spotify95
Member
My taking the train to my new employment (Corby) is only going to be temporary ESPECIALLY with these random strikes taking place. The automobile is the way forward for me.
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EMR Class 360's
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Merle Haggard
Established Member
Today, according to RTT, 5 diagrams are 4 car and only 2 are 8.
Might be a reporting error, of course.
Might be a reporting error, of course.
It isn't.
Merle Haggard
Established Member
Thanks, by using the RTT number search I make it 10 in service today.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
the key to all this is mentioned in #3082: agreeing a funded scope has been challenging, but it is hoped this will be achieved soon
they are also NOT saying COVID is preventing them from doing an overhaul. They are saying that the original plan was impacted by covid and with the change in railway funding and operating rules since then it has been impossible to agree a funded scope for this work.
they are also NOT saying COVID is preventing them from doing an overhaul. They are saying that the original plan was impacted by covid and with the change in railway funding and operating rules since then it has been impossible to agree a funded scope for this work.
QSK19
Member
Using the words “hoped” and “soon” leaves the option to kick the can down the road continuously. Could be years to agree a cost, never mind even getting round to refurbishing them.
What is frustrating is that stock at other TOCs seem to get refurbishments handed out to them when the condition pre-refurbishment was better than the 360s’ current state - for example, the 390s or 395s didn’t look too shabby when I travelled on them before the refurbishment process started. On the other hand, the 360s are in dire need of a refurbishment, yet agreeing costs is “challenging”.
I acknowledge that circumstances are different (for example, I believe the Northern refurbishment had already been agreed before railway funding had changed); but it’s nevertheless rubbing salt in the wound to see other TOCs’ stock getting TLC, yet EMR’s is getting progressively grotty.
westcoaster
Established Member
Lots are 4 car,
I counted 6 parked up at cricklewood 3x 8 car.
Seems amazing that over two years in, there is still no refurb in sight.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
of course - but that doesn't change the issue that funding is the key. If DfT don't approve it it don't happen.
spotify95
Member
Plus 1 was completely canceled.
Pretty poor showing if only 9/21 in service.
dk1
Veteran Member
Can’t keep blaming GA for the continuing poor show performance of this class.
Wonder why they can’t get on top of the problem.
Wonder why they can’t get on top of the problem.
Don't they go to Corby?...
QSK19
Member
Pretty sure the poster meant onward to Market Harborough and Leicester.
Clearly, 21 units don’t seem to be enough to run the STP-Corby service, never mind an onward extension to Leicester! Methinks get rid of the 360s and bring in an adequate number of 350/2s when the 360s go off lease in a few years’ time (dependent on the ROSCO being ok with the fact that not all 37 would be leased, of course) provided that the 350s are still available.
I think the fact that the heavy maintenance facility isn’t directly accessible from the MML and EMR’s relatively limited familiarity with EMUs (the 360s being the first EMU traction in the history of ML/EMT/EMR) don’t help; yet I can’t help but agree that the 360s were flawed from the beginning and it’s been a case of EMR trying to play catch up ever since.
Unless the 360s are properly refurbished and the fundamental reliability issues are sorted, trying to keep on top of them will be futile.
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dk1
Veteran Member
Should've got them back up to speed by now. EMR have taken their eye off the ball. Maintenance at Northampton doesn't help.
Blindtraveler
Established Member
Given that their diesel fleet is also in a pretty disgusting state by all accounts, only recent experience has been the one five eight allocated to Norwich Liverpool then I think the issue or issues go far deeper than just a new class of unit to get to grips to
Corby is only a couple of miles north of Kettering literally .
43096
On Moderation
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21 units is enough to run the service. Just bringing in, say, 30 350s (a fundamentally similar design) just results in no change with more units just sat around defective.
We know the Desiro is a good, reliable design so it is evident the root issue is the maintenance arrangements. So the answer is to fix those rather than applying sticking plasters.
Trainbike46
Established Member
By now the maintenance at EMR should have fixed any carried over issues from GA - if they haven't that is firmly EMR's fault
A bigger issue is probably that they don't go to their proper maintenance depot, which is in Northampton, frequently enough
dk1
Veteran Member
Precisely. Can’t keep using that old chestnut forever.
Merle Haggard
Established Member
Pity the Government couldn't spend a few quid on the 360s after they've saving zillions cancelling HS2.
But around here, we're not in the North, the South east or the West (or, oddly, the 'Midlands') so we don't need levelling up.
But around here, we're not in the North, the South east or the West (or, oddly, the 'Midlands') so we don't need levelling up.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
it cant help having to drag them over to Northampton for maintenance
spotify95
Member
Today has been an utter shambling disaster for the 360s, and anyone needing to go anywhere on them.
The 07.13 from Wellingborough to Corby was canceled - it never left London St Pancras! It was also the only train that gets me to work on time, apart from waking up obscenely early and getting the 06.40 (or whatever it is).
