Class 701 'Aventra' trains for South Western Railway

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I’ve seen a video that showed Rodger actually announce “South Western Railway Arterio service to:”

 

[Kite159]

And your suggestion for a train designed for high density commuter operations would be what? Narrow aisles, stuffed with too many seats, that leaves people behind on platforms?

Something like the 5 coach 377s with increased standing space round the doors

Wide aisles which on paper can fit two people side by side are fine in theory but in practice those aisles won't see two people standing side by side when the train is crush loaded.

Or even design an interior with 2+1 style seating to increase the aisle width if you want a wide aisle with decent sized seats which has spacers between them

 

[brooklynbound]

I found the seats better than the 707s but with someone sitting next to me I was aware how much closer / narrower they are. The ride was great. I was amused that the digital platform indicators have had the word Arterio added, luckily the don't say it on the on board announcements. Talking of which, I was suprised that approaching Feltham we weren't reminded Oyster isn't valid beyond this station. I also wish the recorded announcements came at normal speech speed. They seem rather slow though not as slow as on the 707s. It's a modern train and I'm sure SWR will be relieved it's finally taken a few fare paying passengers but sadly we're only getting what other European countries have had for a few years now.

 

[stadler]

I’ve seen a video that showed Rodger actually announce “South Western Railway Arterio service to:”

Anne and Rodger have both recorded "South Western Railway Arterio Service To" so they are both doing it. The screens on the platforms are displaying this as well. I am quite surprised that SWR went to the effort of doing this. Arterio is a completely meaningless word to the general public. Nobody other than enthusiasts or railway workers will have any clue what Arterio means.

 

[43096]

Did it Waterloo > Richmond, then had to leave it to head off to work.

Claire Mann in person came and chatted with my group for a while; one of our lot got in on a BBC South TV interview

Did anyone ask why, having had 6 years, her organisation still doesn’t have a training programme agreed?

 

[43096]

Not exactly a revelation. We've known all along they'd be like this as that's what the DfT wants (it specifies a minimum gangway width).

So they are immediately worse than the 458s. We wait four years for them and they are, predictably, worse than what they replace.

 

[brooklynbound]

Anne and Rodger have both recorded "South Western Railway Arterio Service To" so they are both doing it. The screens on the platforms are displaying this as well. I am quite surprised that SWR went to the effort of doing this. Arterio is a completely meaningless word to the general public. Nobody other than enthusiasts or railway workers will have any clue what Arterio means.

Agree completely. In my business we were told don't have too many brands. It's a train. South Eastern banging on about City Beam shows why it's pointless. To me all a City Beam service means is it's a train without toilets.

 

[Highview]

Had a short ride today, seats are tight together but seemed a little wider - has anyone measured the width? My 450 back from Waterloo felt more cramped. The ride over the pointwork at Waterloo felt firm and certainly not as smooth as on the 450. Overall the interior felt high quality and well put together and I especially liked the small tables/ledges at the blocks of 4 seats, I also liked that the carriages were not too brightly lit and the door chimes not too loud.

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

There could be a practical reason for the Arterio branding -- floor stickers showing passengers where to queue. There would need to be some way of indicating which trains the stickers apply to.

Identical door positions and ABDO will allow them to put (say) stickers on the floor showing you (to high degree of accuracy) where the doors will "land", allowing people to stand in front of away from the doors to allow quicker alighting.

 

[Vanmanyo]

So what are the diagrams? Paul Clifton says they will be 4 times a week on the same single diagram as today due to staffing. Is this Monday - Thurs or Tues - Fri or something else? I guess we won't know til the end of the week? At least it's progress, hopefully we see the rapid introduction of them now, but it seems training is still s l o w

 

[norbitonflyer]

Anne and Rodger have both recorded "South Western Railway Arterio Service To" so they are both doing it. The screens on the platforms are displaying this as well.

Announced and displayed at Vauxhall.

Guards announcements were not easy to hear, except the bit saying "As the automated announcement has said.......". It kept cutting out in my carriage (the rear one)

I wonder what the ordinary passengers thought of it - the number of staff on board may have made them think there was a ticket inspection going on......

 

[Vanmanyo]

I wonder what the ordinary passengers thought of it - the number of staff on board may have made them think there was a ticket inspection going on......

Swr have clearly picked a pretty quiet time for the ordinary passenger so it seems to be a pretty empty service

 

[norbitonflyer]

So what are the diagrams? Paul Clifton says they will be 4 times a week on the same single diagram as today due to staffing. Is this Monday - Thurs or Tues - Fri or something else? I guess we won't know til the end of the week? At least it's progress, hopefully we see the rapid introduction of them now, but it seems training is still s l o w

RTT shows it as M-F 8-12 Jan, but it didn't run yesterday, so that only leaves four days for it to run.

Swr have clearly picked a pretty quiet time for the ordinary passenger so it seems to be a pretty empty service

There were several who seemed to be using it as a normal service, rather than gricers or staff. (heavy luggage, families, etc) but they did seem to be in the minority.

