Abellio Greater Anglia Class 755s (Regional Trains)

[bspahh]

Can the 755s in theory be extended in the future by the addition of intermediate cars? The 4 car train from Cambridge around 5pm this evening was full and standing.

The information screen still said that there were seats throughout the train, even when there were people standing in all of the front two cars.

 

[Grumbler]

The information screen still said that there were seats throughout the train, even when there were people standing in all of the front two cars.

How does that work? Are there sensors to detect bums on seats?

 

[dk1]

How does that work? Are there sensors to detect bums on seats?

Most occasions I've seen them the PIS has not working or switched off. I don't think any of that stuff apart from the WC being occupied is even operational yet. I wouldn't pay much attention to it to be honest.

 

[trebor79]

Yes I've never seen it say anything other than there are seats available, apart from once it randomly went from displaying 3 seat icons per car to 1.

 

[Class 170101]

It may also be that Victoria Sdgs may see far less use after the legacy stock goes.

ROFL, you are joking right? With no works at Brantham by the looks of it, those sidings will see use along with any you can find - answers on a postcard.

 

[dk1]

ROFL, you are joking right? With no works at Brantham by the looks of it, those sidings will see use along with any you can find - answers on a postcard.

Are they not developing something at Parkeston Quay now for 720s?

 

[hooverboy]

Yes I've never seen it say anything other than there are seats available, apart from once it randomly went from displaying 3 seat icons per car to 1.

does anyone really give a monkey's as long as the damn thing gets from A to B?

I would rather the guard had either a very loud voice/bullhorn to announce station approaches rather than take a unit out of service
if said guard not available then I vote GA employ tom baker or brian blessed to do the station roll-call!

 

[trebor79]

No I don't care if the PIS isn't working. In fact I prefer it when it's gone wrong as is turned off, means a journey free of repetitive automated announcements and see it say it sorted.

 

[Ianno87]

Where there many standees after Ely? The GA only fares between Cambridge and Ely are very attractive to many.

All the fares between Cambridge and Ely are attractively priced!

 

[eastdyke]

All the fares between Cambridge and Ely are attractively priced!

Perhaps I should have been more specific, said especially attractive, and quoted some figures.
eg
A monthly GA only season is £98.
A monthly unrestricted season is £124.10.

 

[bspahh]

Perhaps I should have been more specific, said especially attractive, and quoted some figures.

Or an off peak day return from Ely to Cambridge which is £2.35 on Greater Anglia, £4.70 on any train. With a Club 50 card its £1.90 after 10am, on the 10.38.

 

[trebor79]

But why would anyone bother to comply with the GA only restriction? I've literally never had my ticket checked on a GN or Thameslink service.
Doesn't make a difference to me as I come from further afield and there aren't operator specific tickets.

 

[Phatcontroller]

No 1 Son and I would like to try a Stadler Bi-mode or two this Sunday. Please can anyone advise if they are likely to be running out of Norwich? Thanks.

 

[TheDavibob]

No 1 Son and I would like to try a Stadler Bi-mode or two this Sunday. Please can anyone advise if they are likely to be running out of Norwich? Thanks.

Exactly that question is being discussed here.

 

[LAX54]

Exactly that question is being discussed here.

There is no Inter-City service, nor any EMR or Cambridge trains either, so if any 755's are out playing, they will be Yarmouth and Lowestoft. ( 3 out today )

 

[dk1]

There is no Inter-City service, nor any EMR or Cambridge trains either, so if any 755's are out playing, they will be Yarmouth and Lowestoft. ( 3 out today )

Good job with City at home to Villa.

 

[Class 170101]

Are they not developing something at Parkeston Quay now for 720s?

Wasn't planning permission granted for a wheel lathe according to one of the local papers and a link provided on this board to an article? Not seen anything else though.

 

[Alfie1014]

Wasn't planning permission granted for a wheel lathe according to one of the local papers and a link provided on this board to an article? Not seen anything else though.

Yep between Harwich Int and Dovercourt in the formation of the former line to the train ferry I think?

 

[Ianno87]

But why would anyone bother to comply with the GA only restriction? I've literally never had my ticket checked on a GN or Thameslink service.
.

My casual observation is that alot of people do indeed try it on...or simply don't understand which service is the Greater Anglia service!

 

[RailWonderer]

if said guard not available then I vote GA employ tom baker

+1. Tom Baker sounds distinguished while also being potentially hilarious when announcing delays for an obscure reason (think Little Britain)

I've literally never had my ticket checked on a GN or Thameslink service.

The last three times I used Thameslink (this year) I had a ticket check twice. I’ve seen three other people caught out at once. He sat in first then popped out between Potters Bar and Finsbury Park

 

[Ianno87]

I've literally never had my ticket checked on a GN or Thameslink service.
Doesn't make a difference to me as I come from further afield and there aren't operator specific tickets.

Checks are very rare on the Ely/Kings Lynn fasts....my perception is that there's generally a low level of fare evasion anyway.

Much more common are checks on the stoppers and semi-fasts between Hitchin and Cambridge.

 

[Icky Qualms]

Saw 170 208 denuded of Toc Vinyls at Bury St Edmunds yesterday, does anyone know when we are losing it to TFW

 

[ac6000cw]

Checks are very rare on the Ely/Kings Lynn fasts....my perception is that there's generally a low level of fare evasion anyway.

Much more common are checks on the stoppers and semi-fasts between Hitchin and Cambridge.

I agree.