The next service, the 07.39 - left StP a whopping 26 minutes late, arrived into the wrong platform 28 minutes late, then went straight back down to London again. I think on RTT (I used RTT to track all of these, because I actually ended up going to Corby via a lift in the car, after seeing the 07.13 canceled) it showed as a signaling failure - it certainly was NOT, it was someone deciding to send the train back to London as quickly as possible to make up some lost ground.
Had I used the train to get to work today (like I normally do) I would have been over 1h 15 minutes late and this sort of "punctuality" would put my work position at severe threat of loss if it was frequently occurring.
To top it all off, the 17.11 from Corby is a 4 car!
Today has been the perfect advertisement, from EMR, of the use of the automobile as the way forward, and how automobiles work wonders when the trains falter and flounder. This week in general (so far) has also been the perfect example of when an individual would be highly likely to be successful with a card chargeback (especially if a weekly ticket was purchased) - with the 07.13 being canceled on both Tuesday and Thursday, and nothing at all on Wednesday. This service received this week is not as described and not as advertised.
I for one will be looking into the use of the automobile for my work commute (to Corby) going forward. The trains are not reliable enough.
The 07.13 from Wellingborough to Corby was canceled - it never left London St Pancras! It was also the only train that gets me to work on time, apart from waking up obscenely early and getting the 06.40 (or whatever it is).
The next service, the 07.39 - left StP a whopping 26 minutes late, arrived into the wrong platform 28 minutes late, then went straight back down to London again. I think on RTT (I used RTT to track all of these, because I actually ended up going to Corby via a lift in the car, after seeing the 07.13 canceled) it showed as a signaling failure - it certainly was NOT, it was someone deciding to send the train back to London as quickly as possible to make up some lost ground.
Had I used the train to get to work today (like I normally do) I would have been over 1h 15 minutes late and this sort of "punctuality" would put my work position at severe threat of loss if it was frequently occurring.
To top it all off, the 17.11 from Corby is a 4 car!
Today has been the perfect advertisement, from EMR, of the use of the automobile as the way forward, and how automobiles work wonders when the trains falter and flounder. This week in general (so far) has also been the perfect example of when an individual would be highly likely to be successful with a card chargeback (especially if a weekly ticket was purchased) - with the 07.13 being canceled on both Tuesday and Thursday, and nothing at all on Wednesday. This service received this week is not as described and not as advertised.
I for one will be looking into the use of the automobile for my work commute (to Corby) going forward. The trains are not reliable enough.
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The signaling failure could off been the cause of the delay in London which was why it was late and therefore terminated at Kettering. Looking at real time trains there was nothing in or out of platform 2 for most of the morning which could have something to do with it.
1H00 Corby-St. Pancras was an 8-car this morning. It left Corby late, made up some time but picked up a 20 minute delay leaving Luton, probably due to a technical fault. It was a door fault when I was travelling last week. A unit was declared unserviceable on arrival St Pancras creating platform congestion.
Platform 2 was out of use due to a signalling fault, but the matter was made worse by a 12-car 360 (now that's a rarity despite being promised for peak time travel) 5U05 Cricklewood to St Pancras ECS blocking Platform 1.
Thameslink services were operating a day after strike timetable with a 0700 late start up, so EMR Connect operated their early morning peak services 1H02 and 1H04 with 4-car units, both rammed full and standing with workers. 1H02 came off worse with the overcrowded commuters having to sit outside St Pancras for 30 minutes awaiting a platform. Platform 1 blocked by the 12-car ECS, platform 2 by the signalling fault and platform 4 by the defective 360 arrival.
A right old mess and appalling customer service.
A reminder that this is a Traction and Rolling Stock section thread to specifically talk about EMR 360s. If anyone wants to discuss anything else such as the state of EMR in general, then they are welcome to start a new thread elsewhere. 
spotify95
Member
The 15.08 from Corby this afternoon was also a 4 car unit. Not great when 12 car was advertised in peak but we can't even get 8 car sometimes.
And @Mag_seven if you were referring to my post then it was about the 360s as the 360s perform the London-Corby route. At this rate, it seems like the 360s will never be the train they really were meant to be.
And @Mag_seven if you were referring to my post then it was about the 360s as the 360s perform the London-Corby route. At this rate, it seems like the 360s will never be the train they really were meant to be.
43096
On Moderation
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Can we just drop the comments about 12-car? That was before the pandemic and the world - and travel patterns - have changed massively as a result. Talk about what was promised back in 2019 or before is irrelevant.
QSK19
Member
Indeed. As much as many of us may hate it, the DfT can decide to change something in the blink of an eye; and any franchise commitments made by EMR - or any other TOC for that matter - are completely dead. As I’ve said before, never believe any promise (internal refurbishment of the 360s being very pertinent in this thread!) unless it actually materialises.
spotify95
Member
Another oddity I've just noticed - on the Class 360 that I am on now (17.11 dep from Corby - someone can probably find out the unit numbers) the rear unit actually has Wi-Fi that is labeled as Greater Anglia, so they still haven't changed the access point name over to EMR! Amazing that this is still the case after at least 2-3 years of service!
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