Greater Anglia Bombardier Aventras (Class 720): Technical discussion and introduction

[dk1]

It needs to be in the right place for coupling up.

And avoiding TPWS loops & AWS magnets etc. I certainly wouldn't call it an eyesore.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

According to @Kite159 ’s post in the Haulages thread, 720567 has now come out to play with passengers

511/515/517/521/522/535-540/542/543/545-554/556-571/573/574/577/580 are those in service so far then

 

[Peter Mugridge]

According to @Kite159 ’s post in the Haulages thread, 720567 has now come out to play with passengers

511/515/517/521/522/535-540/542/543/545-554/556-571/573/574/577/580 are those in service so far then

I had 720 578 and 720 581 for haulage today, so we can add these two to that.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I had 720 578 and 720 581 for haulage today, so we can add these two to that.

Perfect, thank you.

511/515/517/521/522/535-540/542/543/545-554/556-571/573/574/577/578/580/581 are those in service so far then.

501-510/512-514, 516, 518-520, 523-534, 541, 544, 555, 572, 575, 576, 579, 582-589 and /1 still to go.

 

[Alfie1014]

Any others noticed how cold the 720s seem to be, especially notable over the last few days with sub zero temperatures overnight. Not sure the new all singing dancing underfloor heating seems to be very effective, also who puts carpet over underfloor heating normally it’s under hard flooring?

 

[dk1]

Any others noticed how cold the 720s seem to be, especially notable over the last few days with sub zero temperatures overnight. Not sure the new all singing dancing underfloor heating seems to be very effective, also who puts carpet over underfloor heating normally it’s under hard flooring?

Continual complaints on Twitter regarding them. Meanwhile I get asked to drop the saloon temp on 745s as often too warm.

 

[Astro_Orbiter]

Any others noticed how cold the 720s seem to be, especially notable over the last few days with sub zero temperatures overnight. Not sure the new all singing dancing underfloor heating seems to be very effective, also who puts carpet over underfloor heating normally it’s under hard flooring?

Yeah I've noticed this too, no wall vents to cosy up to either. Cab heating isn't much better, I had it on max temp high fan the other day and was still cold

 

[warwickshire]

Before I forget from an enquiry on the 730 thread which I raised on Friday the 14th January 2022. Very relevant for this thread 5Q30 1050 Derby Litchurch Lane to Oxley Depot move was 47749 with 720572.
Why is 720572 now at Oxley Depot does anyone know.
Also looking ahead into next week apparently on Tuesday the 18th January 2022 on both live rail record and www.realtimetrains.co.uk websites another move is planned.
Is Oxley Depot now the choice for the remaining 720s or is there another reason?.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Before I forget from an enquiry on the 730 thread which I raised on Friday the 14th January 2022. Very relevant for this thread 5Q30 1050 Derby Litchurch Lane to Oxley Depot move was 47749 with 720572.
Why is 720572 now at Oxley Depot does anyone know.
Also looking ahead into next week apparently on Tuesday the 18th January 2022 on both live rail record and www.realtimetrains.co.uk websites another move is planned.
Is Oxley Depot now the choice for the remaining 720s or is there another reason?.

Rash theory. Could Oxley be commissioning (or fault free running ?) 720s at Oxley for onward movement to GA self propelled. I am assuming Oxley might be having to commission 730s anyway so it might be straight forward to do 720s as well. Either that or is 720572 already tested and will be paired with the 730 for test runs as a backup ?.

 

[hwl]

Rash theory. Could Oxley be commissioning (or fault free running ?) 720s at Oxley for onward movement to GA self propelled. I am assuming Oxley might be having to commission 730s anyway so it might be straight forward to do 720s as well. Either that or is 720572 already tested and will be paired with the 730 for test runs as a backup ?.

Probably as simple letting them have a 720 so the maintenance staff can build familiarity in advance of 730 deliveries (which will be fairly rapid when they start happening)?

 

[Peter Sarf]

Probably as simple letting them have a 720 so the maintenance staff can build familiarity in advance of 730 deliveries (which will be fairly rapid when they start happening)?

I did wonder that but then I wondered what the point of the 730 delivered earlier that same day was. I am trying to recall if Oxley is going to receive an allocation of 730s - think I maybe read it up thread but only as a theory. My memory.

 

[Railperf]

Perfect, thank you.

511/515/517/521/522/535-540/542/543/545-554/556-571/573/574/577/578/580/581 are those in service so far then.

501-510/512-514, 516, 518-520, 523-534, 541, 544, 555, 572, 575, 576, 579, 582-589 and /1 still to go.

530 on test today along the Southend branch, so likely to be in service soon.
Most of the GE diagrams seem to be 10-car 720's now. But a 12-car 321 Renatus came in from Witham early morning and seemed to depart LST down to Ipswich on the 9.02.

