nlogax
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Tempted to attend, if I'm working on the south coast that day I may go along.
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Class 442s - Now at the end of the road and to be withdrawn permanently
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Rick1984
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notices the manual guards door now has vertical bars.
I had a thought when this plan was announced that this door could have bben replaced with a double automatic door for accesble access and use the guards space for such. Probably not possible without affecting structural integrtiy of carriage
I had a thought when this plan was announced that this door could have bben replaced with a double automatic door for accesble access and use the guards space for such. Probably not possible without affecting structural integrtiy of carriage
dan bennett
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Not the guard’s door or the guard’s space anymore...
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Yeah, I read that in Modern Railways. Seems a massive waste of a really valuable space - could they not have just fitted fixed glazing to the droplight? If guards using manual doors is unsafe, then all Class 150/1s need withdrawing now...
dan bennett
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Yes the guards have now decided the inward opening guards doors are suddenly unsafe after they’ve been fine for the last 30 years...
The 150/1 droplights are in a non public area behind a locked door. 442 ones are accessible on one side.
Don't underestimate the reaction the recent fatalities have caused in the industry.
I wouldn't be at all surprised to see any HSTs retained with publically accessible droplights beyond the end of next year fitted with window bars as part of life extension work and I wouldn't be surprised if the same occurs with charter stock as well.
Monty
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The slam door in the MLS (Motor Luggage Standard) coach will remain locked out of use permanently, main reason as already stated is there is just too much risk of a member of the public misusing them and the company are not willing to accept that. Ideally SWR would probably want the doors to be plated over or welded shut but stuff like that has to be agreed by the leasing company and its probably not going to happen any time soon.
Door controls and the cab to crew handset has been moved from the guards compartment to the set of doors in the MLS closest to the TS(W) (Trailer Standard Wheelchair) coach. The compartment itself will remain but will be strictly off limits to everyone but the driver, guard and fitters. Other staff (inc rail gourmet) and members of the public will not be permitted to enter this area and cycles will no longer be stored here (provision for cycles will be made elsewhere).
Door controls and the cab to crew handset has been moved from the guards compartment to the set of doors in the MLS closest to the TS(W) (Trailer Standard Wheelchair) coach. The compartment itself will remain but will be strictly off limits to everyone but the driver, guard and fitters. Other staff (inc rail gourmet) and members of the public will not be permitted to enter this area and cycles will no longer be stored here (provision for cycles will be made elsewhere).
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Fit locks to the droplights or replace with plain glass.
I believe they already have locks fitted as an interim measure during their last period with GTR as the doors were required to be used by the guards on the Eastbourne services they worked.
Nonetheless I have a suspicion that publically accessible droplight windows will be history very shortly - this was following the report regarding the 442 incident - the recent one near Bristol will quite possibly be the nail in the coffin.
EMT traincrew are now required to make announcements during the journey to advise that droplight windows must not be opened until the train is at a stand at the platform.
The industry having got itself into a position where passenger fatalities are very rare now is hugely risk averse to anything that may, and especially anything that has, involved fatal injuries.
You can see this with the drive to close things like station barrow crossings without adequate replacement.
Monty
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The doors themselves were retrofitted a locking mechanism which formed a part of the trains interlock system but the droplights themselves have not, hence the bars SWR have fitted.
Will be interesting to see how long they last, I have a friend who used to regularly seek out loco hauled trains in the 80s and 90s, he said even back then BR were fitting bars to the doors some coaches to prevent some of the hardcore 'gricers' from misusing them. But the problem was they would come prepared with hacksaws to cut them off! Time will tell if they last on the 442s..
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2417 has just been let out of Eastleigh works, bound for Bournemouth TRSMD.
Chris125
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Delayed to late February now according to Paul Clifton: https://twitter.com/PaulCliftonBBC/status/1083392370761187328
Matt Taylor
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2410 & 2413 are the current Fratton training units, meanwhile four car 2419 was dragged to Eastleigh from Bournemouth on Monday evening, a peek at the interior revealed a complete lack of seats or tables.
Goldfish62
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Which company is doing the refurbs?
swt_passenger
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Gemini Rail Services, the renamed former Knorr-Bremse Rail Services, as per Jan Modern Railways.
Goldfish62
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Thanks.
Pete_uk
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That's good. You can fit more people in standing up
RichSwitch
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SWR are still intent on wasting yet more money on this life-expired stock I see.
Goldfish62
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How do you mean?
STEVIEBOY1
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Nice photos above, I wonder how the new interiors will look compared to when they first came out in the 1980s? I seem to recall, the first class coach was mainly side corridor compartments, but also has a small open type saloon with seats with tables. I also remember the "Club" looking buffet area. I did go on them when they were doing some Brighton trips and they had been altered somewhat I think? I will have to take a journey on one they are are back in service.
Goldfish62
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There's a photo of Standard class in Modern Railways. Unchanged from GatEx days apart from colours and, apparently, new seat base cushions from Transcal.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I wonder have they bothered to clean the ceiling ducts - GatEx, despite for no good reason I can think of replacing the perfectly good seats, didn't bother doing that, made it look a really cheap job.
fgwrich
Established Member
In my opinion, the standard of refurbishment work carried out by Wolverton seemed to be pretty poor from the start for the Gatwick Express 442 fleet. On the first trip I had from Victoria to Brighton, I noticed that the set I was on had just had the SWT Cloud Vinyls just ripped from the walls - there was no clear attempt to clean the walls up at all, or to remove the remains of the sticky residue left all over it. Sadly it seemed to be the standard quality of work from the then Knorr Bremse / RailCare works, as their Springburn cousins also seem to have a reputation to be pretty poor.
And don't forget that the Gat Ex version of the livery on the 442s was just a combination of vinyls over the top of the base of the SWT livery. The blue band around the windows wasn't changed at all from the SWT, while the grey band at the bottom was applied with just enough height to cover over the lower blue / orange band.
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swt_passenger
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The aim of the refurb is that to the normal passenger they will be almost the same as 444s, hence the first class area being moved to one end car, reduced in length and made 2+2. They'll be nothing like their as new condition, and significantly changed compared to their Gat Ex time as well.
strimmer
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I'm not sure where you're going with this, but I, for one, am very much looking forward to seeing them back on the Pompey Direct. 442414 was shot between the tunnels approaching Guildford on a diverted Weymouth-Waterloo service on the 7th April 1991.
Rick1984
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cracking picture.
look forward to seeing them.
look forward to seeing them.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Indeed. That photo just sums up the beauty of the South of England. Should sell it to the area's tourist board (or for a classic railway poster!)
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