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Scotrail Class 385 Discussion

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Southsider

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How many are entering service on Monday? Will it cover the E-G and North Berwick entirely?

I’ve said before I don’t think they’re long enough for the E-G, but once the problems settle down I think the 385s will be a success for the most part. Their acceleration seems remarkable.
They’ll be longer once the platforms at Queen Street have been extended.
 
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Stopper

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They’ll be longer once the platforms at Queen Street have been extended.

The extra carriage is badly needed during the peaks atm. However these are good units in my opinion. ‘Comfort’ is nice but it isn’t the priority when being used on commutes routes of around an hour.
 

Chris225

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The extra carriage is badly needed during the peaks atm. However these are good units in my opinion. ‘Comfort’ is nice but it isn’t the priority when being used on commutes routes of around an hour.

How many extra standard seats will the 8th carriage bring over the current 7? Cant be that many more as most of it will be first class which will get a doubling.
 

Stopper

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How many extra standard seats will the 8th carriage bring over the current 7? Cant be that many more as most of it will be first class which will get a doubling.

Probably not enough. But there does seem to be a lot of standing space compared to older diesel units.
 

prod_pep

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Had my first ride on a 385 today (385107) and was reasonably impressed. The ride quality isn't perfect (the 365s were smoother) but I did think it was a better ride than any Desiro. The seats were fairly comfortable too considering they are 'ironing boards'. I have to agree with the earlier comments about the 'clinical' interior though - rather bland but nice lighting. No panel rattles to speak of on this set.

Overall, not perfect but I think they are better than 380s and streets ahead of the 700s and 707s.

According to staff on one of the 365s, the 'McNetworkers' will be used on both Dunblane and Alloa after the timetable change. From what I saw on the ScotRail site, it suggests Dunblane - Waverley only for the 365s.
 

GrimShady

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The extra carriage is badly needed during the peaks atm. However these are good units in my opinion. ‘Comfort’ is nice but it isn’t the priority when being used on commutes routes of around an hour.

No reason you can't have good seats especially in First!
 

snookertam

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The extra carriage is badly needed during the peaks atm. However these are good units in my opinion. ‘Comfort’ is nice but it isn’t the priority when being used on commutes routes of around an hour.

I get your point here but Queen Street to Edinburgh is seen as the *premium* route in Scotland, and so some will be a bit miffed at the change from the quality of comfort you got on the 170's. But I do understand the logic behind what ScotRail have done, as these units will be interchangeable between most medium distance routes in Central Scotland soon enough.

Haven't been on one yet so only basing this on others' impressions, but I'd be surprised if you see these on the main Edinburgh/Glasgow service in as little as 10 years' time.
 

hexagon789

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How many extra standard seats will the 8th carriage bring over the current 7? Cant be that many more as most of it will be first class which will get a doubling.

20 First, 15 Standard and 11 tip-up seats extra plus 2 wheelchair spaces.
 

Stopper

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No reason you can't have good seats especially in First!

I get your point here but Queen Street to Edinburgh is seen as the *premium* route in Scotland, and so some will be a bit miffed at the change from the quality of comfort you got on the 170's. But I do understand the logic behind what ScotRail have done, as these units will be interchangeable between most medium distance routes in Central Scotland soon enough.

Haven't been on one yet so only basing this on others' impressions, but I'd be surprised if you see these on the main Edinburgh/Glasgow service in as little as 10 years' time.

I agree with you both. They should be more comfortable, especially the first class. In terms of where the money is going though, more seats and larger standing areas are probably ahead of comfort in the list.

What happens in 10 years time then? I’m not disagreeing with you as I don’t think they are long enough to cope with growth in the next 10 years. But I don’t see what other options there are.
 

gingertom

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What happens in 10 years time then?
grade separation of Greenhills, Polmont and Winchburgh junctions plus the Almond chord as per the original EGIP to deliver 6tph. Haymarket West is going to get busier but the "digital railway" will fix that, right?
 

