Class 313 replacement (Southern Coastway Line)

Transfer the 387s from Great Northern with 365s returning to the Cambridge cruisers

Anything on the cards yet for Southern's 313 replacement or will they soldier on until 2021?

robert7111a said:

Anything on the cards yet for Southern's 313 replacement or will they soldier on until 2021?

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It looks as though they are due to soldier on until September 2021.

They are in a wretched state with most seats looking vile

Wouldn't some 377's have been released due to Thameslink taking over some Southern routes, e.g. Horsham?

I think the 313s & 455s will stay in service until the end of the GTR franchise, but would need replacing during the next franchise, along with the 365s.

One option could perhaps be to introduce an all new fleet on Great Northern services out of London Kings Cross, though existing fleet could be used instead, such as GA's 379s. Then cascade the GN 387s to Southern services (where the type is familar due to Gatwick Express), to strengthen mainline services, and release some 377s to the coastline route to replace 313s. SWR's 707s could also transfer as has been suggested to replace the 455s on Southern Metro services. If the next TSGN franchise were to introduce GA 379s and SWR 707s, this would simplify the fleet to just Electostars (377/379/387) and Desiro Citys (700 707 717).

387star said:

They are in a wretched state with most seats looking vile

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That's typical Southern for you!

robert7111a said:

Anything on the cards yet for Southern's 313 replacement or will they soldier on until 2021?

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probably 45x.
with 707's replacing the 45x units from waterloo

Flinn Reed said:

Wouldn't some 377's have been released due to Thameslink taking over some Southern routes, e.g. Horsham?

I think the 313s & 455s will stay in service until the end of the GTR franchise, but would need replacing during the next franchise, along with the 365s.

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Well, the 377/5s released from Thameslink already got transferred to Southeastern. It’s always been stated by insiders that there are no plans to replace the 313 or 455 during this franchise period.

swt_passenger said:

Well, the 377/5s released from Thameslink already got transferred to Southeastern. It’s always been stated by insiders that there are no plans to replace the 313 or 455 during this franchise period.

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I am aware that Thameslink's 377s went to Southeastern, I was referring to Southern's own 377s that were used on routes now taken over by Thameslink. However, presumably these spare 377s have instead been used to increase capacity on other routes.

Flinn Reed said:

I am aware that Thameslink's 377s went to Southeastern, I was referring to Southern's own 377s that were used on routes now taken over by Thameslink. However, presumably these spare 377s have instead been used to increase capacity on other routes.

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Ah sorry, misread your post. I think you’re right, all the displaced 377s were soaked up elsewhere, many in the metro areas, and that allowed the utilisation of the 455s to be reduced.

swt_passenger said:

Ah sorry, misread your post. I think you’re right, all the displaced 377s were soaked up elsewhere, many in the metro areas, and that allowed the utilisation of the 455s to be reduced.

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Lots used for 8 to 12 car lengthening further out and more 10car (4+3+3) metro services.
The Thameslink timetable change effects on southern aren't complete yet so a bit of extra slack currently.
A number effectively replaced the 6 (4+ 2 spare) non GatEx 442s.

There would also be the 377s used on the new Brighton-Hastings service (replacing the Brighton-Ashford service), the 377 which replaced a 313 on a Brighton-Ore-Hastings-Ore-Brighton run in the morning, plus an extra 313 required for the Brighton-Lewes shuttle increasing from 1tph to 2tph. The Brighton-Ashford service being replaced by the Brighton-Hastings and Eastbourne-Ashford services will have given the Uckfield line an additional 2-car 171.