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

[greaterangrier]

Thanks, at least the 720 rollout is going quite smoothly, albeit a little late

 

[43096]

Thanks, at least the 720 rollout is going quite smoothly, albeit a little late

Smoothly? Really? Not a single train in service and the delay is well over 12 months and counting.

 

[samuelmorris]

Thanks, at least the 720 rollout is going quite smoothly, albeit a little late

I'd say that remains to be seen - I'd define 'rollout' as when they start entering passenger service, not the testing and training run. Testing certainly appears to be going well, but we'll see. It's certainly noteworthy that of the train types GA ordered, the one that was supposed to enter service first is still a way off from doing so despite all of the 755s and half the 745s already being in service.

 

[delticdave]

If the train to / from Southminster was to come from south of Wickford and return south of Wickford on the return trip then there is no reason it couldn't be a five carriage train or 10 carriage Class 720.

For example 1J44 forming 2J41 as shown in the example below

Realtime Trains | Departures from Southminster between 0200 and 0159 on 13/07/2020

Train information at Southminster between 0200 and 0159 on 13/07/2020. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

I'd imagine that a 10-car would need some form of selective door opening to use any of the stations on the branch except South Woodham. When the through evening peaks were still operating the trailing unit on the 12-car was emptied & locked out of service at Wickford, after the 2nd conductor left the train. When returning from Southminster, only the middle unit was in passenger service.
(All info from the crew working the service.)

 

[TrainTube]

Smoothly? Really? Not a single train in service and the delay is well over 12 months and counting.

Typical British attitude haha, the introduction of 720s has been nothing short of unacceptable.

 

[dk1]

Typical British attitude haha, the introduction of 720s has been nothing short of unacceptable.

We are polite, just smile, join a queue & get on with it. What else can you do?

 

[Railperf]

Had a closer look at a 720 stopped between training runs. The interior seems virtually identical to a Renatus Class 321 - and very bright lighting too. Test driver claims these will do 0-60mph in 38 seconds - so similar to the 745's. He hadn't timed it to 100mph yet, but I suspect it will be similar. Nice to see real seating as opposed to longtitudinal seating for a change, but it is 3+2 and these look as sterile as a Dentists Clinic. Very few seating bays lining up with the windows. First impressions are that the Stadler (even in Stansted guise) is the superior product..but the 720's are still a very welcome upgrade from the very dreary, dirty and slow 321's.

 

[Astro_Orbiter]

the 720's are just crammed full of seats, pleasant enough inside, there's just so so many seats!

 

[DBS92042]

720537 was taken to Wolverton Works today, does anyone know why its been taken there?

 

[Shunter_69]

An Ilford driver told me that the 10 cars were being changed to 2 x 5 cars to make it easier to maintain them at Ilford because the 10 cars won’t fit in the shed.

I thought this would have been more common knowledge by now if it were true.

 

[RealTrains07]

An Ilford driver told me that the 10 cars were being changed to 2 x 5 cars to make it easier to maintain them at Ilford because the 10 cars won’t fit in the shed.

I thought this would have been more common knowledge by now if it were true.

Is this happening to all 10 car sets?

 

[Grumbler]

Is this happening to all 10 car sets?

Surely that would require more driving cabs?

 

[Energy]

I thought the 10 car units could easily split into 2 5 car halves for maintenance?

 

[samuelmorris]

An Ilford driver told me that the 10 cars were being changed to 2 x 5 cars to make it easier to maintain them at Ilford because the 10 cars won’t fit in the shed.

I thought this would have been more common knowledge by now if it were true.

I smell BS to be honest, but who knows, until we actually see a 10-car in the flesh, it's still possible.

 

[Shunter_69]

I wasn’t convinced either. Thought I’d mention it in case others had seen it confirmed. The fact no 10 car has been built yet could just be because they wanted the 5 cars prioritised.

Time will tell I guess.