 

[ijmad]

Anne and Rodger have both recorded "South Western Railway Arterio Service To" so they are both doing it. The screens on the platforms are displaying this as well. I am quite surprised that SWR went to the effort of doing this. Arterio is a completely meaningless word to the general public. Nobody other than enthusiasts or railway workers will have any clue what Arterio means.

You get "LNER Azuma service to ..." at Kings Cross as well. I guess branded train types to be the belle du jour for the TOCs.

Still whatever the name is, good to see them out and about finally.

 

[Energy]

There could be a practical reason for the Arterio branding -- floor stickers showing passengers where to queue. There would need to be some way of indicating which trains the stickers apply to.

I think MTR-style floor stickers were planned pre covid. However, an easier brand like SWR Metro would be better.

Good that the 701s are finally (somewhat) in service.

 

[H&I]

Announced and displayed at Vauxhall.

Guards announcements were not easy to hear, except the bit saying "As the automated announcement has said.......". It kept cutting out in my carriage (the rear one)

I wonder what the ordinary passengers thought of it - the number of staff on board may have made them think there was a ticket inspection going on......

It might just be a problem specific to the rear coach. Whenever I was in the other coaches, I could hear the announcements pretty well. However, half of the announcements he made just repeated what the automated announcements said.

 

[lawried123]

[


One thing I was wondering about is whether longitudinal seating would have made sense on these trains. After all, some longitudinal seating has been retrofitted onto the Class 455s.
[/QUOTE]

No, definitely not a good idea. It's bad enough having to take 1 hoúr 12 mins to get from Wokingham to Waterloo without then having to sit facing inwards with no view out of the window.

Lawrie

 

[nctd2306]

One thing I was wondering about is whether longitudinal seating would have made sense on these trains. After all, some longitudinal seating has been retrofitted onto the Class 455s.

Seeing as these will be used on the Reading line, absolutely not

Edit, just beaten to it

 

[Peter Mugridge]

SWR have clearly picked a pretty quiet time for the ordinary passenger so it seems to be a pretty empty service

I think that's the idea; so it causes less disruption - and gets fewer embarrassing headlines - if it fails?

It's running as an extra rather than in one of the regular slots.

 

[Benjwri]

I think that's the idea; so it causes less disruption - and gets fewer embarrassing headlines - if it fails?

It's running as an extra rather than in one of the regular slots.

The press would hear about it regardless, it's also so it can be easily slotted into service for only one run, without having to adjust existing diagrams, work out where to store the unit you took off a diagram etc, and also to help with staffing, as there is less complexity in finding extra staff for only one service. One of the most important bits is it can easily be cancelled and no one will really even know if the test is rescheduled, as before christmas, rather than having to run around reverting the diagrams and rosters.

 

[CarrotPie]

However, an easier brand like SWR Metro would be better.

The two will become essentially synonymous anyway...

 

[H&I]

Seeing as these will be used on the Reading line, absolutely not

Edit, just beaten to it

It looks like many people using the Reading trains are only travelling as far as Richmond or Feltham, and the Class 701 has an interior design that optimises standing space around the doors anyway!

 

[Invincible]

Well, clearly they are “in service” today, by they’ll very swiftly be not in service again! It’ll be some while yet I would think, assuming the statements about there being no driver training plan in place etc are true.

From https://www.railmagazine.com/news/fleet/2024/01/05/soft-launch-planned-for-delayed-arterios

It is now thought that a single unit will run off-peak Monday to Friday between London Waterloo and Windsor, in order to fulfil that commitment. It will either make one single round trip each day, or work between 1000 and 1600. A driver manager and guard manager will operate the service, and the company will carry out “in-service training”.

Although @PaulCliftonBBC as quoted above says 4 days

“in-service training”?

 

[The_Train]

Ok, so if we ignore the absolute shambles that has come before today, it is nice to hear that these units seem to have had a positive response from those who have ridden them. I definitely think they are up there amongst the better looking units from all of the new stock that's appeared in the last few years so it appears they look good outside and feel good inside according to the reports from today

 

[60159]

No chance I'll have time to try one out this week. About as close as I'll probably get to seeing the 701s any time soon with a handful at Wimbledon depot.

View attachment 149944

Where is that photograph taken from?

 

[43066]

Wide aisles which on paper can fit two people side by side are fine in theory but in practice those aisles won't see two people standing side by side when the train is crush loaded.

Wide aisles mean people can stand back to back on (eg) 700s with their similar layout, so still doubled up compared to a narrower gangway.

Or even design an interior with 2+1 style seating to increase the aisle width if you want a wide aisle with decent sized seats which has spacers between them

Are there no sections of 2 + 1 in some areas as per the 707s?

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Wide aisles mean people can stand back to back on (eg) 700s with their similar layout, so still doubled up compared to a narrower gangway.

And the idea that two average sized people can’t fit into the seats is ludicrous anyway.

 

[sharpinf]

Where is that photograph taken from?

Not OP but that is just off of Durnsford Road looking into Wimbledon Depot

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[60159]

Not OP but that is just off of Durnsford Road looking into Wimbledon Depot

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

Cheers.

 

[Recessio]

I wonder if a mixed seating layout like on the 345 would have been best, rather than entirely transverse. (Even the 455s had a few sections of longitudinal!)