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Class 373 Eurostar withdrawals

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Class319&373

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Ah... that's a shame. Glad I got a video of it at Le Landy last year. I guess that means 3303 has long since been scrapped.
 
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43096

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View attachment 65246

credit to and photo by ‘Railpikture’ on Instagram, 373304 left Le Landy yesterday destination unknown.
Reported elsewhere as going for scrap - NoL sets 3303/07 and 3313/14 have also gone in the last 2 weeks. The other 4 sets (3301/02, 3305/06, 3309/10, 3311/12) are planned to go in September.
 

Sans Pareil

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Having travelled to S.France last week (3008 leading) on a refurbished set I have say I am even more saddened that many of these have been scrapped. I think the refurb is very good, my other half thought it was a new train! I find the refurb 373's a far better train than the 374's, why is the ride so bad on a 374? I liked the old configuration of the 373's too but now way past its sell by date, the seats are really tired and uncomfortable for a long S.France run.

That brings me on to my question, given other comments I see do i understand that all remaining un-refurbished in service sets will be withdrawn (and not refurbished) this year?
 

S-Car-Go

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That brings me on to my question, given other comments I see do i understand that all remaining un-refurbished in service sets will be withdrawn (and not refurbished) this year?
It is my understanding they will have 8 refurbed (e300) sets in total.
 

404250

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I like the original sets. Yes the furnishings might look a bit worn but they're just as comfortable as the new trains. The only thing I prefer about the new trains is the increase in table seats.
 

Gadget88

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OK, but does anyone know when the last non-refurbs will go? Surely they can hang on to them for much longer given the declining condition, its not doing much to help Eurostars reputation or complaints inbox I am sure.

There is only two originals in service and according to Twitter they don’t run daily. They will be scrapped by end of year.

The new trains are much better surprised at the comments. The refurbished ones are decent but the seats are smaller.

Only new trains run to Amsterdam and they are planning 5 daily services so makes sense to get rid of the old trains.
 

RichJF

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Having travelled to S.France last week (3008 leading) on a refurbished set I have say I am even more saddened that many of these have been scrapped. I think the refurb is very good, my other half thought it was a new train! I find the refurb 373's a far better train than the 374's, why is the ride so bad on a 374? I liked the old configuration of the 373's too but now way past its sell by date, the seats are really tired and uncomfortable for a long S.France run.

That brings me on to my question, given other comments I see do i understand that all remaining un-refurbished in service sets will be withdrawn (and not refurbished) this year?

This. I was on a work trip to Paris chatting with the bar steward & he said lots of staff prefer the refurbed 373 sets (e300).
 

S-Car-Go

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This. I was on a work trip to Paris chatting with the bar steward & he said lots of staff prefer the refurbed 373 sets (e300).
Yeah because the 373s were built to be the best that the 3 countries national railways could come up with, bespoke built for cross-channel operation, on a generous nationalised budget without answering to shareholders etc. The Siemens Velaro 374 is an 'off-the-shelf' adapted model budgeted for by a private firm, based on which constructor offered the best (cheapest) deal.
But you know the old saying:" Buy cheap, pay twice".
 

najaB

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Yeah because the 373s were built to be the best that the 3 countries national railways could come up with, bespoke built for cross-channel operation, on a generous nationalised budget without answering to shareholders etc.
Or, alternatively, the 373s were over-specified and overpriced? :s
 

S-Car-Go

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Or, alternatively, the 373s were over-specified and overpriced? :s
Most likely. There are a lot of redundancies and backups built in on a 373. But built for unprecedented channel tunnel operation where it was unknown in 1993 if all the backups and safety systems would be needed (e.g. the secabilité, or ability to divide the train in half in case 1 half is disabled/on fire I believe is deemed no longer needed by Eurotunnel).
Also the UK government over-specified by ordering the NoL sets which were barely used, and the Nightstar sleeper cars eventually sold to the Canadian railways for a fraction of their value.
 