 

[robert west]

530 on test today along the Southend branch, so likely to be in service soon.
Most of the GE diagrams seem to be 10-car 720's now. But a 12-car 321 Renatus came in from Witham early morning and seemed to depart LST down to Ipswich on the 9.02.

720560 on the braintree shuttle today

 

[dgl]

Continual complaints on Twitter regarding them. Meanwhile I get asked to drop the saloon temp on 745s as often too warm.

You would hope the Swiss would know how to keep a train warm, but then you would say the same about Canadian's!

 

[TrainTrackJack]

Driving car from 558 noted outside Bombardiers's Litchurch Lane works on Saturday, fully assembled and awaiting attachment to the rest of the unit.

 

[APT618S]

Perfect, thank you.

511/515/517/521/522/535-540/542/543/545-554/556-571/573/574/577/578/580/581 are those in service so far then.

501-510/512-514, 516, 518-520, 523-534, 541, 544, 555, 572, 575, 576, 579, 582-589 and /1 still to go.

I thought the /1's had been cancelled for additional /5's so presumably up to number 633 (assuming they do not use a different number sequence !)
Source:

Greater Anglia amends Class 720 order from Bombardier to increase flexibility

Greater Anglia has told RailAdvent that it is currently amending its order with Bombardier regarding their Class 720 trains.

www.railadvent.co.uk

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I thought the /1's had been cancelled for additional /5's so presumably up to number 633 (assuming they do not use a different number sequence !)
Source:

Greater Anglia amends Class 720 order from Bombardier to increase flexibility

Greater Anglia has told RailAdvent that it is currently amending its order with Bombardier regarding their Class 720 trains.

www.railadvent.co.uk

No, ten carriage 720s have been cancelled for additional five carriage 720s. The /6 subclass is reserved for c2c and the second batch will be 101-144 instead of 101-122.

 

[samuelmorris]

My understanding is they are still going to be called /1s, even though they're identical to /5s.

 

[Domh245]

I thought the /1's had been cancelled for additional /5's so presumably up to number 633 (assuming they do not use a different number sequence !)
Source:

Greater Anglia amends Class 720 order from Bombardier to increase flexibility

Greater Anglia has told RailAdvent that it is currently amending its order with Bombardier regarding their Class 720 trains.

www.railadvent.co.uk

They're sticking with /1 numbering - rather bafflingly.

ORR authorisation document

UNIT NUMBERS (INCLUSIVE): 720101 TO 720144 (as per Appendix 1.)*

I refer to your submission for enlargement of the authorisation, received on the 17th November 2020. These are an additional 44 units identical to the Class 720 5-Car units authorised on the 8th June 2020.

continues
*not included!

 

[APT618S]

They're sticking with /1 numbering - rather bafflingly.

ORR authorisation document

Thanks - It does seem strange !

 

[59CosG95]

They're sticking with /1 numbering - rather bafflingly.

ORR authorisation document

I think that's because the 720/6 range was reserved for c2c...
Let it also be noted that 720590 through to 720599 (and also 720600 and 720100) are unlikely to exist.

 

[samuelmorris]

I think it's just so they don't interfere with the /6 already allocated to c2c by overflowing into their number range. If there weren't >100 units they might well have stuck with /5.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Driving car from 558 noted outside Bombardiers's Litchurch Lane works on Saturday, fully assembled and awaiting attachment to the rest of the unit.

Do you mean 588?

558 having been in service for a while now...?

 

[TrainTrackJack]

Do you mean 588?

558 having been in service for a while now...?

Yes, i do, apologies!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

720 571 in service today. Paired with 720 535.

 

[Jturner98]

Not going off topic but does anyone have any updates with the C2C units? Are they in the build stage? And when will they start to appear?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I've seen 720 584 this afternoon running up through Bethnal Green at around 13.25 but cannot confirm if it was in service or not as I was on a 345 towards Stratford at the time.

 

[warwickshire]

All this week there has been daily 720 testing between oxley and Northampton via soho Junction, bescot Stadium then to Stafford avoiding Wolverhampton then via the trent valley line to Northampton.
Is it possible know the location and possible storage change to oxley ie cheaper costs then Wembley.
Units concerned are 720532 720572.
However on Tuesday morning the 18th January 2022. One test run from oxley did go via Birmingham international airport from Soho and Perry bar Junction then to Northampton instead off via the Trent valley.

 

[Railperf]

Friday saw 6 of 7 Cambridge North diagrams operated by 720's. So could this be the week the 720's take over completely?
Notably only 5-car units on WA. Not seen 2 x 5-cars running in pairs yet.
GE seems to be running mainly 2 x 5-car pairings. The odd 321 pairing still showing up.

 

[aleandrail]

.

47749 and 720525 going through Derby on 21st January