methethpropbut
Member
"First class is located somewhere in the train, if you can find it..."
"First class is located somewhere in the train, if you can find it..."
On a 222 look at the coupler, if it has a yellow strip on it First class is that end. That's how you tell when it pulls in , in the attached picture you can see the strip on the left hand unit."First class is located somewhere in the train, if you can find it..."
it appears the problem that EMT faces is the variety of routings and possible reversals , swap arounds etc ...
for the east coast route there;s a risk of being reversed in Newcastle but otherwise there's far fewer opprtunities to get swapped end for end in normal service
The "problem" is exacerbated in 9/10 car 222 formations, where first class can and is in any combination of front and rear, front and middle, middle and rear, and middle. At Leicester the announcements are often correct, even for 222s. It surprises me that Derby would be so consistently wrong.
The 1815 St Pancras to Sheffield (2016 from Nottingham) whenever I do it is always 1st at the front out of St Pancras, meaning Standard is leading out of Nottingham. I think this is deliberate due to the short platforms at stations such as Alfreton.
Does anyone know what would happen if it was the other way round (in particular if anyone wanted to take a bike to or from a station with a short platform) as I'd guess it probably happens from time to time?
It's both.And here's me thinking that 1st was about having some peace and quiet and a bit of room to relax.
In my experience of EMT managed stations, eg. Derby, it is most likely to be at the opposite end to that stated by the departure boards.
I look for what colour the first passenger door is, if its white its the first class end
The have got much more accurate than before.It's normally quite accurate from my experience from Leicester, Loughborough & East Midlands Parkway
Here is an example of an EMT first class label on a door to a standard class carriage from a couple of months ago.
Actually. I'd quite forgotten (with the weather!) I travelled on the 21.42 EMT HST service from Derby to Leeds on Sat. 17th March.
On arrival into Derby, I noticed that first was at the leading end, the usual two first cars plus the buffet first. This was followed by a standard and surprisingly another full first had been inserted between it and the remainder of standard. My first thought was that it must be de-classified but there were no labels or indications anywhere to say that it was. Presumably it was a last minute substitution for a defective second but I was rather disappointed that it wasn't indicated as such.
Or just bad planning with the stock...That's a hell of a lot of units buggering about changing ends (and in the case of HSTs and double 222 sets having to get down on to the cess to do so) on the mainline triangles at Trent and Lenton.
But the change should be edited through Darwin and thus replicate everywhere so when the train reaches Derby, it shouldn't be displaying wrong.It is because if an incorrect formation message has slipped through for whatever reason the first station that spots it will correct it and Derby is further north than Leicester. One of the jobs Leicester station platform teams do in the morning is check every service to make sure no trains have slipped through the net before they reach Kettering etc. Errors can still appear though due to short notice set swaps and things like that.
Isn't there a VTEC buffet coach in one of those sets too?There is still one set running around with a declassified First. It was in a short rake of 7 last week, but seems to have been made back up to 8 today, still sandwiched between 43064 and 43081 like last week. 41113 seems to be a permanent fixture atm as a Standard Class offering.
Yes, but not in the current "mixed" rake.Isn't there a VTEC buffet coach in one of those sets too?
Or just bad planning with the stock...
I would have thought having First Class at the London end would also be a little advertising for First Class, as everyone has to walk past it to get to their coach.
Downside would mean late people trapsing through First Class.
Solved by having people at doors of the First Class sections, but that means increased staff.
But the change should be edited through Darwin and thus replicate everywhere so when the train reaches Derby, it shouldn't be displaying wrong.
At a time recently there were two sets running like that. NL04 and NL08 a couple of months ago I think.
There is still one set running around with a declassified First. It was in a short rake of 7 last week, but seems to have been made back up to 8 today, still sandwiched between 43064 and 43081 like last week. 41113 seems to be a permanent fixture atm as a Standard Class offering.
It's the other way round on an HST. If the first door on the stock is white, it's the standard class end as the TGS van door is white.Sorry, I was talking about the first door behind the drivers cab, its a staff only door so white on a 222
They do generally try to have First Class at the centre on double units, which makes sense. With the railway network being so busy and a lack of paths though, it doesn't make sense to delay trains just so that First Class can be at one end. Your point is a valid reason for wanting First Class to be at the city end, but not everyone gets off at Leicester. The only other advantage is at Sheffield and Derby, passengers can leave the FC Lounge and have the First Class carriage waiting outisde for them.As someone who commutes by EMT (and XC with a change at Leicester) and who likes to be as close to the London end of the EMT train as possible due to conveninence (access to the exits/bridge at Leicester), I find that the "first class is at the front/rear" information is wrong roughly 10-25% of the time.
It's particularly annoying when 10-car (2x5 car 222) trains are annouced as having first class "at the front" or "at the back"; usually that is accurate for one unit, but it's not consistent which. I also don't understand why the computer voice is unable to say "and front/centre/rear" for 2-unit trains. The only "useful" thing the voice can say for 2-unit trains is "in the centre" (it usually says "is available on the train" in most cases), but I suppose that's what you get with bargain-basement voice software. At least it's not the "Steven Hawking (RIP) voice that can't pronounce half the stations properly" that you get at stations that the managing TOC would clearly rather not bother with.
Probably swapped again during the week. It was on set NL11 (64+81) on Thursday. Either that or there were again two sets running around which I didn't realise.It was with 43066 & 43076 last week.
There's also another set (with the VTEC buffet) which only has 7 coaches.
Another thought has occurred to me regarding EMT and first class:
An HST has eight carriages (usually) two of which are First plus the buffet first.
The longest Meridians have seven cars, three of which are first.
Do Meridians have a disproportionate amount of First accommodation by comparison with an HST?
This crops up on Twitter often and the team always state that the capacity is needed during peak times.Another thought has occurred to me regarding EMT and first class:
An HST has eight carriages (usually) two of which are First plus the buffet first.
The longest Meridians have seven cars, three of which are first.
Do Meridians have a disproportionate amount of First accommodation by comparison with an HST?