404250

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Is the better ride quality anything to do with the 373s having locos at the ends but 374 having underfloor motors? Anyone know how many motors the 374 has?
 

urpert

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Is the better ride quality anything to do with the 373s having locos at the ends but 374 having underfloor motors? Anyone know how many motors the 374 has?
It’s surely more due to the articulation and low centre of gravity. The TGV design is well known for its excellent ride at speed (even the PSE sets approaching their 40th birthday on the LGV Nord).
 

43096

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Yeah because the 373s were built to be the best that the 3 countries national railways could come up with, bespoke built for cross-channel operation, on a generous nationalised budget without answering to shareholders etc. The Siemens Velaro 374 is an 'off-the-shelf' adapted model budgeted for by a private firm, based on which constructor offered the best (cheapest) deal.
But you know the old saying:" Buy cheap, pay twice".
A private firm that is majority owned by state-owned SNCF.
 

S-Car-Go

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Anyone know how many motors the 374 has?
16, I think. Half the coaches have powered bogies. I've been told that each 16 car train can be thought of as 4 independently powered/isolated units coupled up.
 

alex397

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I saw unrefurbished 3214/3223 arriving at Ashford on a Disneyland to London service this evening (the same train I travelled on from Ashford to Marseille earlier this year)

Is this now the last remaining unrefurbished 373 in service?
 

S-Car-Go

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Yes, the powercar from NoL (North of London) set 3308 (373308), which never turned a wheel in service, has been preserved in the NRM at York. I think another powercar was due to be preserved in Belgium but the plans fell through at the 11th hour.
I & a E* engineer have put together a lil spec for the NRM York on 3308, in case they want to do explainer talks on it at a future date. 3308 Factoid #1: Only E* power car to make it to Glasgow Central (gauging trials in the early '90s).
 

43096

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I & a E* engineer have put together a lil spec for the NRM York on 3308, in case they want to do explainer talks on it at a future date. 3308 Factoid #1: Only E* power car to make it to Glasgow Central (gauging trials in the early '90s).
It really shouldn’t be there though - ought to have been swapped for a power car from 3313/14 as they are the British speed record holder. 3308’s power car is an embarrassment; it’s a monument to the white elephant of Regional Eurostar services.
 

S-Car-Go

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It really shouldn’t be there though - ought to have been swapped for a power car from 3313/14 as they are the British speed record holder. 3308’s power car is an embarrassment; it’s a monument to the white elephant of Regional Eurostar services.
True. But it's the only power car to still have its original paint, livery, and logo. Hence cosmetically it looks original.
 

S-Car-Go

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Don’t 374s still lack the ability to stop at Ashford, or has that since been fixed?
They can stop, they aren't authorised to collect passengers from Ashford yet. I think there were photos in UK media about a 374 stopping at Ashford recently for tests. Will probably sort itself out with the December timetable change.
 

Ianno87

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I & a E* engineer have put together a lil spec for the NRM York on 3308, in case they want to do explainer talks on it at a future date. 3308 Factoid #1: Only E* power car to make it to Glasgow Central (gauging trials in the early '90s).

...well, the power car on the other end of the set must have made it too? Or was only a half-set sent there or something?
 

S-Car-Go

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...well, the power car on the other end of the set must have made it too? Or was only a half-set sent there or something?
I think it was just a half set. Wasn't under its own power, pulled by a Class 37 which was part of E*/EPS fleet back then.
 

alex397

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They can stop, they aren't authorised to collect passengers from Ashford yet. I think there were photos in UK media about a 374 stopping at Ashford recently for tests. Will probably sort itself out with the December timetable change.

Incidentally I managed to board a 374 which stopped at Ashford back on 4th April 2018 on a Brussels service, before they ceased stopping there.
 

Class319&373

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https://www.kentonline.co.uk/ashford/news/new-eurostar-trains-can-finally-stop-in-town-218866/
I thought I'd attempt to wake this thread up again by sharing this major news...

It also seems the 374s can operate on any 373 diagram now as they are running the ski route to Bourg St Maurice and have seemingly replaced them on this service now. And from recent observations it seems all the unrefurbished sets are fully withdrawn (as of Jan 2020), though I'm unsure if they are stored at Temple Mills, Le Landy or Vorst depots... or if they are awaiting scrapping.
 
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