Class 378 door control panels.

[railwaytrack]

I was on a Class 378 yesterday on the North London Line of London Overground and there was a Guard door control panel by one of the doors in the saloon that was wide open throughout the entire journey. I had no idea that these trains had Guard door control panels on them. I had presumed they were built without. However i just did a quick search online and it seems that actually London Overground did have Guards for a short period of time after taking over from Silverlink on the North London Line and Gospel Oak To Barking Line as there are some old articles online about strikes. My question is did the Guards ever actually work the 172s and 378s or did they get rid of Guards at the same time they got rid of the old 150s and 313s trains? Also any idea why was this panel was wide open? Considering that they no longer have Guards i thought these panels would be untouched and disused but i am wondering if perhaps they still have to be opened and tested in the depot every day so maybe that was why it was opened and they forgot to close it maybe? There was no key in it so it was not a security issue but it just seems odd why a panel would be open in a train that has not had Guards for years?

 

[Towers]

A panel could have come open for numerous reasons; opened by staff, fiddled with & opened by someone who shouldn't have, dodgy lock, etc.

I don't recall whether Overground guards ever worked the new fleets, someone will though!

 

[LowLevel]

They were initially guard operated.

The panels might still be used for things like locking up trains to go out of service.

 

[rcsn319]

I remember when 378s were new they were indeed guard operated, including them inspecting Oyster cards too I’m pretty sure.
There’s also videos on YouTube of the LO 172s being guard dispatched somewhere, though Im pretty sure on those units They stayed in the cab.
Guard operations ended around 2012 i want to say however feel free to correct me as I was still fairly young at the time.

 

[railwaytrack]

A panel could have come open for numerous reasons; opened by staff, fiddled with & opened by someone who shouldn't have, dodgy lock, etc.

I don't recall whether Overground guards ever worked the new fleets, someone will though!

They were initially guard operated.

The panels might still be used for things like locking up trains to go out of service.

I remember when 378s were new they were indeed guard operated, including them inspecting Oyster cards too I’m pretty sure.
There’s also videos on YouTube of the LO 172s being guard dispatched somewhere, though Im pretty sure on those units They stayed in the cab.
Guard operations ended around 2012 i want to say however feel free to correct me as I was still fairly young at the time.

Many thanks for the replies. I thought that i had a vague memory of seeing Guards on these trains but was not entirely sure. I have just done a search of this forum and found some old threads and it seems that they got rid of Guards on the North London Line 378s in late 2013 and on the Gospel Oak To Barking Line 172s in early 2014 a few months later.

Does anyone know if the 376s and 379s have Guards door control panels in the saloon on them too? I know the 376s and 379s have been DOO since day one but i am wondering if they were built with them too (i know the 700s and 717s definitely have them despite also being DOO since day one) like the 378s were?

 

[Horizon22]

Seeing as the train design is very similar to 375/377 which has guard/OBS use which have almost identical door panels, it's not too surprising they are fitted, and had very brief guard usage.

 

[railwaytrack]

Seeing as the train design is very similar to 375/377 which has guard/OBS use which have almost identical door panels, it's not too surprising they are fitted, and had very brief guard usage.

I think it is quite a different design. The 376/378 have a very different design to the 357/375/377/379/387 and therefore the door panel is very narrow and long on the 378s (similar to the 700/707/717 panels) where as on the 375s and 377s the door panels are much more box shaped as there is far more space for them without the need to be narrow and long. So from what i saw the design of the panels was quite different on the 378s compared to the 375s and 377s trains. I did not look that closely but i think some of the buttons and controls might have been different on the 378s as well. I know the 375s and 377s have very basic panels with just a close button and a bell button but without local door controls or door release buttons.

 

[Horizon22]

I think it is quite a different design. The 376/378 have a very different design to the 357/375/377/379/387 and therefore the door panel is very narrow and long on the 378s (similar to the 700/707/717 panels) where as on the 375s and 377s the door panels are much more box shaped as there is far more space for them without the need to be narrow and long. So from what i saw the design of the panels was quite different on the 378s compared to the 375s and 377s trains. I did not look that closely but i think some of the buttons and controls might have been different on the 378s as well. I know the 375s and 377s have very basic panels with just a close button and a bell button but without local door controls or door release buttons.

The underlying design of Electrostars is very similar though between the series. The interior is of course a bit different to accommodate the longitudinal seating, which probably impacted the door panel format to a small extent

 

[supervc-10]

And the 378s have sliding pocket doors, not plug doors. The 376 has the pocket doors, the rest of the Electrostars (and the Turbostars) have plug doors. That would lead to a necessary change in the interior arrangement due to the different location of the doors in relation to the side wall of the train.