Creation of class 230 DEMUs from ex-LU D78s by Vivarail

[MatthewRead]

Might as well send that bubble car down to Bletchley.

It would require a heavy overhaul first!

 

[Doomotron]

I think for a short term solution...

(Wired)

 

[gazthomas]

I think for a short term solution...
View attachment 59993
(Wired)

If Reliant had made DMUs!

 

[Bringback309s]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/99466199@N05/35202662945

 

[Bertie the bus]

Might as well send that bubble car down to Bletchley.

As that's in Railtrack livery it must be an ex-Sandite unit. Just as suitable for main line passenger use in the 21st Century as a 230 then.

 

[olympus]

As that's in Railtrack livery it must be an ex-Sandite unit. Just as suitable for main line passenger use in the 21st Century as a 230 then.

The name on the bubble car is 'Pandora' and it was for some time a 'video survey unit', further information can no doubt be found online.

 

[K.o.R]

Does anyone know what the two sets of nine circles either side of the Cyclops headlight do? I saw them on the picture on Vivarail's article about the delivery of 003-005 and had never noticed them before.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Does anyone know what the two sets of nine circles either side of the Cyclops headlight do? I saw them on the picture on Vivarail's article about the delivery of 003-005 and had never noticed them before.

Vents I think.

 

[Railengineer]

Does anyone know what the two sets of nine circles either side of the Cyclops headlight do? I saw them on the picture on Vivarail's article about the delivery of 003-005 and had never noticed them before.

Exhaust vents for the hydrogen power upgrade?

 

[Domh245]

I would have thought they're for the horns, which are presumably behind them?

 

[MK Tom]

Is there any way of knowing which D78 vehicles went into the class 230 sets? I'm really curious to know if I photographed any of the vehicles from 230003-5 in their LUL guise.

 

[700007]

It's gone a bit quiet lately on their testing and introduction. Anyone know what's going on in Marston Vale land? Any rough introduction dates as they're now 4 months late...

 

[Dstock7080]

Is there any way of knowing which D78 vehicles went into the class 230 sets? I'm really curious to know if I photographed any of the vehicles from 230003-5 in their LUL guise.

230003: 7127 (300103)-7069 (300003)
230004: 7500 (300104)-7100 (300004)
230005: 7128 (300105)-7066 (300005)

 

[Aictos]

It's gone a bit quiet lately on their testing and introduction. Anyone know what's going on in Marston Vale land? Any rough introduction dates as they're now 4 months late...

That's what I like to know, are they in service yet on the Marston or not?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Have ASLEF now any reservations on the Class 230 in actual commercial service?

 

[A0wen]

That's what I like to know, are they in service yet on the Marston or not?

Not yet in srvice, but out pretty much every day on training / test runs.

 

[DarloRich]

It's gone a bit quiet lately on their testing and introduction. Anyone know what's going on in Marston Vale land? Any rough introduction dates as they're now 4 months late...

That's what I like to know, are they in service yet on the Marston or not?

they are out testing almost every day. I understand staff training is going according to plan. No date yet for entry into service.

Have ASLEF now any reservations on the Class 230 in actual commercial service?

that seems to have gone quiet but I suspect no one here knows the answer.

 

[Aictos]

they are out testing almost every day. I understand staff training is going according to plan. No date yet for entry into service.

Ahh thank you for the update, I look forward to sampling them as much as the Class 769s when they enter service.

 

[bspahh]

http://vivarail.co.uk/vivarail-laun...ain-with-a-range-of-60-miles-between-charges/ is on the battery powered version

 

[Bletchleyite]

Ahh thank you for the update, I look forward to sampling them as much as the Class 769s when they enter service.

I think the 230 will be all the more interesting - 769s will I'm sure be good workhorses, but they are basically just 4-car Class 150s with a pantograph.

 

[Aictos]

I think the 230 will be all the more interesting - 769s will I'm sure be good workhorses, but they are basically just 4-car Class 150s with a pantograph.

I've used the D78s on the District line but I agree they under their current Class 230 guise will be interesting compared to the Class 150s and Class 153s that currently run on the line in question for example; braking and accelerating from station stops, passenger loads (do they carry more passengers then existing trains), reliability etc...

Will the introduction of the Class 230s mean improved journey times by faster dwell times at stations?

 

[A0wen]

http://vivarail.co.uk/vivarail-laun...ain-with-a-range-of-60-miles-between-charges/ is on the battery powered version

Ooh - 60 miles between charges..... The Island line is 8.5 miles each way so a 17 mile round trip. That's 3 complete trips with no charging...... Looks promising.

 

[Bringback309s]

How long does a full charge take?

 

[krus_aragon]

How long does a full charge take?

From the article:

Charge times can be as little as 7 minutes even for a 60 miles journey for the train to draw enough power to run daily services.

 

[Chester1]

From the article:

And turn around time on the Island Line is 8 minutes. It could comfortably do three return journeys without charging and then fully charge during one standard turn around.

 

[reddragon]

How long does a full charge take?

That is like asking how may features you smart phone has!

Battery tech is developing a lightning speed and will in time (within 10 years) exceed the range / fill up times of Diesel vehicles.

 

[big all]

And turn around time on the Island Line is 8 minutes. It could comfortably do three return journeys without charging and then fully charge during one standard turn around.

much better to charge as you go and maybe zap charge if it falls to 65-75% off capacity as prolonged heavy charging will show up any weak points in the system
also power failure at charging station or incident keeping you away for hours need consideration

 

[supervc-10]

Is there any point in having battery units on the Island Line when it's already set up with 3rd rail?

I think battery units would be more useful on things like the Henley Branch, although I think the 769s are planned for there, running on the overhead to Twyford and then diesel to Henley?

 

[swt_passenger]

Is there any point in having battery units on the Island Line when it's already set up with 3rd rail?

I think battery units would be more useful on things like the Henley Branch, although I think the 769s are planned for there, running on the overhead to Twyford and then diesel to Henley?

This has been discussed regularly in the Island Line thread as well. It’s as though some posters are really keen to remove existing infrastructure “because it can be”, and can’t cope with the alternate possibility it could just be brought up to normal standards.

Perhaps a case of finding a solution, and then looking for a problem to go with it?

 

[A0wen]

This has been discussed regularly in the Island Line thread as well. It’s as though some posters are really keen to remove existing infrastructure “because it can be”, and can’t cope with the alternate possibility it could just be brought up to normal standards.

Heaven forbid that some of us might actually be looking at a solution which doesn't rely on 100 year old technology, may be cheaper and easier to maintain in the future and actually makes the line less expensive to run, which might help secure its future.