Is it me, or do 387s have better wheel slide protection (WSP) than other types on GN? Several mornings lately the GN email message I receive has listed trains as being delayed by slippery rails. Almost all of the workings concerned are 313 or 365 diagrams (the email only covers trains to / from Welwyn Garden City). However my normal train in the morning - 2T93 07:20 Cambridge North to King's Cross has not been affected thus far.
Sadly this morning 2T93 was short formed and rammed - at least that can't happen with 700s. To be fair to GTR, this is a pretty rare occurrence, though the train has been prone to complete cancellation a times in recent months. Acceleration today seemed normal, though braking was jerky suggesting some WSP activity.
The Electrostar should certainly be a little better on account of the design being more up-to-date. However the WSP on the 365s doesn't seem bad at all, especially with braking. The Electrostar may have a slight advantage in having three motored cars instead of two - though I'm not convinced three motored bogies spread over four cars should necessarily be much better than four spread over two cars.
I'd say it's more likely performance is affected more on what the individual service is, how early in the day, how long since the previous train through the section, whether it's booked for 8 cars or 4 cars, how skilled the driver is, etc. One thing that is pretty certain, both the 365s and 387s are a lot better than 317s/321s in poor adhesion, especially if it's a 4-car.
As for 2T93, that's the one which currently comes off Hornsey, runs ECS to King's Cross, before running in service KX to Cambridge North. It's an eccentric way of arranging things as the run from KX never existed prior to the May timetable change. Presumably they wanted the two units in Hornsey overnight, and rather than run ECS to Cambridge North someone felt it would be worthwhile to run an extra service. The risk is there's more to go wrong compared with when it was 317s which simply came off Cambridge sidings. Not knocking the extra service off KX though, I've used it a few times, although it doesn't exactly load well - I've had a carriage to myself every time I've used it.