kc_
Member
The reservations have an extra letter after them now. What's this for? E.g. seat 34 in coach D now shows as D 34A.
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TPE Class 397 ('Nova 2') construction and updates
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Bletchleyite
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If reservations are announced as not being in place, you sit anywhere.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
It means "airline". There used to be F and B, forward and back. Most trains have individually numbered seats now, so it is meaningless (and indeed confusing). I'm surprised any of the booking systems still do it!
It's the same with the 802s too, although the MK5a stock doesn't do it.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I guess it must be set up wrongly in the NRS as being stock with the old style numbering.
For the record, that involved the facing seats in a bay having the same numbers, i.e. a bay would be numbered for example:
[1 1]
[2 2]
...so if you had 1F you'd sit in 1 facing forward, 1B would be 1 facing backwards, and it wouldn't matter which way round the stock was. I think it is still in use on at least one TOC but it's not common now.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Hull Trains on the 180s and TfW on 158s (not to sure about 175s) spring to mind as having F & B on seat reservations
Jamesrob637
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Kite159
Veteran Member
Frankie and Benny's taking aim at ownership of Hull Trains?
More a way for those passengers who must travel facing forward to be sure they will be facing forward as it doesn't matter which way round the 180 was.
kc_
Member
ValleyLines142
Established Member
397003 on test this afternoon, 1347 Preston to Manchester Airport, seen at platform 13 at Piccadilly at 2.30.
RealTrains07
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Whos fault is that?
What sort of testing would they be doing with a unit which is already accepted for passengers?
Suspect they just were missing a member of trained traincrew and had to run it empty from Preston to pick up the booked working from the Airport.
ValleyLines142
Established Member
I'm not sure, I don't know a lot about the new units as I'm not from the area.
driver9000
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397003 was in service yesterday and has been one of the most regular performers since the type entered service at the end of November. Training is ongoing so as others have said the path of a cancellation may have been used to enable this.
D.K.TAYLOR
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Was terminated at Preston then empty to the Airport came through Man Picc as i was waiting
Train jaune
Member
Just caught my first 397 from Manchester Piccadilly and quite impressed with the seat/window alignment. Let's see how it feels when we pick up some speed, currently crawling through Deansgate.
It has been - the return working of the 0500 from Manchester Piccadilly.
Will keep that in mind.
driver9000
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Not normally. Saturday matches the weekday diagrams as best they can. Today the 07:07 and 08:07 from Manchester Airport are 397s.
Do you know what worked the 0907 from Glasgow to Manchester Airport? Decided not to go today.
Based on tracing in RTT the same unit that worked 1M67 2212 Edinburgh to Manchester Airport last night and that appears from an entry in Railcam data to be 350402.
kc_
Member
Managed a 397 ride in coach E on Monday and coach C on Thursday. The experience in first class is a definite upgrade over the 350s. The seats were comfy, the tables were larger, and the seats are well positioned relative to the windows. (They pass the Geofftech elbow test!) The colour temperature of the lighting was quite warm and welcoming. The ride in coach E was pretty rough though, both at low speed through Manchester Ox and at high speed near the flying arches. They do accelerate like a rocket though!
The ride in standard class was a lot smoother, though the seats felt hard like a brick! The standard class seating in TPE's Desiros is far comfier. Again, quite a nice ambiance in standard on the 397, though the motors were quite audible in coach C, and produced a rather horrible monotone droning sound most of the time, and at other times sounded like a washing machine. It was a shame to see that the DiLAX electronic reservation screens weren't in use yet. PIS was clear and concise. I've read that the NOVA 2 is equipped with sensors in each seat to detect occupancy, so hopefully if true, the screens will in future direct passengers to coaches where seats are available. Laptop was plugged in, but didn't notice the aircon or at-seat power cut-off through OHNS.
Boarding at Piccadilly was less pleasant, with massive crowds forming at the single leaf end-doors, and once in the train, the aisles felt narrower. In summary, they're nice units, but don't feel like that much of an upgrade.
Both rides were on 397007. Monday's ride was on 1S75 (1626 from MAN) and Thursday's was on 1S71 (1526 from MAN).
The ride in standard class was a lot smoother, though the seats felt hard like a brick! The standard class seating in TPE's Desiros is far comfier. Again, quite a nice ambiance in standard on the 397, though the motors were quite audible in coach C, and produced a rather horrible monotone droning sound most of the time, and at other times sounded like a washing machine. It was a shame to see that the DiLAX electronic reservation screens weren't in use yet. PIS was clear and concise. I've read that the NOVA 2 is equipped with sensors in each seat to detect occupancy, so hopefully if true, the screens will in future direct passengers to coaches where seats are available. Laptop was plugged in, but didn't notice the aircon or at-seat power cut-off through OHNS.
Boarding at Piccadilly was less pleasant, with massive crowds forming at the single leaf end-doors, and once in the train, the aisles felt narrower. In summary, they're nice units, but don't feel like that much of an upgrade.
Both rides were on 397007. Monday's ride was on 1S75 (1626 from MAN) and Thursday's was on 1S71 (1526 from MAN).
kc_
Member
Ride quality in the 397 is better than the 331 when up to speed, but worse when pulling into stations. For an inter-city service, definitely needs sorting. Was surprising that ride quality was better in standard than in first. I'm guessing they have catering equipment in the FC coach, might be that the weight of this is a factor?
driver9000
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It's worth noting that the electronic seat reservation system has been in use and works quite well even automatically downloading before the start of a journey. I'm sure there was a reason why it wasn't working when you travelled.
The weight difference between DMS and DMF is around 1.5 tonnes with the DMF being heavier.
The weight difference between DMS and DMF is around 1.5 tonnes with the DMF being heavier.
kc_
Member
I thought I'd seen pictures on the forum full of green lights next to the reservation displays. Should be catching another 397 this week, so will hopefully see it in action! Does the system work with the last minute reservations site?
Suprised there using the reservations , thought they had been suspended.
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