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

[Peter Mugridge]

720 113 just went through Stratford with 720 580 believe that was 5N40 which goes out as 1N40 to Clacton; is this 720 113's first in service working?

Edited: Confirmed on the 16.42 Clacton.

 

[St. Paddy]

720507 was moved to Wembley 2 days ago

 

[Alfie1014]

Indeed it is on 1N40 and it has that new car smell!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Indeed it is on 1N40 and it has that new car smell!

Did you board it at Liverpool Street or did I get the very first bash on it...?

 

[Alfie1014]

Nope on it from Liv St all the way to the Essex coast.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Nope on it from Liv St all the way to the Essex coast.

A near miss for the unexpected meetings thread then...

 

[450.emu]

Nope on it from Liv St all the way to the Essex coast.

Will a 720 replace the 321's on the Walton line as well at Thorpe le Soken?

 

[43102EMR]

Will a 720 replace the 321's on the Walton line as well at Thorpe le Soken?

Yes - all of the GEML suburban fleet is being replaced by the 720s.

 

[dk1]

Will a 720 replace the 321's on the Walton line as well at Thorpe le Soken?

The entire passenger fleet at GA is being replaced. It’s only for operational convenience that these routes are the last to use the legacy fleet.

 

[St. Paddy]

720513 moved to Wembley yesterday

 

[GeoffS]

720109 (rear unit with 720589) was taken out of service yesterday at Stratford on 2K20 1152 London Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria after an internal panel fell from the ceiling adjacent to the universal toilet leaving exposed wiring. (Right annoying as I had boarded it with the hope of haulage.) It went empty to Southend and didn't re-enter service but not obvious what happened after that.

720109 back in service yesterday (possibly earlier?)

 

[MDB1images]

Just updating records, from posts on this site(big thanks to those that post the updates) I've got the following Greater Anglia Class 720's entering service in Oct/Nov, if anyone can correct/add or knows what trains they first worked it would be much appreciated.
720111: 05/10/22.
720112: 27/10/22.
720113. 01/11/22.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Just updating records, from posts on this site(big thanks to those that post the updates) I've got the following Greater Anglia Class 720's entering service in Oct/Nov, if anyone can correct/add or knows what trains they first worked it would be much appreciated.
720111: 05/10/22.
720112: 27/10/22.
720113. 01/11/22.

720 113 entered service on 31/10/22; on the 16.42 Liverpool Street to Clacton paired with 720 580. It did just the one run that day. Picture in reply 2101 above.

 

[MDB1images]

720 113 entered service on 31/10/22; on the 16.42 Liverpool Street to Clacton paired with 720 580. It did just the one run that day. Picture in reply 2101 above.

Thanks Peter.

 

[Geml246]

Travelled back from Stratford to Chelmsford on 720115 this afternoon (1554 ex Stratford to Braintree). Also 720507 was at Shenfield on test run to Southend.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I think I have for haulage all of those already commissioned - unless I've missed any?

...and yes, I know the c2c ones now go up to 12; I haven't updated the list yet.

 

[Techniquest]

I can't help with expanding the knowledge base there, but I am the same with my list of 720/6s. I haven't even added them to my wants list on my phone yet, it is one of a very large number of things on the to-do list! My NREA is also unsurprisingly out of sync too, that one is the 2021 edition before the numbers changed.

It looks like you're doing rather well with scooping the 720s in there, you don't want to see how many I want

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

720513 moved to Wembley yesterday

On test Shenfield to Southend.

Followed by 587/532 ex Braintree being terminated due to a fault on the train.

 

[warwickshire]

720513 witnessed at Wickford on test on 5G36 1056 Southend Victoria to Shenfield test run. Whilst riding the 321 Southminster for probably the final time.
However whilst at Wickford 720513 turns up out of the blue on testing.

 

[dragon814]

5Q11 Old Dalby to Litchurch Lane today 47739 + 720518

 

[Wivenswold]

Concerning to read in the 755 thread that GA have decided that 20 x 720s are going to be surplus. With passenger numbers back to 90% of pre-pandemic levels but GA services still below 75% I wonder how they decided they have a surplus? Commuters I know won't be happy.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Concerning to read in the 755 thread that GA have decided that 20 x 720s are going to be surplus. With passenger numbers back to 90% of pre-pandemic levels but GA services still below 75% I wonder how they decided they have a surplus? Commuters I know won't be happy.

I fear plans for the vast majority of former 8-317 diagrams to be 10-720 will be scrapped in favour of single 5 cars on Stratfords and most Hertfords long term.

 

[JonathanH]

Concerning to read in the 755 thread that GA have decided that 20 x 720s are going to be surplus. With passenger numbers back to 90% of pre-pandemic levels but GA services still below 75% I wonder how they decided they have a surplus? Commuters I know won't be happy.

That really calls into question why the order wasn't truncated at the same time the 22 10-car units were changed to 5-car units. It has been obvious for some time that all 133 wouldn't be needed - I hope they aren't built just to sit in a siding but there really isn't anywhere else they can go.

 

[chubs]

Concerning to read in the 755 thread that GA have decided that 20 x 720s are going to be surplus. With passenger numbers back to 90% of pre-pandemic levels but GA services still below 75% I wonder how they decided they have a surplus? Commuters I know won't be happy.

Is it really 90% across the board?

Commuter levels will never be pre covid levels. Working from home either fully or partly is here to stay.

 

[Domh245]

Is it really 90% across the board?

Or indeed a blanket 90% reduction at any given time?

It seems more likely that the total is 90% of the previous total but without less distinct peaks

 

[fat_boy_pete]

Is it really 90% across the board?

Commuter levels will never be pre covid levels. Working from home either fully or partly is here to stay.

Apparently I've read that peak time levels are around 70% pre-covid, off peak around 95-100% with an overall figure of 85%. The problem is that timetables are still planned around the peak, when a more even all day capacity is now needed. Hence reports of weekend over crowding.

 

[Shunter_69]

The weekend service hasn’t really changed from pre-pandemic. Can only be down to a lack of units or more people travelling post-pandemic.

 

[fat_boy_pete]

The weekend service hasn’t really changed from pre-pandemic. Can only be down to a lack of units or more people travelling post-pandemic.

Exactly. Travel patterns are changing. Commuting suppressed but leisure travel booming. Timetables are yet to adequately reflect the new traffic. So for GA to say that they don't need all the ordered units feels premature.

 

[JonathanH]

Exactly. Travel patterns are changing. Commuting suppressed but leisure travel booming. Timetables are yet to adequately reflect the new traffic. So for GA to say that they don't need all the ordered units feels premature.

Even if Greater Anglia ran all their trains 10 coach into Liverpool Street (and they don't need to at all even though some do need to be) on Saturdays they wouldn't need anything like 133 units. The basic timetable on Saturdays remains pretty good.

 

[fat_boy_pete]

Even if Greater Anglia ran all their trains 10 coach into Liverpool Street (and they don't need to at all even though some do need to be) on Saturdays they wouldn't need anything like 133 units. The basic timetable on Saturdays remains pretty good.

So you agree that 20 units are superfluous? Or some lesser number?