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Class 484 replacing class 483 on the island line: progress updates

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edwin_m

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I'd say the one proviso is platform clearances.The D78's are substantially wider bodies than the 38 stock(20cm more i think), and with a longer wheelbase on the carriage.
Are they actually wider at entrance step level? There are platforms on LU where both Tube and sub-surface gauge stock call, and although the step is up or down to the two types I don't think there is a big horizontal difference. In any case the platforms will have to be built up to give level boarding to the Vivarail units, so any horizontal changes can be done at the same time and don't cost any extra.

However, the line might have to be closed for however long it takes to re-build the platforms, because a big step up or down during the transition period would probably be considered unsafe.
 

Peter Mugridge

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If the 484s enter service next year the underlying units will be 40 years old. The 483s were 50 years old when they started operation, so not that much of a difference.

It's closer than it first looks because most - not all! - of the surviving 1938 Stock that was moved to the Island was from the later built batches.
 

IanXC

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You could actually run a 15 minute frequency with 4 of the 5 units.

But let’s get real. It wouldn’t be a good use of taxpayers money to buy a few extra trains just on the off chance that a decision was made a few years down the line to increase the service beyond what is envisaged under this upgrade.

And in any case, for the medium term it seems a safe bet that further sets from Vivarail or released from their current operators. Perhaps a battery or diesel unit with a side purpose of a Thunderbird too!
 

Mikey C

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In 20 years time Vivarail will supply a nuclear fusion powered D78 as a replacement :E
 

Chris125

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ryde esplanade will need a bit of shaving off the platform edge, and the 484's will have to use end doors only(so middle sealed and seating bay fitted)

Do we know that for sure? The mockups released show the door and seating layout remaining unchanged.
 

RealTrains07

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Better get going to the Isle of Wight then :lol:

Great news for vivarail at least? Any ideas or mock ups of a 484 yet? It will be interesting to see if they have SWR livery on them?
 

RealTrains07

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Better view of the livery from the side
 

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Goldfish62

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Better get going to the Isle of Wight then :lol:

Great news for vivarail at least? Any ideas or mock ups of a 484 yet? It will be interesting to see if they have SWR livery on them?
Unchanged internal layout with SWR colours applied (although as someone pointed out earlier, the seats look to be a lighter blue).
 

RealTrains07

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So exactly the same artists impression as per the SWR PR linked in post #1?
Didnt see that. Was the only artist impression i didnt see

Nice internal design though i wondered if they might have used a different design for the outside since it was the island line but its nice all the same
 

D365

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Any more information? as this seems to all have just sizzled away

I doubt there'll be much until Vivarail announces completion of the first unit. Bearing in mind that even the Wales 230s haven't had a formal reveal yet.

You'll want to refer to the post here for more info.
 

ijmad

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There is a significant difference in floor height between the 483 (based on the Standard Stock deep tube train) and the 484 (based on a higher floored subsurface tube train). This will surely create some additional difficulty boarding wheelchairs? I've seen the typical yellow ramps being used in Island Line videos, but surely it'll be a struggle to get a heavy unmotorised chair up a fairly steep slope between the current platform height and the new trains floor height unless they build some platform humps or similar.

The step might even be a problem for those who can walk but have poor mobility, or even those with buggies.

Is this being done? Or is it not as much of a problem as I imagine it might be?
 
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Chris125

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Is this being done? Or is it not as much of a problem as I imagine it might be?

It's safe to assume platform heights will need adjusting, Esplanade in particular would be more than a little awkward...
 

hwl

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There is a significant difference in floor height between the 483 (based on the Standard Stock deep tube train) and the 484 (based on a higher floored subsurface tube train). This will surely create some additional difficulty boarding wheelchairs? I've seen the typical yellow ramps being used in Island Line videos, but surely it'll be a struggle to get a heavy unmotorised chair up a fairly steep slope between the current platform height and the new trains floor height unless they build some platform humps or similar.

Is this being done? Or is it not as much of a problem as I imagine it might be?
Reduce the track height back to around where it was pre being raised for LU stock in most cases.
 

Chris125

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Reduce the track height back to around where it was pre being raised for LU stock in most cases.

That's unlikely - aside from the cost most have seen little if any change in track height since steam days; only Shanklin, possibly St Johns and Pier Head whose deck was renewed around the time of electrification.

The platforms at Esplanade were lowered, Smallbrook and Lake were built to tube height while Sandown and Brading are essentially as-built in the 1860s.

Interestingly the 483s are slightly higher than the Standard Stock and conventional 38TS; presumably NSE wanted to reduce the step down at those original platforms.
 
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Metal_gee_man

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Reduce the track height back to around where it was pre being raised for LU stock in most cases.
Well as the entire track needs replacing because you can't run at any speed over knackered wooden sleepers, I've got off a 483 and felt unwell with the amount of movement you achieve even sat down.
I can only assume new concrete sleepers, relaid rails and ballast the new loop and the 484s will run rings around the old timetable and eventually provide the service and the rolling stock the island needs.
 

WAO

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I believe that tube stock floor height is c735mm (2009 stock) and traditional surface stock is c1120mm (1002mm S stock). Standard platform height is c915mm, all above rail top.

WAO
 

Chris M

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Newport isn't "nowhere", it's more "somewhere" than anywhere served by the present line, really! :)
Newport isn't nowhere, but the IOWSR only gets as far as Wootton which is just a nowhere sort of half way ish between the two biggest somewheres on the island.
 

Journeyman

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It's surprising that any of it survived.

Absolutely. There was genuine surprise when it was announced that the Ryde to Shanklin section was to be retained, because it really only carried significant numbers during the summer, and Beeching had argued that it wasn't in BR's interest to retain seasonal services with stock lying idle most of the time. Back in the sixties, when first electrified, the line needed no less than six seven-car trains to run peak summer services, and even then struggled to make any money. You can tell a lot about the Isle of Wight's fortunes that they now run the service with one two-car unit most of the time - the tourist traffic has pretty much entirely disappeared.

The line has only survived because it's now so politically unacceptable to close railways, but there isn't really a good case for it, besides the fact that it's quicker than the bus. It's had next to no money spent on it for fifty years, and even then most of the infrastructure was ancient and falling to pieces. Every time something has failed, it's either been removed or replaced by something cannibalised from elsewhere, and there's only so many times you can keep doing that. For the last twenty years or so, I'm sure the whole setup has only been one or two major failures away from becoming completely inoperable without a lot of money being spent on it.
 
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