Class 395 ('Javelins')

[1018509]

Purely by chance I was at Chatham last week waiting for my connection to Victoria when the next train due was a HS1 to St. Pancras International.

Couldn't resist the chance so took the HS1 and was quite disappointed until Ebbsfleet.

What a surprise after leaving Ebbsfleet; fairly pinned to my seat by the acceleration and the view would be spectacular if it wasn't for the dreary Kent countryside.

What speed are they doing?

Disappointed with the "International" stations. They all look like half completed concrete and steel walls and not much else.

Can we have more Javelins please starting with the Waterloo to Bournemouth line. Oh! Yes. Damn! Wires only going to Southampton.

 

[user15681]

The acceleration from Ebbsfleet down onto HS1 is certainly impressive, indeed.

I'm not sure where you mean for the speed, but I believe it's 80km/h from Ebbsfleet high level until the tunnel portal. Maximum limit is 225km/h for 395s along the line to St Pancras. However, as the 395s use TVM signalling, the speed 'limit' is often dependent on the location of other trains in front.

P.s from Ebbsfleet to London, it's the dreary countryside of Essex. *pedantic hat off*

 

[pablo]

My GPS has shown 140 mph across Rainham marshes. i.e Essex.
The track is maintained for 186 mph Eurostars, so the ride is good. Better than 125 mph, generally, on the WCML. Except the Javelins are prone to shimmy. Hitachi is always tackling it. There is a bad patch just before emerging from the down portal at Barking.

 

[carriageline]

Just to be pedantic, it was disappointing upto ebbsfleet because it was still on the 'classic' lines, and thus followed the same speed limits as all the other stock!

The ride is fairly good these days. All though, there is always a loud bang on the down side just as you enter the tunnel after leaving ST P.

 

[1018509]

P.s from Ebbsfleet to London, it's the dreary countryside of Essex. *pedantic hat off*

Of course it is.

The trouble is you see, coming from the beautiful county of Hampshire, all the other dreary counties, especially Essex and Kent look the same to me.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I find it slightly amusing that I can travel HS1 on my priv ticket at standard 2nd class priv fare but the poor mutts who need the service have to pay a premium fare - what a crazy way to run a railway.

 

[Edvid]

All though, there is always a loud bang on the down side just as you enter the tunnel after leaving ST P.

That'll be the circuit breaker, since there is a neutral section in that area.

 

[No Fault Found]

Of course it is.

The trouble is you see, coming from the beautiful county of Hampshire, all the other dreary counties, especially Essex and Kent look the same to me.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I find it slightly amusing that I can travel HS1 on my priv ticket at standard 2nd class priv fare but the poor mutts who need the service have to pay a premium fare - what a crazy way to run a railway.

If you were waiting for a mainline service to Victoria then you shouldn't be travelling on HS1 as your ticket wouldn't have been valid.

I travel priv on HS1 and it is a quarter of the HS1 fare, not a quarter of the fare for other London stations.

 

[zn1]

they are limited to 140mph, but when i went to railtex a few years ago chatting with the japanese engineers they told me that 140mph ? we can get em faster...quite a bit faster...but the britain says no...at the moment....

 

[JB25]

When we were doing Brand Values when I started on the railway my class travelled Victoria to Ashford which was a painful one hour forty minute journey. Travelling back up to St. Pancras in 38 minutes was much nicer.

 

[TheKnightWho]

they are limited to 140mph, but when i went to railtex a few years ago chatting with the japanese engineers they told me that 140mph ? we can get em faster...quite a bit faster...but the britain says no...at the moment....

Why is this? Surely it would make timetabling with the Eurostar easier?

I don't really understand the 140mph limit for HS1 to be honest.

 

[starrymarkb]

It's a trade off between acceleration from the relatively frequent stops and top speed, plus the tunnels into London are limited to 230km/h by the bore size. (Bigger bores for 300km/h would have added about 20% to the cost for a 2/3 min time saving!) Through I still don't understand why they can't do the full 230km/h that Eurostars can on that section.

 

[VTPreston_Tez]

Just to be pedantic, it was disappointing upto ebbsfleet because it was still on the 'classic' lines, and thus followed the same speed limits as all the other stock!

The ride is fairly good these days. All though, there is always a loud bang on the down side just as you enter the tunnel after leaving ST P.

What bang? I've done the Javelin and can confirm that that didn't happen.

 

[pablo]

The contrast with the Fav branch would be too great!

 

[BananaRepublic]

......Can we have more Javelins please starting with the Waterloo to Bournemouth line.

Wouldn't that would be a wasteful and pointless exercise. There's no sense in putting a HS commuter train (designed to run on HS1) on a line where the maximum speed is (correct me if I'm wrong) 100 mph, but much less as it approaches London. The line is also shared by slower local and urban services too.

they are limited to 140mph, but when i went to railtex a few years ago chatting with the japanese engineers they told me that 140mph ? we can get em faster...quite a bit faster...but the britain says no...at the moment....

IIRC, the design is capable of 155 mph with small modifications.
As it is, I don't think they are timed for 140 mph running, as they've built in slack to allow for any delays on the "classic" sections in Kent. i.e. something like 125 mph, but able to make up time by running at up to 140 mph.
Timings on HS1 and fitting in with Eurostar services taking priority.
I'm sure this was reported around the start of the HS1 domestic services?
Anyone able to confirm this?



.

 

[TheJRB]

The "125mph booked" thing is a myth. They can and do regularly exceed 125mph between Ashford and Ebbsfleet. If you look at the mileage and timings between Southfleet Junction and Nashenden Junction, it suggests an average of 132mph.

Indeed, just using a basic GPS app on a smartphone (which is of course not terribly accurate but at the same time not too far off) will show that trains usually attain between 135 and 140mph on the main stretch between Ebbsfleet and Ashford.

There is actually very little slack in the timetable. A late train on HS1, even with a completely clear run and minimum dwell at stations, will only make up one or two minutes at the most.

 

[cjmillsnun]

It's a trade off between acceleration from the relatively frequent stops and top speed, plus the tunnels into London are limited to 230km/h by the bore size. (Bigger bores for 300km/h would have added about 20% to the cost for a 2/3 min time saving!) Through I still don't understand why they can't do the full 230km/h that Eurostars can on that section.

a whole 5km/h difference. How much extra power for a 30 second time saving?

 

[edwin_m]

That'll be the circuit breaker, since there is a neutral section in that area.

I was privileged to have an official cab ride a few months back. I assumed the loud "thump" in the cab was a circuit breaker too but our guide advised it is actually the aircon inlet closing to reduce the pressure pulse on entering the tunnel. I guess if you were under the pantograph it could have been the circuit breaker instead.

The train touched 224km/h on the descent to the Medway bridge, as displayed in the cab. I believe they time it for a lower average speed but to save energy they let it accelerate to its permitted maximum on the downhill sections.