ExRes
Established Member
I doubt they get to play on the 230s, though.
That raises a good point though, should there be customer satisfaction surveys held at HM Bedford for those who've used the 230s to visit their loved ones?
I doubt they get to play on the 230s, though.
That raises a good point though, should there be customer satisfaction surveys held at HM Bedford for those who've used the 230s to visit their loved ones?
I love how wildly off topic this has gone!
Trivia: What’s the biggest sh—hole to have been visited by a 230? Cant see the mods suggesting this as a new thread though somehow.
Have there been any more rumblings about whether 230s are really going to the Isle of Wight and when?
Can we go with places planned in the near future? If so, I’m going with Hope
Have there been any more rumblings about whether 230s are really going to the Isle of Wight and when?
For those in the know (and I apologise if this has already been explained), what exactly is the problem with the door release procedure that’s making it so slow?
This leads to so much wasted time on the CrossCity line it's not even funny, I really hope they move to driver open, guard closes.The doors themselves move slowly (slower than they did as D-stock), then add to that that the button doesn't become active until around 5 seconds after the release bleep has started. Add to that LNR policy that (unlike some TOCs) the guard must get out, step away from the train, actively look both ways to check platforming[1], then go back and open, and it gets very slow, particularly as by then people are boarding/alighting through the local door and the guard finds it hard to get back.
Put together it easily costs 30+ seconds per stop.
[1] Unlike say Northern where it's a quick glance with hands still on the open button, it's done in such an exaggerated manner that I suspect the rule is almost Japanese-style - i.e. not only must you do it but you must be seen to have done it.
This leads to so much wasted time on the CrossCity line it's not even funny, I really hope they move to driver open, guard closes.
Did they slow them down because they were deemed too fast initially?Driver open, guard close would be perfect for the Marston Vale, but the doors themselves also need speeding up.
Did they slow them down because they were deemed too fast initially?
The doors themselves move slowly (slower than they did as D-stock), then add to that that the button doesn't become active until around 5 seconds after the release bleep has started. Add to that LNR policy that (unlike some TOCs) the guard must get out, step away from the train, actively look both ways to check platforming[1], then go back and open, and it gets very slow, particularly as by then people are boarding/alighting through the local door and the guard finds it hard to get back.
Put together it easily costs 30+ seconds per stop.
[1] Unlike say Northern where it's a quick glance with hands still on the open button, it's done in such an exaggerated manner that I suspect the rule is almost Japanese-style - i.e. not only must you do it but you must be seen to have done it.
That's not true of all Northern stations, Shipley for example needs the guard to check all doors are clear before releasing them.
For a curved platform yes, but if he can see from the door he's releasing he seems not to be required to step out, whereas on LNR they always step out and do a little dance before getting back in and releasing.
Driver open, guard close would be perfect for the Marston Vale, but the doors themselves also need speeding up.
I think there is a long-running thread in existence that is specific to the Isle of Wight on this website. "Rumblings" are naught but hot air aspirations usually, expressed by those who are in no position whatsoever to influence matters.
I would have imagined that to have been the case as Vivarail would have been examining all possible sources for sales of their product, but it is the decision of those who actually place such orders for replacement unit use on the Island Line that I am more interested in.From the Vivarail side of things, the sale of third-rail equipped D-Trains for Isle of Wight use has definitely been put forward.
I would have imagined that to have been the case as Vivarail would have been examining all possible sources for sales of their product, but it is the decision of those who actually place such orders for replacement unit use on the Island Line that I am more interested in.
Bedford town centre is a bit grotty but it's nice down by the river, wouldn't travel a long way to visit it, though.
Goodness me. I am sure there will be a competitive tender in due course whereafter the specifying body can select the most appropriate item. But you know this!
The line in question is not one that I would ever find the need to use as there is no reason, at the age of 74, why I would need to visit the area in question. I am sure that the countless YouTube videos and pictorial images of what the Class 230 units actually portray that I have seen are more than enough to convince me still that my original comments concerning the outdated visual external experience of the Class 230 units are still correct.
I think it was an American politician of note who once said that "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig"...or words to that effect.
Agree. It looks like a deal between TfW and Merseyrail is likely to enable running further into Liverpool.
It won't be the 230s. They're a short-term stop-gap to prove the business case by showing what passenger traffic is like at 2tph to Bidston.Though with what rolling stock? I did think James St could be used (as there is a spare platform in normal operations which would be ideal for terminating it, and it presumably wouldn't be hard to reinstate third rail capability on a 230, so basically make it a bi-mode) but had omitted to consider that the outbound line at Hamilton Square uses the single-bore tunnel so it'd need an end door.