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Abellio Greater Anglia Class 755s (Regional Trains)

LAX54

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15 Jan 2008
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3,754
What are the economics on this?
What is the minimum distance of wire would you need to make it worth panning up for Regen braking, idling, and accelerating away under electric? Would it ever be worth a few extra miles of wire, particularly to reduce diesel use in central Ipswich/Norwich?

Some still have the pans isolated, following the 'Elmswell Incident' they need some mods done we are told.
 
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RailUK Forums

LAX54

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15 Jan 2008
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3,754
Wherry Dates

Acle Single reopens on 17th Feb.
Berney reopens on Monday 24th
Lowestoft reopens on 24th Feb
Oulton Broad South reopens on 17th Feb
 

eastdyke

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Wherry Dates
Acle Single reopens on 17th Feb.
Berney reopens on Monday 24th
Lowestoft reopens on 24th Feb
Oulton Broad South reopens on 17th Feb
Thanks very much :cake:
Am I right that 24th Feb is Norwich-Lowestoft and 17th Feb is Lowestoft-Beccles-Ipswich?
Cheers!
 

lord rathmore

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11 Feb 2012
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Location
suffolk
I had my first trip in a 755 this weekend. I was impressed with the speed, quietness and smooth running.
Also, a train out of Ipswich right after a football match, and full, 4 cars is such a luxury after years of 2-car 156's (or if really unlucky a single-car 153 donkey).
 

LAX54

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15 Jan 2008
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3,754
Thanks very much :cake:
Am I right that 24th Feb is Norwich-Lowestoft and 17th Feb is Lowestoft-Beccles-Ipswich?
Cheers!

Yes, I did not write them very well !

Brundall / Acle / Yarmouth Single reopens on 17th Feb.
Oulton Broad South / Beccles / Lowestoft reopens on 17th Feb

Berney Arms / Reedham reopens on Monday 24th
Brundall / Lowestoft reopens on 24th Feb
 

eastdyke

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Yes, I did not write them very well !
Brundall / Acle / Yarmouth Single reopens on 17th Feb.
Oulton Broad South / Beccles / Lowestoft reopens on 17th Feb
Berney Arms / Reedham reopens on Monday 24th
Brundall / Lowestoft reopens on 24th Feb
No worries, that's great thank you so much for confirming.
Have to keep delaying my next trip down (quacks still) so I may well defer to end of Feb and have a better poke around. [Hopefully all on 755s]
Cheers!
 

camflyer

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13 Feb 2018
Messages
876
I had my first trip in a 755 this weekend. I was impressed with the speed, quietness and smooth running.
Also, a train out of Ipswich right after a football match, and full, 4 cars is such a luxury after years of 2-car 156's (or if really unlucky a single-car 153 donkey).

My first experience too. I had been avoiding the trains for the last few weeks given the recent problems but decided to risk it this weekend. Initial impressions were very good as long as they can get the reliability problems sorted.

The old 156s weren't that bad but the filthy 153s that they used to run on weekend evenings were a disgrace.
 

Abbo

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10 Dec 2019
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127
Location
Sheringham
I had my first trip in a 755 this weekend. I was impressed with the speed, quietness and smooth running.
Also, a train out of Ipswich right after a football match, and full, 4 cars is such a luxury after years of 2-car 156's (or if really unlucky a single-car 153 donkey).
As the train was full did the 'seat free' indicators work as some have suggested they don't ?
 

gingerheid

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2 Apr 2006
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1,490
Can we expect a new timetable with slightly faster journey times in due course, or will this be kept as slack?

Looks like skipping several stations from Ipswich to Bury St Edmunds helped....

If you mean Newmarket it never shows up on the NR app with an actual time.
 

suffolk_lp3

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Joined
22 Jan 2011
Messages
32
My concern is that in general review from the last few days - there are still a fair number of issues on the Ipswich-Cambridge/Peterborough service that would make me wary of relying on it often still. Not just all out cancellations, the fact some are loosing chunks of time mid-route.

Examples: Yesterdays 1st Cambridge breaking down near Kennett. The other day a Peterborough service stopped near Chippenham Junction for best part of half an hour before limping to Peterborough.

Today's 1st service to Peterborough losing time all over the place then terminating early at Ely. 09:20 Cambridge service cancelled. 12:01 Peterborough service cancelled. 14:20 Cambridge service lost 10 minutes over the place to Bury (but then it made a fair chunk up again which is very impressive).

Are they being razzed to hard over this route and over heating?
 

suffolk_lp3

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22 Jan 2011
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17:20 Ipswich to Cambridge shutdown all engines near Kennett - line blocked for best part of an hour... don't get me wrong I know there are gonna be bugs and it's better than no trains at all - but they do appear to be very fragile...
 

gingerheid

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2 Apr 2006
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On the other hand... was it a 755 that disgraced itself between Bury and Newmarket this evening?
 

