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Creation of class 230 DEMUs from ex-LU D78s by Vivarail

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Neen Sollars

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As far as we know can we confirm we have had a further two weeks fault free running by the 230`s on the MV line.
I am expecting the first of the TfW 230`s on test on the North Cotswold Line during the next two weeks.
 
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Bletchleyite

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Neen Sollars said:
As far as we know can we confirm we have had a further two weeks fault free running by the 230`s on the MV line.
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Have they fixed the bogs? I'm not sure I've ever seen the one on 005 in use.

(You could almost have argued on a short journey like that with bogs at the stations at both ends, now open quite long hours at BLY at least so the barrier staff can have a wee, that they might as well not have bothered and had a couple more bays of seats instead).
 
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Bletchleyite said:
Have they fixed the bogs? I'm not sure I've ever seen the one on 005 in use.

(You could almost have argued on a short journey like that with bogs at the stations at both ends, now open quite long hours at BLY at least so the barrier staff can have a wee, that they might as well not have bothered and had a couple more bays of seats instead).
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The toilet on 005 was definitely working both times I used that unit, though that was quite early on.
 
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Neen Sollars

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Vivarail tweet: they are at a Rolling Stock Networking conference in Derby next week. Are they going to announce an order for the battery train?
 
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Roger B

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I travelled on 005 and 003 on Monday - only very short hops between Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and return. My observations are that they appear to be quite cramped - possibly because of the high and wide seat backs, and the seats aren't well aligned with the windows. Other passengers commented that they were a big step-up from the 3+2 seating of the trains they'd replaced - one passenger singling-out the single railcars (presumably 153s) for particular criticism.

A further comment about the door opening procedure: the audible jingle advising passengers that they may open the doors comes on several seconds before the door opening button is illuminated. This confused the passenger in front of me, who pressed the button several times when the jingle started, and then stood there bemused when the door didn't open - I advised him to press the button again when the button had been illuminated. He said that he found the procedure very confusing. Surely this can be sorted quite easily / quickly / cheaply? I also agree with the comments above about the slowness of the doors - glacial.

My train, the 10.09 from Fenny Stratford (2S08) left on time, but then stood near Bletchley depot for a few minutes, before arriving at Bletchley three minutes late at 10.15. The guard announced that this was because we were awaiting entry into platform 6. Why? There weren't any conflicting movements that I can see on RTT. One passenger was most dismayed to rush over to platform 4 for the 10.17 to East Croydon, but got there as the doors were closing and then had to watch it whilst it stood there for another ten seconds or so, and then trundled off at 10.16 and three quarters - even though the working timetable states its departure as 10.17 and a half. To say she wan't happy is something of an understatement! Good job LNR - pesky passengers - who wants 'em anyway.

Interestingly RTT had 2S08 arriving at Bletchley at 10.15 when I looked earlier this morning, but this has now been changed to 10.11 and a half - very strange. Has anyone else seen similar discrepancies on RTT?
 
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samuelmorris

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Roger B said:
I travelled on 005 and 003 on Monday - only very short hops between Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and return. My observations are that they appear to be quite cramped - possibly because of the high and wide seat backs, and the seats aren't well aligned with the windows. Other passengers commented that they were a big step-up from the 3+2 seating of the trains they'd replaced - one passenger singling-out the single railcars (presumably 153s) for particular criticism.

A further comment about the door opening procedure: the audible jingle advising passengers that they may open the doors comes on several seconds before the door opening button is illuminated. This confused the passenger in front of me, who pressed the button several times when the jingle started, and then stood there bemused when the door didn't open - I advised him to press the button again when the button had been illuminated. He said that he found the procedure very confusing. Surely this can be sorted quite easily / quickly / cheaply? I also agree with the comments above about the slowness of the doors - glacial.

My train, the 10.09 from Fenny Stratford (2S08) left on time, but then stood near Bletchley depot for a few minutes, before arriving at Bletchley three minutes late at 10.15. The guard announced that this was because we were awaiting entry into platform 6. Why? There weren't any conflicting movements that I can see on RTT. One passenger was most dismayed to rush over to platform 4 for the 10.17 to East Croydon, but got there as the doors were closing and then had to watch it whilst it stood there for another ten seconds or so, and then trundled off at 10.16 and three quarters - even though the working timetable states its departure as 10.17 and a half. To say she wan't happy is something of an understatement! Good job LNR - pesky passengers - who wants 'em anyway.

