• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Abellio Greater Anglia Class 755s (Regional Trains)

rdlover777

Member
Joined
4 Feb 2014
Messages
450
Location
Kent
Loss of power on the Stadler this morning at Attleborough but luckily a technician was waiting on the opposite platform on his way to work at Crown Point. Right place at the right time springs to mind.

Any idea what caused the power failure?
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Carlgoss

Member
Joined
24 May 2019
Messages
70
Location
Ipswich and Norwich
Does anyone know how much it costs to transport the new trains through the Channel Tunnel? Reckon it must be pretty expensive. Spotted another three 3 cars heading for CP this morning 10 minutes late through Ipswich.
 

rdlover777

Member
Joined
4 Feb 2014
Messages
450
Location
Kent
Does anyone know how much it costs to transport the new trains through the Channel Tunnel? Reckon it must be pretty expensive. Spotted another three 3 cars heading for CP this morning 10 minutes late through Ipswich.

surely it'll just be the cost of borrowing the 92 and the path from Calais to Dolland Moore and then on to Ripple Lane since a 66 takes the trains on to NCP
 
Joined
10 Mar 2015
Messages
770
Not too impressed by the reliability so far, three times I've been on services that 755410 should have worked.

First trip went fine, second day cancelled due to the emergency window coming open, today an unspecified technical issue on the 1405.

Let's hope these are teething issues!
 

trebor79

Established Member
Joined
8 Mar 2018
Messages
4,435
Does anyone know how much it costs to transport the new trains through the Channel Tunnel? Reckon it must be pretty expensive. Spotted another three 3 cars heading for CP this morning 10 minutes late through Ipswich.
Cheaper than putting them on a boat, which I imagine would be time consuming and difficult due to the articulation. And they've got to come by rail all the way from Poland or Switzerland so it would be a lot of faff for 25 miles of sea crossing. Tunnel is probably more flexible too, what if you've got a boat waiting and for whatever reason your job lot of trains doesn't get there?
 
Last edited:

trebor79

Established Member
Joined
8 Mar 2018
Messages
4,435
Not too impressed by the reliability so far, three times I've been on services that 755410 should have worked.

First trip went fine, second day cancelled due to the emergency window coming open, today an unspecified technical issue on the 1405.

Let's hope these are teething issues!
Not sure which 1405 you were referring to, but it looks like there has been some sort of incident at Ely requiring emergency services and a train (don't know if it's the Stadler) taken out of service. Cancellations on the Breckland line indicate there's a diagram not covered.
 
Joined
10 Mar 2015
Messages
770
Not sure which 1405 you were referring to, but it looks like there has been some sort of incident at Ely requiring emergency services and a train (don't know if it's the Stadler) taken out of service. Cancellations on the Breckland line indicate there's a diagram not covered.

Sorry, should have been clearer, 1405 Norwich-Lowestoft.
 

Alan Warren

Member
Joined
22 Mar 2019
Messages
31
I wonder how many millions of pounds worth of new rolling stock is sitting in the Norfolk countryside getting covered by smoke smuts from a steam loco......! If you have time, watch 3 and half minutes of FLIRT after FLIRT after FLIRT.........

 

trebor79

Established Member
Joined
8 Mar 2018
Messages
4,435
Sorry, should have been clearer, 1405 Norwich-Lowestoft.

Must have fixed 410 as I'm on it now back from Ely to Attleborough.

Cantilever seat support isn't as intrusive as it looks, although it's not ideal.
Travelling in the end car you'd think you were on an EMU. Engine noise is only noticeable in the few seat rows near the power unit, and of course when walking through the power unit.

Driver was doubled up this morning and guard this afternoon, so evidently lots of training happening for the roll out.

Edit: Thinking about it, it may not have been the 755 that had the fault. Could have been a 170 and they moved the flirt off another diagram to cover. That would still be a train fault as the route cause of the cancellation.
 
Last edited:

dk1

Veteran Member
Joined
2 Oct 2009
Messages
15,822
Location
East Anglia
I wonder how many millions of pounds worth of new rolling stock is sitting in the Norfolk countryside getting covered by smoke smuts from a steam loco......! If you have time, watch 3 and half minutes of FLIRT after FLIRT after FLIRT.........

