselves over pay deals and improving efficiency. I couldn't see a Tory government ever conceding the award of a franchise to a TU controlled company though.
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Post by TA1 on Jan 29, 2017 2:34:52 GMT
Being an employer of Govia, I wouldn't like to see trains DOO on the southern side. So comments like Guards should be sacked are quite petty, instead of being brainwashed by the media understand what they're/we're fighting for. The DOO camera's on the some of the electrostar units are awful, many of Southern stations are current devoid of any DOO cameras. Camera failure is quite a frequent occurrence, but unless you have access to Tyrell Check for example, you'd be none the wiser.
For example, on the thameslink side: - it's not uncommon for trains to omit Mertsham, Coulsdon South, West Hampstead Thameslink, Flitwick and Harlington because of DOO failure and can only serve and be dispatched from Manned stations.
If you read about the ongoing case regarding an incident at Hayes & Harlington in 2015, where a woman was dragged 10m and sustained injuries. The driver concerned is being charged with a number of charges despite receiving the interlock light in the cab which specifies that all doors have closed and are devoid of obstruction, however in this faithful case they weren't, if a second safety critical member of staff was on board perhaps the incident could have been prevented.
I've said time and time again the whole franchise is to big, St Pancras Low Level through to City Thameslink should have been four tracked, or at the very least St Pancras as over the last few months as more 700's are pressed into service it's not been uncommon for 319's/377's & 700's to stall at Farringdon and City Thameslink as a result of being unable to raise/lower the pantograph. the bi-di works when the frequency is low but will not work when the 24tph will run through the core in both directions onto the ECML.
On the Great Northern, over the last 3/4 months approximately the 387/1's from Thameslink have come over to replace the majority of the 321's with only 4 left. 321 401 + 404 where out today. 387124 has gone over to Gatwick Express, so if you're in around the BML don't be too surprised to see a white 387 running around, it's covering units that require work in Derby IIRC.
Staying with Great Northern, the last 387's will come over prior to the Spring timetable change which will see the 317's replaced and a fleet reshuffle, with the 387's going on the Cambridge (North) & Kings Lynn services. 700110 has been testing on the GN network, it's been running to Peterborough & via the Hertford Loop. It's currently testing the ETCS on the core and ran from Hornsey EMUD (XHE) - Blackfriars via Canal Tunnels, a rare move for the time being.
On a more personal note within the next 7 weeks or so, I'll no longer be a GN employee. I'm moving to the Dark side to become a Trainee Train Driver out of Blackfriars, but by the time I pass out it'll be Cricklewood.
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Post by snoggle on Jun 26, 2017 10:30:34 GMT
GTR have published a first draft of possible post 2018 Thameslink, Great Northern and Southern services including Metro, West London Line and main line / GatX. www.transformingrail.com/download-timetablesIncludes the more frequent GN Metro services into Moorgate plus the restructured Thameslink service with trains through London Bridge and also running via the new tunnel to Finsbury Park and the GN main line route. Also has the proposed Gillingham to Thameslink core service via Woolwich and Greenwich. It's not exactly thrilling in places - a classic case of expecting something spectacular and then when you see it it's all a bit flat and disappointing. There are some very odd "unbalanced" headways with no regular clockface timings that are easy to remember. While I know this is an incredibly difficult set of services to timetable it's all a bit disappointing in places.
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Post by YY13VKP on Jun 26, 2017 10:51:18 GMT
GTR have published a first draft of possible post 2018 Thameslink, Great Northern and Southern services including Metro, West London Line and main line / GatX. www.transformingrail.com/download-timetablesIncludes the more frequent GN Metro services into Moorgate plus the restructured Thameslink service with trains through London Bridge and also running via the new tunnel to Finsbury Park and the GN main line route. Also has the proposed Gillingham to Thameslink core service via Woolwich and Greenwich. It's not exactly thrilling in places - a classic case of expecting something spectacular and then when you see it it's all a bit flat and disappointing. There are some very odd "unbalanced" headways with no regular clockface timings that are easy to remember. While I know this is an incredibly difficult set of services to timetable it's all a bit disappointing in places. Annoyed that they have decided to cut services from Caterham/Tattenham Corner to London Victoria except peak hours only.
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Post by redexpress on Jun 26, 2017 11:37:47 GMT
GTR have published a first draft of possible post 2018 Thameslink, Great Northern and Southern services including Metro, West London Line and main line / GatX. www.transformingrail.com/download-timetablesIncludes the more frequent GN Metro services into Moorgate plus the restructured Thameslink service with trains through London Bridge and also running via the new tunnel to Finsbury Park and the GN main line route. Also has the proposed Gillingham to Thameslink core service via Woolwich and Greenwich. It's not exactly thrilling in places - a classic case of expecting something spectacular and then when you see it it's all a bit flat and disappointing. There are some very odd "unbalanced" headways with no regular clockface timings that are easy to remember. While I know this is an incredibly difficult set of services to timetable it's all a bit disappointing in places. Thanks for the link. Very disappointed to see the proposed service for Harringay and Hornsey. I hadn't realised that not all of the 10tph Moorgate trains would be stopping here. Not only are we getting no increase on the current 6tph, but instead of the nice 10-minute frequency that we have now, we're going to get a 6/12/12-minute cycle . And in the peaks it gets worse with several 13-minute intervals northbound in the pm peak . I thought the new t/t would put an end to the odd long gaps the current t/t gives us in the peaks but it seems not. In fact I'm struggling to see any improvement at all for these two stations. No direct services through to Thameslink either, which isn't a surprise, but the connections at Finsbury Park aren't great with an 8-minute wait in both directions. Could be worse I suppose.
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