Railperf

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Has there been a recent software update across the fleet? In a way this proves the older theory - as per HST's - produce a prototype - prove it in testing - then start the production line with the final run.
 

dk1

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2 Oct 2009
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East Anglia
I don't think it is possible to hate the word 'software' anymore than I do right now. What a hideous invention it has been when it comes to trains <(
 

trebor79

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8 Mar 2018
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4,435
I don't think it is possible to hate the word 'software' anymore than I do right now. What a hideous invention it has been when it comes to trains <(
Oh. You seem to flip between loving the FLIRTs and detesting them.

Away from software, overhead staff chatting to a punter yesterday. The gist of it was that if it gets cold overnight whilst stabled, the units drop the contents of the water tank, so the toilets are locked out due to no water when they come off the depot.
I wondered if this is the case if that's why there's often a flurry of "train fault" cancellations in the morning with the diagrams then running as normal from later on.
Might be wibble of course!
 

Railperf

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There might be several hundred passengers this morning that hated the train! Software implementation across a number of train fleets has been an absolute nightmare. You could argue that the previous Bombardier Electrostar and Siemens Desiro fleets - were the gold standard mechanically and in terms of software/firmware. But the latest problems afflicting the new fleets - mainly - seem to be software related! That is the frustration.
The software seems to be way too buggy to be in passenger service. Mechanically the 745/755 seem a great train!
 

eastdyke

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Just curious. Is all the activity at Crown Point going on against a backdrop of a fully rebuilt depot or is it still, at least in part, a building site?
 

dk1

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Oh. You seem to flip between loving the FLIRTs and detesting them.

Away from software, overhead staff chatting to a punter yesterday. The gist of it was that if it gets cold overnight whilst stabled, the units drop the contents of the water tank, so the toilets are locked out due to no water when they come off the depot.
I wondered if this is the case if that's why there's often a flurry of "train fault" cancellations in the morning with the diagrams then running as normal from later on.
Might be wibble of course!
Flip?? They are superb superb trains when they work but software is something alien to me & constantly getting on my tits at the moment.
 

eastdyke

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Bit of both mate.
Which sadly doesn't help :|
A few months on, lets hope a very few months, all of the current hiatus will be behind us and forgotten. And GA can get on with filling the trains. Am very interested to see what happens on the Ipswich-Cambridge when they are all full. Bring it on .....
Cheers!
 

samuelmorris

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18 Jul 2013
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Brentwood, Essex
There might be several hundred passengers this morning that hated the train! Software implementation across a number of train fleets has been an absolute nightmare. You could argue that the previous Bombardier Electrostar and Siemens Desiro fleets - were the gold standard mechanically and in terms of software/firmware. But the latest problems afflicting the new fleets - mainly - seem to be software related! That is the frustration.
The software seems to be way too buggy to be in passenger service. Mechanically the 745/755 seem a great train!
Eventually but not to begin with - the Desiro UK had some issues at first (though not sure how many were software) and the early Electrostars were appalling initially, resulting in the extension of some leases and transfer of other units from elsewhere to cover before they got everything sorted. Give it time and I'm sure Stadler will get the software right. It seems beyond the capability of the railway industry to get it right within the first few months of passenger service, for whatever reason.
 

Mikey C

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11 Feb 2013
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Oh. You seem to flip between loving the FLIRTs and detesting them.

Away from software, overhead staff chatting to a punter yesterday. The gist of it was that if it gets cold overnight whilst stabled, the units drop the contents of the water tank, so the toilets are locked out due to no water when they come off the depot.
I wondered if this is the case if that's why there's often a flurry of "train fault" cancellations in the morning with the diagrams then running as normal from later on.
Might be wibble of course!

You'd have hoped that Swiss trains would be able to cope with our pretty mild winters!
 

AJM580

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31 Jan 2016
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Norwich
In contrast to all the doom and gloom above I had a day with the 755s yesterday and as with all the journeys I've had the performance was excellent. On electric power between Ipswich and Stowmarket the acceleration is incredible 0-60 in 33 seconds and 100 mph within a couple of minutes. On diesel they seem quite happy cruising at 75 mph and hold this speed far easier than the Turbos and Sprinters which always seemed to drop a few mph here and there.
 

trebor79

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8 Mar 2018
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Oh yes, I haven't had a bad journey yet. Only suffered one cancellation at the peak of the track circuit (non)issue hiatus and the following EMR, which I was connecting to anyway, stopped and picked us up.
Fab trains for travelling on. I didn't understand why they were replacing the 170s, but with replacements this good, who cares!
 

Railperf

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30 Oct 2017
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Not built in Switzerland though.
Also depends on what spec the TOC ordered. I am told the Norwegian ones have a higher spec in terms of climate protection etc than the Swiss versions due to much harsher winters - different snow etc.
 

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