Not a lot you can do about that until they are commissioned & drivers trained. Everything possible (& more) is being done behind the scenes and the 3-cars have not been passed for traffic by ORR yet.
 

trebor79

Established Member
Joined
8 Mar 2018
Messages
4,435
Not a lot you can do about that until they are commissioned & drivers trained. Everything possible (& more) is being done behind the scenes and the 3-cars have not been passed for traffic by ORR yet.

Indeed. Lots of evidence of staff training visible to this punter today.
Will be worth the wait, lots of comments about the "posh" "smart" and "very nice" train could be overheard.
 

dk1

Veteran Member
Joined
2 Oct 2009
Messages
15,822
Location
East Anglia
Indeed. Lots of evidence of staff training visible to this punter today.
Will be worth the wait, lots of comments about the "posh" "smart" and "very nice" train could be overheard.
After the last few years it is so nice to hear these comments. And it's not just the punters, I'm hearing such good things from colleagues in the messroom & it's The die hard traditionalists & enthusiasts too. Whoever would've thought that little old (usually overlooked) East Anglia would hit the jackpot in this way? I am still pinching myself as I type.
 

trebor79

Established Member
Joined
8 Mar 2018
Messages
4,435
@dk1 yes I think we really have hit the jackpot, really lovely trains.
The only thing that lets them down a smidge is the heating duct and seat support arm which did combine to make me feel a little uncomfortable after 45 minutes. But nothing in this life is perfect!
I'm not sure how they'll do on Stansted runs with lots of suitcases, the luggage stacks are quite small and not located where you might expect so people were leaving large items in the doorways. I guess people will figure it out, and the guard can assist now they don't have to worry about the doors or despatch.

Would I be correct in thinking that the 4 bays of table seating with no airline seating between the cab and the door was originally designed to be a first class area?
 
Last edited:

dk1

Veteran Member
Joined
2 Oct 2009
Messages
15,822
Location
East Anglia
@dk1 yes I think we really have hit the jackpot, really lovely trains.
The only thing that lets them down a smidge is the heating duct and seat support arm which did combine to make me feel a little uncomfortable after 45 minutes. But nothing in this life is perfect!
I'm not sure how they'll do on Stansted runs with lots of suitcases, the luggage stacks are quite small and not located where you might expect so people were leaving large items in the doorways. I guess people will figure it out, and the guard can assist now they don't have to worry about the doors or despatch.

Would I be correct in thinking that the 4 bays of table seating with no airline seating between the cab and the door was originally designed to be a first class area?
I very much doubt it as this was decided long before construction started. It was only ever going to be the premier (see what I did there Trains/football) Norwich Intercity route that had such luxury & catering.
 
Joined
10 Mar 2015
Messages
770
@dk1 yes I think we really have hit the jackpot, really lovely trains.
The only thing that lets them down a smidge is the heating duct and seat support arm which did combine to make me feel a little uncomfortable after 45 minutes. But nothing in this life is perfect!
I'm not sure how they'll do on Stansted runs with lots of suitcases, the luggage stacks are quite small and not located where you might expect so people were leaving large items in the doorways. I guess people will figure it out, and the guard can assist now they don't have to worry about the doors or despatch.

Would I be correct in thinking that the 4 bays of table seating with no airline seating between the cab and the door was originally designed to be a first class area?

Yes I found the combination of the two, with the slight inward slope at the bottom a bit tight for my 6' 4", but comfortable enough and I always know that I'm not exactly the average these things are built around!
 

trebor79

Established Member
Joined
8 Mar 2018
Messages
4,435
I can hardly imagine fixing a (brand new) FLIRT with any kind of tool. Most likely a better knowledge of the beast was more than enough.
Who knows. Could be something as simple as a stuck actuator, sensor unplugged or just software in a muddle needing a reboot.
One thing that did make me smile today was hearing a faint "tick tick tick tick pssh pssh" on brake applications and releases. Very reminiscent of the sounds the pneumatic switchgear makes on an accelerating Bakerloo line train. So even in this age of computer everything, it still boils down to mechanical stuff at some point.
 

