Best EMUs

[onlinespotting]

308's per chance ?

Wonderful units.

Yes 308!

 

[Bletchleyite]

What are your favourite EMUs either modern or older EMUs? For me growing up in Eastleigh Ido have a soft spot for the 442s but my absolute favourite has to be the 4 REP a 3200hp slammer hauling a 4 or 8 TC unpowered units. They shifted when on there own too.

Class 444. Bright, airy, comfortable, big windows (though admittedly alignment isn't 100% the large windows limit the downside of it), good legroom, proper First Class (until SWR messed it up). The perfect UK long distance non-high-speed EMU.

To be fair to it, the 80x has a similar feel other than the seats!

350s are also very good at what they do and have absolutely superb build quality - now they've had a refurb to deal with the one issue (mucky carpets and worn seat covers), the /1s are about 15 years old and still look brand new.

Dishonourable mention to the 507/508 because they're reliable workhorses I grew up with, but it really must have taken some effort to design a unit in which not a single seat has an acceptable window view.

 

[yorksrob]

Yes 308!

Yes, I miss them as well. Commuted on them a bit between Leeds and Bradford

 

[ExRes]

325s because we didn't have passengers on them

 

[444045]

It has to be the 442's, working at Waterloo Control for 20 years and living in the New Forest at the time, the 1st class compartments were
ideal to sleep in off night shift. Also good for a kip were the 4 Cep's with the thermostat controls in each of 1st class compartments.
Other units that I liked were 2 Hap, 4 Rep, 4 TC, 4 Bep, 4 Big, 4 Cig & 4 Vep.

 

[43096]

304s had a cosy feel about them.

They didn't. Rubbish seats (though the MBSs of 001-015 got better seats when converted to MBSO), rubbish ride and dingy.

 

[Richard Scott]

They didn't. Rubbish seats (though the MBSs of 001-015 got better seats when converted to MBSO), rubbish ride and dingy.

At least that answers one of my questions, always wondered why MBSO had different seats to the driving cars.

 

[supervc-10]

Always liked a Desiro with the exception of when you're put on a 350/2 on a long distance LNWR service.

Think this is more to be blamed on the operator than the train itself

 

[yorksrob]

At least that answers one of my questions, always wondered why MBSO had different seats to the driving cars.

Did you prefer the different seats in the MBSO's though ?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Think this is more to be blamed on the operator than the train itself

/2s aren't that terrible if loaded to a low level (i.e. as 2+1 rather than 3+2). The legroom in the facing bays, for example, is excellent - even the tallest passenger won't have to play "kneesie" with the person opposite.

 

[yorksrob]

/2s aren't that terrible if loaded to a low level (i.e. as 2+1 rather than 3+2). The legroom in the facing bays, for example, is excellent - even the tallest passenger won't have to play "kneesie" with the person opposite.

Exactly the same thing I say to the VEP and EPB haters.

I travelled on one of the 3+2 units between Stafford and Euston last year, and it was busy (though not middle seats taken) and it was a splendid journey.

 

[Peregrine 4903]

Class 390, nothing is better than travelling on a 390 at speed on the WCML, watching the world go past.

 

[Richard Scott]

Did you prefer the different seats in the MBSO's though ?

I used to avoid them as was a kid then and had heard transformers had a tendency to explode, probably didn't but as a youngster was a bit more wary!!!!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Exactly the same thing I say to the VEP and EPB haters.

I travelled on one of the 3+2 units between Stafford and Euston last year, and it was busy (though not middle seats taken) and it was a splendid journey.

A further advantage of the /2 is that the seats are better aligned to the windows (only the 2 side airline seats aren't).

The bay seating is also very popular with families and groups. I'd probably suspect families prefer them, as 4 adults and 2 kids fit in a bay of 6 comfortably enough.

 

[supervc-10]

Oh definitely. But the 2+2 arrangement on a Desiro is definitely more comfortable, having armrests. Even packed a 2+3 Desiro isn't bad, due to the comfy seats, although being a broad shouldered 6'2 rugby player, I do feel sorry for anyone who has to sit next to me!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Oh definitely. But the 2+2 arrangement on a Desiro is definitely more comfortable, having armrests. Even packed a 2+3 Desiro isn't bad, due to the comfy seats, although being a broad shouldered 6'2 rugby player, I do feel sorry for anyone who has to sit next to me!

While the headrest is a different shape, the actual seats are the same width, it's just that on 2+2 units they have armrests between them. I didn't think this was the case until I saw a /2 base cushion on a /1, but it is.

 

[yorksrob]

I used to avoid them as was a kid then and had heard transformers had a tendency to explode, probably didn't but as a youngster was a bit more wary!!!!

Ah, interesting feedback - but what did you think of the seats ?

I must admit, as a regular traveller on the Southern slammers, I wasn't aware of any carriage of those being more likely to explode !

A further advantage of the /2 is that the seats are better aligned to the windows (only the 2 side airline seats aren't).

The bay seating is also very popular with families and groups. I'd probably suspect families prefer them, as 4 adults and 2 kids fit in a bay of 6 comfortably enough.

Yes, the prevalence of bay seating and good window spacing was definitely something I noted and enjoyed about them - shades of traditional EMU design perhaps !

 

[supervc-10]

While the headrest is a different shape, the actual seats are the same width, it's just that on 2+2 units they have armrests between them. I didn't think this was the case until I saw a /2 base cushion on a /1, but it is.