Stopper

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grade separation of Greenhills, Polmont and Winchburgh junctions plus the Almond chord as per the original EGIP to deliver 6tph. Haymarket West is going to get busier but the "digital railway" will fix that, right?

I hope you’re right, most of those are necessary right now let alone in 10 years.
 

NotATrainspott

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grade separation of Greenhills, Polmont and Winchburgh junctions plus the Almond chord as per the original EGIP to deliver 6tph. Haymarket West is going to get busier but the "digital railway" will fix that, right?

Polmont grade-separation wasn't part of the original EGIP. At most, NR had the idea of moving the station westwards in the Route Study so that each line would have its own set of platforms but that wasn't taken forward. Grade-separation there may well be feasible but the incremental value of doing it once Greenhill and the Almond/Dalmeny chord are done is probably not that great. Bottlenecks are never great but they're often perfectly manageable so long as there aren't multiple bottlenecks interfering with one another. Once the other works are done the junction at Polmont can be a more important factor in timetabling.

Haymarket West will be improved when the chord is built. After that, it looks doubtful that significant extra capacity can really be found through Haymarket without an even larger intervention. The big flaw with the 'semi-reasonable' HSR suggestions is that you can't just dump trains onto the WCML at Slateford and call it a day, since they'll then just cause problems at Haymarket instead. There really won't be a lot of point investing cash in new tracks for Edinburgh to Glasgow services if they'll still slow to a crawl at the eastern end, and the number of new trains is heavily constrained.
 

gingertom

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Polmont grade-separation wasn't part of the original EGIP. At most, NR had the idea of moving the station westwards in the Route Study so that each line would have its own set of platforms but that wasn't taken forward. Grade-separation there may well be feasible but the incremental value of doing it once Greenhill and the Almond/Dalmeny chord are done is probably not that great. Bottlenecks are never great but they're often perfectly manageable so long as there aren't multiple bottlenecks interfering with one another. Once the other works are done the junction at Polmont can be a more important factor in timetabling.

Haymarket West will be improved when the chord is built. After that, it looks doubtful that significant extra capacity can really be found through Haymarket without an even larger intervention. The big flaw with the 'semi-reasonable' HSR suggestions is that you can't just dump trains onto the WCML at Slateford and call it a day, since they'll then just cause problems at Haymarket instead. There really won't be a lot of point investing cash in new tracks for Edinburgh to Glasgow services if they'll still slow to a crawl at the eastern end, and the number of new trains is heavily constrained.

IMHO Polmont will become a problem once Greenhills and Winchburgh are grade separated.
What will be of help though, is operating a fleet of trains with similar traction characteristics.
 

gingertom

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Regarding the suggestion of possibly grade separating Polmont, would the Union Canal be in the way?
Looking at the OS map it looks as though there's plenty of room to the north of the line, well away from the canal to the south of it.

We are straying away from 385s into infrastructure though (although it's infrastructure for 385s to run on).
 

Highlandspring

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The former Polmont yard (i.e. the big empty space between the railway and the canal) is/was rumoured as a potential location for a replacement of Edinburgh SC, as apparently ORR and TRANSEC don’t much like it being where it is at the moment.
 

JumpinTrainz

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Saw the 385s for the first time today at Edinburgh Waverley. They were absolutely packed!! What a busy route the Edinburgh to Glasgow QS is! It makes you wonder how it’s survived with 170s for all these years now....

These trains look very suited for the routes they are operating and it will be great to see them fully introduced.
 

Stopper

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Saw the 385s for the first time today at Edinburgh Waverley. They were absolutely packed!! What a busy route the Edinburgh to Glasgow QS is! It makes you wonder how it’s survived with 170s for all these years now....

These trains look very suited for the routes they are operating and it will be great to see them fully introduced.

A lot of people really underestimate how busy the E-G is. Have the longest trains in Scotland and are still by far the most packed.
 
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