387star

On Moderation
Joined
16 Nov 2009
Messages
6,653
Are the drivers doing the doors ?
I read guards would have booked door work to maintain competencies
 

dk1

Veteran Member
Joined
2 Oct 2009
Messages
15,822
Location
East Anglia
Are the drivers doing the doors ?
I read guards would have booked door work to maintain competencies
Guards can only close the doors but that is only allowed during failure of equipment in the driving cab or during training. They will maintain competency for this.
 

hooverboy

On Moderation
Joined
12 Oct 2017
Messages
1,372
can i ask how long the coaches on the 745 are?
if it's the same construct as 755's then driving cars are 20m, intermediates are 16m

so a 12 car set will be approx 200m...roughly equivalent to a cl90+9*mk3+dvt set in terms of seating.
 
Last edited:

hooverboy

On Moderation
Joined
12 Oct 2017
Messages
1,372

ac6000cw

Established Member
Joined
10 May 2014
Messages
3,121
Location
Cambridge, UK
not sure about that. I thought maximum permitted length of articulated stock was about max 18m (ie eurostar)

Having taken a closer look at the train makeup, all the 745 vehicles are half-articulated (normal bogie at one end, other end shared, so the train is made up from 6 x articulated twins) so are likely to be around the same length i.e. just under 20m each.

(The 755 bi-modes are different - all the intermediate vehicles are fully articulated, and are significantly shorter than the half-articulated end vehicles - it works to be roughly 20m+16m+7m+16m+20m for a 4-car 755)
 
Last edited:

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,540
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
Having taken a closer look at the train makeup, all the 745 vehicles are half-articulated (normal bogie at one end, other end shared, so the train is made up from 6 x articulated twins) so are likely to be around the same length i.e. just under 20m each.

As you say there aren't any fully articulated cars on the 12-car sets, they are all half-articulated:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/BR_Class_745_in_Velim.jpg

I think "proper" fully articulated FLIRT cars are 16m i.e. same as a Pacer vehicle. The DMU version has two of these in the 4-car set and one in the 3-car. These have 8 roughly 2m bays, one of which contains a door instead of seats.

The cab vehicles look to be about 2 bays longer than the intermediates, which is not uncommon these days, it's true of Pendolinos too.

Using non-scientific bay counting (!) the half articulated intermediates appear to be 20m and the end vehicles 23-24m.
 
Last edited:

ac6000cw

Established Member
Joined
10 May 2014
Messages
3,121
Location
Cambridge, UK
I think "proper" fully articulated FLIRT cars are 16m i.e. same as a Pacer vehicle. The DMU version has two of these in the 4-car set and one in the 3-car. These have 8 roughly 2m bays, one of which contains a door instead of seats.

If you do some calculations based on the length info in the Stadler 755 datasheet here - https://www.stadlerrail.com/media/pdf/feabmu0916e.pdf - the 755 car lengths are approx 15.7m for the intermediate passenger cars, 6.7m for the power car, and 21m for the end cars.

The 745 datasheet is here - https://www.stadlerrail.com/media/pdf/feaemu0818e.pdf
 

delticdave

Member
Joined
14 Apr 2017
Messages
449
Having taken a closer look at the train makeup, all the 745 vehicles are half-articulated (normal bogie at one end, other end shared, so the train is made up from 6 x articulated twins) so are likely to be around the same length i.e. just under 20m each.

(The 755 bi-modes are different - all the intermediate vehicles are fully articulated, and are significantly shorter than the half-articulated end vehicles - it works to be roughly 20m+16m+7m+16m+20m for a 4-car 755)

Q?, is a 745 really 2 x 6-car sets coupled back to back? The published drawings seem to show a larger gap between cars 6 & 7.
 

HikerS69

New Member
Joined
4 Jun 2019
Messages
1
Location
Norfolk
We travelled on a Flirt between Wymondham and Ely last Saturday morning (09.50) in a 4-seater bay. We were very impressed. Didn't use the "facilities" :lol: Incidentally, we were at the carriage end next to the power car but you couldn't hear any noise from it.
 
Last edited:

trebor79

Established Member
Joined
8 Mar 2018
Messages
4,435
Q?, is a 745 really 2 x 6-car sets coupled back to back? The published drawings seem to show a larger gap between cars 6 & 7.
Yes. The blank space on vehicles 6 and 7 has electronics etc in it. As I understand it, they are 2 6 car flirts, back to back with the cabs deleted from one end of each set. I saw a YouTube video a while ago proclaiming them to be the longest flirts in the world.
 

Top