Because both Cambridge and KGX have ticket barriers most passengers on the CBG-KGX non-stops will pass through at least one set of them. The stoppers and semi-fasts stop at some 'open' or not fully barriered stations so there is more potential for evasion, hence the greater need for on-train checks. Also I assume the TOCs do enough on-train checking that they've got a pretty good idea of the level of evasion on different services and hence target the revenue protection operations where they are likely to do the most good.

 

[LowLevel]

Checks are very rare on the Ely/Kings Lynn fasts....my perception is that there's generally a low level of fare evasion anyway.

Much more common are checks on the stoppers and semi-fasts between Hitchin and Cambridge.

Depends where you go I guess - quite often see 'passenger hosts' hopping on and off the Lynn trains at Ely.

 

[37047]

Depends where you go I guess - quite often see 'passenger hosts' hopping on and off the Lynn trains at Ely.

I'd agree with this. I get a least a couple of checks each week on the KLN-ELY or KLN-DOW portion of my commute (KLN-CMB) in both directions. Tends to be the 'Passenger Hosts' based at Lynn on those. Frequently one on the 0540 from KLN.

 

[James James]

Can the 755s in theory be extended in the future by the addition of intermediate cars? The 4 car train from Cambridge around 5pm this evening was full and standing.

No reason why not, but presumably acceleration would suffer. The 4-car is already maxed out on diesel engines, however the 3-car has half as much diesel power, so if you convert the 4-car to 5-car it might still be faster than a 3-car on diesel (it would be slower than the 3-car on electric, but still accelerate better than the 745 AFAICT).

Wouldn't it make more sense to switch from one 4-car to 2x3-cars though? (Usual platform length disclaimers etc.)

 

[hooverboy]

No reason why not, but presumably acceleration would suffer. The 4-car is already maxed out on diesel engines, however the 3-car has half as much diesel power, so if you convert the 4-car to 5-car it might still be faster than a 3-car on diesel (it would be slower than the 3-car on electric, but still accelerate better than the 745 AFAICT).

Wouldn't it make more sense to switch from one 4-car to 2x3-cars though? (Usual platform length disclaimers etc.)

the 755 is a modular train, so extra carriages and power packs can be added as necessary.

I can see that norwich to cambridge is a very popular route anyway,so a full 4 car 755 is not by any means a surprise.(3 car 170 always used to be rammed too,and the 2 car was turning people away)

even if you added 2 extra intermediate cars to a 755/4 without an additional power pack it will still shift,they're extremely fast.
no problem at all keeping present 170 timings

it would be cheaper doing it this way than using up 2x3 car sets,one of which could be deployed elsewhere

in the interim i'd expect GA would rotate the 755/4's off of wherry line etc and replace them with 755/3 for the winter timetable.

 

[trebor79]

the 755 is a modular train, so extra carriages and power packs can be added as necessary.

I can see that norwich to cambridge is a very popular route anyway,so a full 4 car 755 is not by any means a surprise.(3 car 170 always used to be rammed too,and the 2 car was turning people away)

even if you added 2 extra intermediate cars to a 755/4 without an additional power pack it will still shift,they're extremely fast.
no problem at all keeping present 170 timings

it would be cheaper doing it this way than using up 2x3 car sets,one of which could be deployed elsewhere

That was my thought too. You'd probably get nearly as many seats from 2 intermediate cars without toilets (or just one small toilet and no accessible mega bog) as you would from a 3 car unit. And definitely more on a purpose built 6 car than 2 X 3 cars in multiple.
The 4 cars units easily keep to time, not unusual for them to sit for a few minutes at station stops to avoid early departure. More intermediate cars wouldn't be a problem. I guess you might need another powered bogie at some point though.

 

[hooverboy]

That was my thought too. You'd probably get nearly as many seats from 2 intermediate cars without toilets (or just one small toilet and no accessible mega bog) as you would from a 3 car unit. And definitely more on a purpose built 6 car than 2 X 3 cars in multiple.
The 4 cars units easily keep to time, not unusual for them to sit for a few minutes at station stops to avoid early departure. More intermediate cars wouldn't be a problem. I guess you might need another powered bogie at some point though.

ok the intermediate cars are shorter (16m) on these,so 2 extra equates roughly to 1.5* cl170/156 carriage.(about 100 extra capacity)
I'd say for peak use this would be about the right sort of configuration...won't break the bank on additional running costs either.plenty of happy people getting seats for a change.

from the response of wherry line users to the new stock for the most part they think they've hit the jackpot!..it's just the cancellations for whatever reason that need addressing...will bed in over time i'm sure, but overall folks are very impressed(I know I was!)

the other option would be higher frequency,but that entails extra drivers/conductors/maintenance costs/
I wouldn't be at all averse to a 30min norwich-cambridge service rather than hourly, but its what the Toc's and bean counters decide will maximise revenue at minimal cost which counts.
the line itself has serious potential as a commuter route as well as leisure

given that the 755/4 has about 2600bhp(1920kw),it should still cope with some add-ons.

cl37's (1750bhp)on mainline use back in yesteryear were quite happily hauling rakes of 8+mk1/2(20m) at top whack 80mph.
cl40's (2000bhp) were thundering along at 90mph no problem.
cl45's(2500bhp) were specced at 90mph but regularly did the tonne down MML.

given you'd need about 25% extra juice for the extra 20mph,a 6 car 755/4 with one power pack will save about 25% on weight compared to the above, so performance should be roughly comparable,and still get to 100mph if needed.

 

[agnott]

A 755/4 just came through Elmswell heading towards Cambridge, is that the first time on this bit of track? Couldn't see which one from where I was.