FSR Class 322 ???

[southy39]

does anyone know if the first class 322 has been released back to FSR or is about ready to be...

also has it been re-clasified into the class 321/5 cub class as was suggested in several of the rail magazines

 

[jonb]

I believe the first 322 is under refurbishment and is due to be released soon, when refurbed they will be re-numbered 321/5's

 

[Techniquest]

Ho-hum, didn't know about the renumbering. Which 322 is up for refurb at the moment anyway?

 

[Z12XE]

322481 IIRC.

Quite why these 322s were allowed to be released by One is a very good question, they were in the franchise as replacement for the final 312s and trains are not frequently short formed at peak times thanks to a lack of 321s.

 

[Mojo]

Amusingly on one what seems like every Saturday Southend & Metro service is formed of 1x321 (or 315), whereas in FGE days, and in one's early days, they are all 8 car. Whilst there's enough room, it feels like a peak time train, certaintly either a money or maintenance saving idea.

 

[jonb]

All Saturday Metro's are 4 cars nowadays but in the run up to Christmas nearly all services were 8 car. The same formation remains on the Southend Line however many Mainline services to Braintree & Clacton are 8 cars however are usually less loaded even with 4 cars!

 

[Z12XE]

I would assume that its because of maintenance requirements. Fewer spares these days meaning less opportunity to allow 8-car running all the time.

 

[ChrisCooper]

Well, if it wasn't for the SRA, 'one' could have fitted a couple of 312s with central locking for use on peak services, and the 322s wouldn't have been required. FGE even proposed a major refurbishment including modifications to allow them to run OPO (in particular a door to allow access between the passenger compartment and the cab). Just like with the Cross Country HSTs, the SRA said they had to go, regardless of the fact that this left a general shortage of AC EMUs. Sadly, unlike HSTs their is no option to take them out of storage since they have all been scrapped now. A very wasteful way to deal with perfectly good trains that were less than 30 years old, with the last few in service being only 25 years old at withdrawal, and newer than the majority of Mk3s 'one' is now getting.

 

[Z12XE]

322s would have made more sense though as they can work with 321s, plus driver route knowledge wouldn't be an issue.

What the SRA should have been doing is enforcing the franchise signed by National Express regarding the 322s