So I was looking on Google for technical details on the Class 345s and stumbled on
this petition on change.org.
I found this a very 'interesting' read and I would like to cover some of the things that is said.
DOOMOTRON REACTS TO A PETITION THAT PROBABLY WON'T END UP DOING ANYTHING IN THE END ANYWAY
All opinions are my own.
First of all, the name. 'Force Bombardier to recall the Class 345s until they are fit for service'. Two things: 1: unreliable
does not equal not fit for service. 2: Bombardier, let's face it, won't recall a train. No way. Moving on from the title, it gets even better. 'These trains were a month late into entering public service, and ever since, have been breaking down repeatedly and riddled with multiple faults day in day out. It is disrupting the daily operations to one of the fastest growing lines in London. The doors constantly refuse to close, the air conditioning is never on, the on-board information systems are prone to fuzzing out and there are so few seats.' First of all, the person/people who made this petition obviously don't understand that the Aventra is a brand new train with a brand new design. Expecting Bombardier to recall a train because it is unreliable -
like every single train design when it is new - is simply absurd. If everybody recalled trains because of this, we wouldn't have any new trains. Think about (then) new build trains. The Networkers were extremely unreliable when introduced. So were the Coradias and Junipers (also, remember that the Junipers have gone from the most unreliable rains in the UK to
the most). The Electrostars may have had quite a good start but I'd bet any money that they had bad reliability in their early years. It isn't even a modern thing as well. The GWR County Class locomotives were too powerful when they were introduced and suffered as a result.
Then the person says that the doors refuse to close. I'm pretty sure that isn't the train but people being in the way of them. Trains have sensors on doors to stop them from closing when they are blocked so they don't crush people. Then he says that the air conditioning is never on. He isn't clear whether he means they are broken or they aren't turned on but if he meant the former,
all trains have suffered from air conditioning problems in hot weather, not just the 345s. Following this, he talks about a broken PIS system. 'Fuzzing out' isn't a real technical term so I guess he/she/they are talking about them turning off or something. That may be so, but that does not create an excuse to
recall an entire or partial fleet. And finally, the worst quote in this paragraph. 'so few seats' is
the entire point of the interior of the 345s. They were designed for
standing room. They are not designed to sit 1000 people in perfect comfort with a restaurant service at 250mph. They are designed to move people across London. Two very different things that the writer seems to have gotten confused about.
That last paragraph was fun. But it gets even more entertaining. 'why are we paying increased fares for inferior trains with a poorly received reception, which constantly break down in pairs or triplets at the same time on different parts of the line.' Now, while I do agree that in some cases train tickets are too high, you can't recall a fleet of trains because the tickets are too expensive. As for 'inferior trains', I don't know what you're on about. The 345s are significantly better than the Class 315s in every single way. As for 'poorly received', who is saying that. Passengers? Most of them would prefer a train than no train, and for an inner-suburban metro train, they're very fit for purpose. Enthusiasts? Probably, considering the whole HST vs IEP fiasco (
which we will not have an argument about here, thank you). Enthusiasts get very attached to their 'beloved' trains and get very angry if 'the stupid privatised companies' replace them. But consider this: more money has been invested in the railway after privatisation than before it. That is why the prices are higher.
Oh, and as for the 'breaking down in pairs' thing, I already covered this. And, just so the author doesn't call me out, the 315s also 'broke down in pairs'. I'd say they're less reliable in fact than the 345s, but I'd need to go hunting on very nerdy websites to prove that.
Round 3: 'Us commuters are getting fed up of trains being cancelled and delayed with the cause of the issue constantly pointing to these new trains, in the worst case scenario being trapped between two stations on these trains as it refuses to move for about 90 minutes as a result of a technical failure.' The cancellations on TFL Rail services are not
just based on the Class 345s. Not even close. TFL Rail has got to fit in with other operators and their tight paths as well as being a badly managed operator (MTR). Oh, and the 315s. Then they talk about being stuck in between stations for 90 minutes. I'm pretty sure that this
hasn't happened and if it did I would have heard about it by now. In fact, I did a bit of research and found
nothing to prove what you said. And to top it all off, in Page 41 of this thread there is a small comment by an admin talking about the 'bathtub curve', which means that a train will start off unreliable, then get reliable, then at the end of their life unreliable again. The 245s/700s/800s etc are currently in that phase.
Finally, the last paragraph: 'This is to be the face of the brand new Elizabeth line, and this is the impression we're giving the UK and the world? Something has to change otherwise it will be a laughing stock. Don't leave it until too late. Sign now and let TfL and Bombardier know that this joke is over.' Oh deary me. If you thought that the last paragraphs were absolute rubbish, you haven't seen this one. The fact that the author is saying that Britain's national pride resides on the Class 345s actually makes me lose faith in train enthusiasm and the human race. And then he says that 'something has to change or it will be a laughing stock'. Well, Doctor No Hope, Britain's railway
already is a laughing stock compared to the rest of the world, but not because a new train is unreliable, like
all then-new trains.
So that was the petition. 100 or so people have signed it (and I can guarantee you that at least 85 of them are angry train enthusiasts), which is unlikely to make TFL/Bombardier do anything, so they might as well give up, considering the petition is now at least 8 months old. I would like to finish here, but then I found the comments section.
Bonus Round:
- Claire Foskett says: 'I'm fed up with my journey to work becoming a daily battle - to either get there or get a seat - new trains have half the seating seats of the old trains. It's been 10/10 days of delays in 2018.' Oh, what a shame about your delays. It's not like the entire country has been suffering delays, hasn't it? The world doesn't revolve around the Shenfield Metro. But whatever you say. Oh and when you said that the new trains have half the seats: it's the point.
- Majid Khan says: 'Just bring back the trains that worked before. Plus the delays seems to be happening while people are travelling to work or home. Very consistent in that!' The Class 315s didn't work well before or after the 345s, so I don't know what you're on about, especially since the Class 345 is a significantly better train. About, the delays, the reason the delays happen in peak hours is because they are the peak hours. So many trains and not enough infrastructure is common across the network.
- Francesca Jones (nice name btw) says: 'These shiny new trains are clearly not fit for commuter use. It’s highly frustrating to realise how unreliable they are on the tracks we have in place. Please do something about this.' I can prove to you why these are fit for commuter use and I can explain why the trains are unrelaible, but I won't because I already wrote about this above.
- Joanna Smith says: 'Bombardier, MTR Crossrail and TFL need to sort these issues out now.' Well done, you've probably typed the best quote on that petition. I salute you.
Anyway, thank you so much if you have read this far and thank you even more if you liked it. I had a blast making this post and I'd like to make another in future.