 

[David Goddard]

To be honest I had always thought it strange that there was to be a such a small fleet of ten car units (22) among 89 five car sets. May as well be 133 five car sets. Are these ten car units intended for specific services?

 

[hwl]

I wasn’t convinced either. Thought I’d mention it in case others had seen it confirmed. The fact no 10 car has been built yet could just be because they wanted the 5 cars prioritised.

Time will tell I guess.

The plan was always all the 5cars first, the opposite of what SWR is doing with the 701s but each TOC has different circumstances.

 

[samuelmorris]

I wasn’t convinced either. Thought I’d mention it in case others had seen it confirmed. The fact no 10 car has been built yet could just be because they wanted the 5 cars prioritised.

Time will tell I guess.

Which is as it should be since they're a lot more versatile and the maximal capacity of the 10-car units for peak services is unlikely to be needed until at least next year.

 

[Wivenswold]

In the first few announcements about the 720s the maintenance of the 10 cars was mentioned and it was confirmed they would be split in half so they could fit into the new facility at Ilford.

So I'm not convinced by what the driver said. As already mentioned, the 10 car units were always going to be last to arrive from Derby. December 2019-March 2020 was the initial delivery window for the longer units, incidentally.

 

[jopsuk]

To be honest I had always thought it strange that there was to be a such a small fleet of ten car units (22) among 89 five car sets. May as well be 133 five car sets. Are these ten car units intended for specific services?

20 extra seats- if 9 out of 10 are on peak time GE commuter services, that's 180 extra seats. And almost everything regarding 720s is optimised to be "how many seats can we cram in?"- they've got relatively low standing capacity.

 

[hwl]

20 extra seats- if 9 out of 10 are on peak time GE commuter services, that's 180 extra seats. And almost everything regarding 720s is optimised to be "how many seats can we cram in?"- they've got relatively low standing capacity.

A cab costs circa £250k with all the extra electronics as well, more seat and costs less.

The Abellio bid team weren't great on the depot understanding side of things in general (Brantham etc.)

 

[David Goddard]

20 extra seats- if 9 out of 10 are on peak time GE commuter services, that's 180 extra seats. And almost everything regarding 720s is optimised to be "how many seats can we cram in?"- they've got relatively low standing capacity.

In that case perhaps they should have made it more like 50 ten car and 33 five car

 

[samuelmorris]

A lot of fresh air being carried around off-peak if you do that though, especially now!

 

[fgwrich]

720537 was taken to Wolverton Works today, does anyone know why its been taken there?

Mileage Accumulation runs to be conducted on the West Coast Mainline. It'll be "stationed" out of Wolverton while it's taking place I believe.

 

[Roger B]

Railway Technology Magazine just posted an article on the ongoing testing of the 720s. It includes a clip showing external and internal shots, whilst some of the testing process is explained:

Greater Anglia new electric commuter trains testing continues

www.railtechnologymagazine.com

 

[37424]

Railway Technology Magazine just posted an article on the ongoing testing of the 720s. It includes a clip showing external and internal shots, whilst some of the testing process is explained:

Greater Anglia new electric commuter trains testing continues

www.railtechnologymagazine.com

Same video as posted earlier #391

It looks nice however for the chubby like myself the space between 3+2 will be challenging.

 

[DBS92042]

Is it possible to ask how many 720s have gone to Wolverton so far? I know 720537 was the first but have any gone after it?

 

[and37075]

Is it possible to ask how many 720s have gone to Wolverton so far? I know 720537 was the first but have any gone after it?

720537 & 538 so far at Wolverton and both have been out on test today doing Wolverton - Crewe - Rugby - Crewe - Wolverton

 

[DBS92042]

720537 & 538 so far at Wolverton and both have been out on test today doing Wolverton - Crewe - Rugby - Crewe - Wolverton

Thank you for the help. Looks like they're out again tomorrow as well

 

[Roger B]

Saw 511 and 516 today at Cambridge - mileage accumulation runs?