Interestingly RTT had 2S08 arriving at Bletchley at 10.15 when I looked earlier this morning, but this has now been changed to 10.11 and a half - very strange. Has anyone else seen similar discrepancies on RTT?
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Minor point but the East Croydon service is Southern isn't it?
 
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Brissle Girl

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Neen Sollars said:
Vivarail tweet: they are at a Rolling Stock Networking conference in Derby next week. Are they going to announce an order for the battery train?
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Not sure why you think their presence would suggest an order is imminent. It would be rather odd if they didn’t attend such an event given their line of business . (But I do hope that you’re proved right!)
 
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Bletchleyite

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Roger B said:
Interestingly RTT had 2S08 arriving at Bletchley at 10.15 when I looked earlier this morning, but this has now been changed to 10.11 and a half - very strange. Has anyone else seen similar discrepancies on RTT?
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Still says 1015. I guess you maybe looked at the wrong day, or one of the feeds was unavailable at the time you looked?

The Southern is shown as departing one minute early, which the passenger concerned may wish to report as, due to the hourly service, that rather sloppy practice will have cost them a full Delay Repay refund. (Travelling via London is often slower, if you use the official connection times, than waiting for the next one).
 
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09ndodge

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Brissle Girl said:
Not sure why you think their presence would suggest an order is imminent. It would be rather odd if they didn’t attend such an event given their line of business . (But I do hope that you’re proved right!)
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I happen to speak with a Vivarail member of staff the other day and he said another order announcement is imminent, so it's certainly likely.
 
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Silverlinky

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They were down to one unit today, with both 003 and 004 out of service. Once 004 failed it was decided that it would be quicker to fix 003 than 004 and 003 returned to service this evening.
 
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Neen Sollars

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samuelmorris said:
Neither of which is really acceptable. It's 28 degrees, not exactly out of the ordinary!
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Exactly. The fare paying passengers deserve a better service. I posed the question regarding fault free running a few days ago, thinking that reliability was improving, just hope the 230`s for TfW perform better.
 
DarloRich

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a couple of cancellations yesterday due to door troubles. The trains also suffered in the recent heat wave with problems associated with overheating.
 
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Bletchleyite

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DarloRich said:
a couple of cancellations yesterday due to door troubles. The trains also suffered in the recent heat wave with problems associated with overheating.
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To be fair so did my 80x to the Westcountry the other week, so this isn't just a 230 thing. Fortunately, 35 minutes of delay netted me 30-odd quid back and I wasn't in a hurry.

The doors seem to be an ongoing issue of both slowness and unreliability - anyone know why? I don't think I ever saw a D78 on LU with doors locked out, so has something changed about them fundamentally e.g. new mechanisms? Could they be replaced?
 
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swt_passenger

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Bletchleyite said:
To be fair so did my 80x to the Westcountry the other week, so this isn't just a 230 thing. Fortunately, 35 minutes of delay netted me 30-odd quid back and I wasn't in a hurry.

The doors seem to be an ongoing issue of both slowness and unreliability - anyone know why? I don't think I ever saw a D78 on LU with doors locked out, so has something changed about them fundamentally e.g. new mechanisms? Could they be replaced?
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The door mechanisms have allegedly been modified and slowed down as a result, at least according to a number of earlier posters in this thread.
 
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On the District Line the doors would’ve been opened by the driver immediately upon coming to a stand at the platform.

On the Marston Vale the doors are guard controlled so the train stops at the platform, guard releases the local door, steps out and checks the other 3 doors are clear and then releases the other doors.

The fact that the doors are under guard control doubles the length of time taken to open them, that’s before you factor in whether or not the mechanism itself has been slowed down.

The doors really need to be opened by the driver.
 
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Bletchleyite

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Hadders said:
The doors really need to be opened by the driver.
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To be fair I support that method of operation for all UK train services that aren't already DOO, and would probably support converting DOO-with-OBS routes back to that method of operation too. It's widely used and works well. And in the Marston Vale's case would save a good 20 seconds at each stop, allowing a timetable speed-up.

There also needs to be a software mod to make the button enabled as soon as open is pressed rather than after about 20 seconds as it is at present.
 
gazthomas

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Bletchleyite said:
To be fair so did my 80x to the Westcountry the other week, so this isn't just a 230 thing. Fortunately, 35 minutes of delay netted me 30-odd quid back and I wasn't in a hurry.?
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This bodes well with the message that the Uk is going to get warmer. Surely they can engineer things that work in higher temperatures, they manage in Spain, India, etc.
 
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