The extra inch or two from the armrests is definitely necessary for my shoulders! As others have said, a lightly loaded 3+2 Desiro is pretty comfy.

 

[Sleepy]

Class 309 were 1st 100 mph EMUs, these had compartments, and a buffet. You could walk through and watch speedo at a boxed in cab.

 

[Whistler40145]

Class 390, nothing is better than travelling on a 390 at speed on the WCML, watching the world go past.

The scenery is quite nice, but sometimes the ride and quality of seating leaves a lot to be desired on a Class 390 Pendolinos

 

[Bletchleyite]

The scenery is quite nice, but sometimes the ride and quality of seating leaves a lot to be desired on a Class 390 Pendolinos

And the window view. (The actual seats I find fine, though non-priority airline seat legroom is unacceptably tight).

 

[AverageTD]

Think this is more to be blamed on the operator than the train itself

Fair enough, I find this is a pretty valid argument for a lot of trains that get dumped on.

 

[Peregrine 4903]

The scenery is quite nice, but sometimes the ride and quality of seating leaves a lot to be desired on a Class 390 Pendolinos

I personally like the ride quality and like the seats but then again I don't have a problem with any railway seats. I think they are all good.

I also really like the lighting in a class 390.

 

[TrainTube]

What are your favourite EMUs either modern or older EMUs? For me growing up in Eastleigh Ido have a soft spot for the 442s but my absolute favourite has to be the 4 REP a 3200hp slammer hauling a 4 or 8 TC unpowered units. They shifted when on there own too.

Are we talking international or UK?
In this country I am a huge fan of Siemens builds such as the desiro and the Velaro. I think the stadler flirts and 390s are great too. 323s are my favourite from the older generation.

 

[Colin1501]

My earliest memories are of growing up in Sittingbourne, Kent, in the early 1960s, so I have always had a soft spot for the CEPs and BEPs. Someone above described them as 'utilitarian', but the production sets were streets ahead of loco-hauled Mk 1 stock, especially the super-comfy seats in the motor coaches. Sadly, refurbishment in the early 1980s did them no favours, but they were certainly long lived, with the last examples withdrawn in 2005 after 46 years in service.

Turning to modern stock, having commuted daily between Winchester and Waterloo from 2006 to 2018, I really liked the 444s. Until SWR messed about with them, these could still be classed as 'proper' main line trains - 2+2 seating in standard class, 2+1 in first, and a buffet.

 

[Journeyman]

I'll second votes for the 442, but with the caveat that I think refurbishment has ruined them. The original design, with the first class compartments, buffet and snug area, was absolutely superb. Now, they seem rather ordinary.

I'm a huge fan of the London Underground 1938 Stock. It was a huge step forward when introduced, and the basics of the design lasted a very long time, with the configuration of door layout and seats lasting to this day.

Getting all the equipment under the floor was a miracle of miniaturisation at the time, and wasn't without its problems, but once teething troubles were sorted out, the trains performed well for decades, as some of them still are! The body design was an Art Deco classic, the interiors were comfortable and welcoming, and the trains did everything asked of them.

They also pioneered some modern features not seen elsewhere for a long time, including electro-pneumatic brakes, which took the Southern another decade to even think about, and automatic couplers with all the multiple working connections, which didn't appear in large numbers on main line railways until the mid-seventies. This, of course, gave the trains a very neat and tidy cab front.

True pioneers and design classics in my opinion.

 

[SteveM70]

I used to like the 304s for the bouncy seats when I was younger.

And I always had a soft spot for the 310s having done countless Coventry - Northampton trips on them in the 1980s. Always quiet and a good ride

 

[Turtle]

I love the character of the 302-312 emu's but i do have a large soft spot for the 319's and the 350's.
forgot to mention the 333's I love the rounded easy on the eye appearance of them, not angry looking like a lot of things nowadays.

319s. I disliked them from a passenger's comfort viewpoint. The seats seemed to be lower than those in other units while the hopper windows never stayed open in summer. One felt one was sitting on the floor and every time a train travelling in the opposite direction passed the air pressure slammed the windows shut!

 

[CBlue]

Always had a soft spot for the 365's which offered a nice ride before refurb although not quite so cosy and slightly less quiet now they've removed the carpets.

I was also quite impressed by my (admittedly short) trip on a 357 a few months ago with possibly the nicest 3+2 seats I've come across so far.

 

[Taunton]

The 1938-built 503s on the Wirral electric lines, where we had moved in my teenage years, were notably class units. Designed and built by a Met-Cam/Birmingham RCW joint venture, they had much design input from the same builders' Underground surface stock of the era. Looking perfect to the end more than 40 years later, no rust anywhere, no rattles, they still look completely serviceable in photos of them being broken up by the scrap dealer on the Birkenhead dockside in 1980. They spent their life handling the steepest passenger gradient on BR, the little-known 1 in 27 climb out from under the Mersey, occasionally from a signal stop without difficulty. I never had a single delay from them, which is more than could be said within weeks of the introduction of their Class 507 replacements, with uncomfortable squashed 3+2 seating placed in such a way that not one seat lined up with the windows - possibly to save you getting vertigo from looking at the water sloshing back and forth between the panes of the blown double glazing.

The first class 2+1 seating in the centre trailer was little used until they were declassified, when it became the most popular. It was always ironic to travel from Euston to Liverpool in a Mk 3 and then transfer to the local train to the Wirral in notably better seats. I wouldn't have minded going in the 503 trailer all the way to London.