Don't count on it. If you want a ride on a 483 it would probably be best to do it this year........... I think you can expect to ride on the old trains next summer if they can be kept running.
Quick screen grab from Facebook after putting "Long Marston" in the Facebook post searchbar
Definitely look shallow in terms of height like the 483s
Optical illusion due to the accommodation bogies, I think.Quick screen grab from Facebook after putting "Long Marston" in the Facebook post searchbar
Definitely look shallow in terms of height like the 483s
When I glanced at it initially, I thought the dark blue band round the bottom of the body wasn’t that noticeable. After a double take it did seem higher...Optical illusion due to the accommodation bogies, I think.
Pat
Isn't there a lot of rail upgrading to do before they arrive including sorting the tunnel out.
When I travelled on the line on Thursday, there were some notices up at Shanklin about weekend closures, I think one was the weekend just gone or possibly next weekend. I didn't pay much attention as it was just a one-off day trip for me.They fit through the tunnel, the principal gauging issue is Smallbrook Lane overbridge - it was reported some weekend closures were needed this summer but no sign of them yet.
All measured apparently before they ordered.Have to say I'm surprised a D78 will fit through Ryde tunnel.
When I travelled on the line on Thursday, there were some notices up at Shanklin about weekend closures, I think one was the weekend just gone or possibly next weekend. I didn't pay much attention as it was just a one-off day trip for me.
Try https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/planned-improvements/august-2020-works (August, not September).Ah yes, they must have put this online very recently - the SWR website now has closures down for the 15th/16th and 22nd/23rd: https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/planned-improvements/september-2020-works
All measured apparently before they ordered.
Why has the island line been forced to continue with this stock? Is it so far out of the way and isolated that it doesn’t ‘deserve’ investment?
Undeserving then.More that it has the highest per-passenger-mile subsidy on the network, so spending on it is hard to justify.
More that it has the highest per-passenger-mile subsidy on the network, so spending on it is hard to justify.
From what I saw last week there is absolutely zero revenue collection being done. I didn't see a single other person buy a ticket, or see a single person tap in with a smart card.Undeserving then.
by this point I think it counts as tradition, this is third generation of ex-LU stockWhy has the island line been forced to continue with this stock? Is it so far out of the way and isolated that it doesn’t ‘deserve’ investment?
Why has the island line been forced to continue with this stock? Is it so far out of the way and isolated that it doesn’t ‘deserve’ investment?
The D78s in the condition they left London in were already a massive step up from the 483s.We know that the Island line has a restricted loading gauge because of the tunnel and also possibly as someone has mentioned above the Smallbrook bridge.
Therefore we know that standard UK rolling stock cannot be used. So what are the alternatives
1) Build a very small fleet of non-standard trains which will fit the loading gauge with all the fixed cost that would entail for just five trains
2) Scrap the line
3) Refurbish existing stock from elsewhere for further use
The first option is not financially viable on any business case assumptions
The second option would have been justified in 1965 but we have moved on from the thinking of those days
The third option is the only viable alternative and the stock is available so lets use it.
I have noticed among the comments on this thread a feeling among some answers that the writers have an antipathy toward this stock whatever the justification for using it. I have ridden on the class 230 versions on the Marston Vale line and the 230 units for Transport for Wales are tested on my local line. Quite frankly the users of the Island Line when they see them and use them will think that these are brand new trains and will be glad of them.
So can we please stop the carping about them until you have experienced travelling on them. Hopefully the track will be in a better condition than it was when I last travelled on it. At one point I was lifted out of my seat and then slammed back down and I can assure that was painful.
Thread drift, but I've never really understood why instead of closing all the railways on IoW, they left this truncated stub. Was it just about distributing summer holiday makers down the east coast of the island?We know that the Island line has a restricted loading gauge because of the tunnel and also possibly as someone has mentioned above the Smallbrook bridge.
Therefore we know that standard UK rolling stock cannot be used. So what are the alternatives
1) Build a very small fleet of non-standard trains which will fit the loading gauge with all the fixed cost that would entail for just five trains
2) Scrap the line
3) Refurbish existing stock from elsewhere for further use
The first option is not financially viable on any business case assumptions
The second option would have been justified in 1965 but we have moved on from the thinking of those days