Simon Poole
Member
I think this gets brought up time to time but which services that the Class 442s stop at East Croydon? thinking about riding on one tomorrow while in London from London Victoria
The ones on the Brighton Express services (marked on the timetable with a black square). Need to view the Brighton - London timetable.
http://www.southernrailway.com/your-journey/timetables/
They can be changed at short notice to 377s though.
It is ironic that the GX units operate so many services that stop at Gatwick. Is there any reason for them not stopping at Gatwick? Are they trying to encourage more people to use the Gatwick Express, so stopping GX units at Gatwick on non-GX services defeats the object, or is it more a capacity thing.
I'm still trying to work out why SO got rid of the 460s, because the doors on a 442 are useless of you have a big suitcase, 460s are DDA compliant and 442s aren't, and if they kept the 460s and took all the 442s as well, the would have needed less 313s.
Adam
The 442s have had some aspects of disability access improved (not very well, it seems) but on other fronts they are, in my opinion, far inferior in many ways to 377s and definitely 460s (or indeed 458/5s, as they will become) for the type of workings they're used for, and therefore I agree that I don't know why they are used.
It is ironic that the GX units operate so many services that stop at Gatwick. Is there any reason for them not stopping at Gatwick? Are they trying to encourage more people to use the Gatwick Express, so stopping GX units at Gatwick on non-GX services defeats the object, or is it more a capacity thing.
I'm still trying to work out why SO got rid of the 460s, because the doors on a 442 are useless of you have a big suitcase, 460s are DDA compliant and 442s aren't, and if they kept the 460s and took all the 442s as well, the would have needed less 313s.
Adam
Where can you even get a wheelchair on a 442?
Its simply because they run the Brighton Express services which rarely stop at Gatwick - can be worked by 377s at times as well. 442s in my opinion are more suited to the Express services.
Theres a small area in one of the coaches i think, compared to a 460 - disability access is poor.
442s are good for Express services, but not the GatEx. Would have thought that some refurbished 377s (maybe after Southern get the /5s from FCC) would be better on the GatEx, with 442s specifically allocated to the Brighton Express.
Are any 442s doable on a London travel card zones 1-6. How about on a sunday?
A Travelcard should be valid if you are travelling between East Croydon and a London terminal, yes, even if it happens to be advertised as GatEx. I don't know which workings they are on - sorry.
Are any 442s doable on a London travel card zones 1-6. How about on a sunday?
If you look at the London-Brighton timetable here all services with a black square above them in the timetable are services diagrammed for 442s.
The timetable says there's only one service on Sundays booked for a 442 to answer your question.
Yeah and AFAIK the platform edge gap at East Croydon when alighting from these units is big!
Since when was East Croydon on a curve?Same at Clapham Junction. Both stations are of course on curves.
Since when was East Croydon on a curve?
442s seem to get a lot of love on here, but more recently people are seeing them as outdated and not really suitable for much anymore. Times are changing it seems..... :P
They are not really suited as a commuter train, they are better suited to the routes down to Weymouth/Bournemouth which is what they were originally designed for in the firdt place. Unfortunately, the chassis of the trains I believe are based on old MK1 chassis equipment so would need updating if possible if they could be converted in some to work as OHLE trains which I cannot see happeing, as I think they would work great doing Express trains either along the GWML when it has OHLE or working express services out of either Liverpool Street, Euston or Kings Cross.
class 442s have a guards van for wheelchairs I think. The upholstery in the drivers cab is still SWT. Class 319s still have NSE upholstery in the drivers cab
Is the Guard's van area the slam-door in the middle of the motor coach? If so that still doesn't look enormous. On my 1st trip on a 442, the thing that struck me was how small the doors were. Until I saw one, I always thought they had MK.4 style doors.
Adam
Nothing goes in the Guards Van bar us Guards. Wheelchairs have an area in on either Coach 2 or 4 of each unit (depending on direction of travel). Any wheelchair bigger than standard is next to impossible to get on.
The traction equipment was lifted straight from the 4-REP units, and mounted on a IE Generator Van shell. which is why no 4-REPs were preserved
My father tells stories about an engineer who went around the Eastern Region, and I believe other regions too, scrapline facility picking the best of the Mark 1s to be incorporated into the second batch of 4REP units.
The mark 1 coaches converted into the REPs were only a few years old, hardly "scrapline" residents.