Recent content by slicedbread

Of course would not be an issue with a 12 carridge 458/4

It is and I expect the one I get home tonight (17:15 from Waterloo to Portsmouth) will be a 444/450

With the announcement for the 458 lease extension and conversion to 485/4 being the end of March 2021 I'd have hoped some thought to likely passanger numbers was factored in. Around then around 80% of office workers where saying they wanted to return to the office with hybrid working.

Although if ASLEF have black balled the 458s in 4 carriage 100mph guise I guess that might be part of the reason not to use them. It still seems an odd way to run a railway, to extentend the lease on your units on the proviso they are reconfigured, take delivery 2/3 years later and never use...

The ASLEF Cab Ergnomics doc says So there maybe an argument about that

SWR have also put a little animation on you tube It shows the down lines closed and the up lines to be used for both directions

Bit more info from the swr website: https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/planned-improvements/landslip-repairs-between-brookwood-and-woking

I had a little scout around and came across ASLEF's Cab ergonomics guidance here (https://aslef.org.uk/system/files/2022-01/ASLEFCabErgonomics_v3_2021.pdf) It has a section in about legacy cabs which says: "A cab environment assessment should be carried out .... b. When the saloon...

That does match up with the announcement from Porterbrook back in April 2021 about the contract with Alstrom to change the 458s https://www.porterbrook.co.uk/news/porterbrook-awards-alstom-25m-fleet-upgrade-contract Which included a paragraph: "The announcement follows the decision by South...

Getting home of an evening on a weekday I've had a 444+450 the last few times.

Will there not also be 458 ?

I've got a voltage question about the Waterloo and City. A chap on Secrets of the London Underground, I think he was a W&C depot manager, was saying how W&C was 750v on account of its origin with the mainline. Does that mean when they introduced the 1992 stock it had to be modified to 750v...

There is a thought, take up the 3rd rail go back to the pre-electrification timetable and run it as a heritage line.

It can't only be about providing just enough trains to fit everyone on and just put up with the timings to save the Treasury a few bob. If they cut a service in half so it's only hourly rather than half hourly it's quite a downgrade, rather than slightly inconvenient

It doesn't seem to make sense. The table list 4tph in the peak and 3tph off-peak for the Portsmouth Direct Yet on page 30 it says 2tph are fast in the peak and off peak and 1tph is slow in the peak and off-peak. For waterloo-Guildford-Portsmouth.