There'll only be 11 of them by the end of the year apparently. Most services will still be 315s.
That's half. 11 345s will displace 22 of the 44 315s, so assuming the rest of the introduction goes to plan, that will mean your odds are 50/50 of getting a 345 by the end of the year. In all honesty, given the benefits I can see myself taking the first 345 I can get and if it's a Gidea Park stopper, changing there. They really are a big step up from the 315s in my opinion.
A summary of my thoughts, now having ridden one:
- Transverse seating is comfortable, didn't try the longitudinal ones, but no doubt will in future. They are exactly as others have reported, firm but less so than the likes of the 387 and 700, they feel like the sort of seat you'd expect on a TfL service, based on how firm tube seating is. Interestingly the material has a very high friction coefficient, it's near-impossible to slide on them, which isn't something I've noticed with other firm seats.
- A/C is set warmer than that on the S-stock, about right for a room. I was sweating when I first boarded from having sat out in the sunshine at Brentwood for half an hour waiting for this particular service, and by the time I reached Goodmayes I was comfortable. However, for the people that board these units in rush hour just to use the core section, I'm not sure the temperature is set quite low enough, maybe one more degree would be better. That being said, if they did that, for those boarding at, e.g. Tottenham Court Road, by the time they'd reached Harold Wood on a largely empty train, it'd be pretty chilly, which I think lots of 700 users have complained about. In practice, it's probably about right. The compressor was not operating anywhere near all of the time to keep the train at this temperature with only a light loading of 150-200 passengers or so, so i imagine it can cope with a full train well enough. On that note, the ventilation system is a little noisy - noisier than S-stock and Electrostars, a little quieter than the Desiro UK, but the actual A/C unit is quite loud both in terms of the hiss of it operating, and the clunk when it engages. It's fine, as I'd much rather have a slightly noisy A/C than a very noisy open window, but other modern EMUs are definitely quieter in that regard, the 700s included (the Desiro UK of course, excluded).
- Acceleration is stunning, out-accelerating the 92 stock leaving Stratford station down the gradient to Mile End was comical, as that's definitely one of the speedier parts of the tube. Because of how much quieter the units are inside, you don't really get a sense of speed, so when the train has reached the requisite speed for the next station after the rear of the unit barely having left the platform, you assume at first that it's running at reduced speed, but it isn't, you just don't realise how quickly you've got up to speed. The comparative silence when scooting along the 70mph section down to Bethnal Green was great.
- The PIS needs a little work, the announcements themselves are actually fine, I think they work well, but there's definitely some lag in the audio system, it does occasionally stutter, particularly when reading out the 'Stratford' part of 'via Stratford' (which, by the way, is an unnecessary designation, as even when peak services are split between Liverpool Street high-level and the Crossrail tunnels to Whitechapel, both would still be via Stratford!). Also, as previously mentioned, the Moorgate interchange being announced prematurely.
- The plug doors do an excellent job of avoiding the bang when other units pass at speed, the open/close time is fine, the sounder noise itself is very good, not as ear-piercing as the sounders fitted to the 700s or being retrofitted to older units. That said, the 345 continues Bombardier's tradition of repeating the door open sound far longer than is necessary. Especially now it's a bi-tonal noise, 10-12 repetitions wears a bit thin after a long journey. Realistically 5 would suffice for doors being released, and three when the doors are opened manually, this is something the 700s got right.
One thing I did notice happen a few times was the doors sensed obstructions that weren't there and regularly halted before fully closing for a couple of seconds, then continuing. It didn't cause any delays, and the doors didn't have to be re-released to fix this, but I imagine it's symptomatic of what could potentially be a larger problem once the units start operating crush-loaded peak services.
- Interior ambience is good, I do personally like the colour scheme though I know it's subjective, apart from the ventilation noise the units are very quiet, similar to a Desiro UK in this regard, with very muted external sounds and a very quiet traction package, not just the motors but also the IGBT drive, which is a big leap forward as every other contemporary EMU still seems very noisy in this regard, including 700s, 800s, 385s - the CAF and Stadler units yet to be seen of course.
- Driver PA system needs work, there was terrible 50Hz interference over his microphone on my journey and it was pretty much impossible to hear what he said, I had to make a best guess, which given the train was stationary, is poor, that does need to be fixed.
As a whole I very much like the trains and am looking forward to being able to use them on a regular basis. A few quirks to resolve, but two successful return journeys without any delays on the debut outings is a fine accomplishment, well done to all involved.