Greater Anglia Rolling Stock Updates

[Wivenswold]

Renatus Update:
Ilford and refurbished: 301/303/304/309/321
Doncaster being refurbished: 302/305/306/307
Doncaster being unrefurbished: 448
Wolverton for AC Package: 308/312 (unrefurbished), 311 refurb

Slightly out of the Anglia region but ex-GA nonetheless; 315840 / 848 are withdrawn.

 

[ginger]

What happened to the much vaunted under floor heating to remove the use of side ducts?

and point raised at the time! Some very blank looks abd scribbling done! They promised to see if they could be redesigned and moved but the underfloor heating is still there

Appreciate it was only a mock up BUT it was actually quite good....better than a
360 (clearly no comparison to a horrid 321).

They had forgot bins and various other changes were suggested......

The bank of three airline seating is however horrid!

 

[ginger]

The legroom in the banks of six seats facing each other looks tighter than the 321/360s they are replacing, is that the case?

I am six foot as was the chap who sat opposite me.....we reckoned it was fairly comparable to the 360s........far far better than the 321s (not a secret I dislike them with a passion)

 

[Bletchleyite]

I am six foot as was the chap who sat opposite me.....we reckoned it was fairly comparable to the 360s........far far better than the 321s (not a secret I dislike them with a passion)

I was going to say, it looks similar to the 350/2 which is actually quite generous in the bays. The 321 is quite tight because there is a lot of wasted space due to the raked-back seats.

 

[samuelmorris]

Renatus Update:
Ilford and refurbished: 301/303/304/309/321
Doncaster being refurbished: 302/305/306/307
Doncaster being unrefurbished: 448
Wolverton for AC Package: 308/312 (unrefurbished), 311 refurb

Slightly out of the Anglia region but ex-GA nonetheless; 315840 / 848 are withdrawn.

Could you elaborate on 448, is it having the sealed windows and the A/C removed?

 

[Wivenswold]

Yes. 448 is in bits in Doncaster yard, AC units removed (not sure if they're being replaced). Looks like hopper windows are being fitted. If Eversholt know what they're doing they might want to put it in GA livery so its "innovation" can shrink into the background.

 

[ginger]

Yes. 448 is in bits in Doncaster yard, AC units removed (not sure if they're being replaced). Looks like hopper windows are being fitted. If Eversholt know what they're doing they might want to put it in GA livery so its "innovation" can shrink into the background.

"If Eversholt know what they are doing" hilarious LOL

 

[Wivenswold]

"If Eversholt know what they are doing" hilarious LOL

I set 'em up. You finish them off.

 

[dp21]

Could you elaborate on 448, is it having the sealed windows and the A/C removed?

Yup. I spoke to the project engineer at GA and he said that the HVAC being used on 448 was just so troublesome they've decided to refit the hopper windows.

 

[samuelmorris]

but presumably it differs to the system fitted to the production units?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yup. I spoke to the project engineer at GA and he said that the HVAC being used on 448 was just so troublesome they've decided to refit the hopper windows.

I do wish someone would do that to the 158s.

 

[387star]

I was on a 317/6 today that looked incredibly smart inside... Greater Anglia are turning out some very smart trains these days quite a contrast from the days of national express who ran the stock down to the ground . The first class doors needing to be slid open manually was interesting!

I quite oike the station colour schemes on the GA network... To be fair that might be National Express's doing... The grey and white looks very simple and smart and remains brand neutral

 

[dp21]

but presumably it differs to the system fitted to the production units?

I believe so but admittedly I don't know any of the technical details.

 

[Wivenswold]

As above, GA are doing a fine job on refreshing their 321s. Most of the units away from 301-330 Renatus and the ex-Silverlink and GN batches seem to have been done in a remarkably short amount of time.

303 and 304 are back in traffic, I travelled on the former yesterday and the air con was working very well.

 

[SprinterMan]

I was on a 317/6 today that looked incredibly smart inside... Greater Anglia are turning out some very smart trains these days quite a contrast from the days of national express who ran the stock down to the ground . The first class doors needing to be slid open manually was interesting!

I quite oike the station colour schemes on the GA network... To be fair that might be National Express's doing... The grey and white looks very simple and smart and remains brand neutral

The Grey and White is a Greater Anglia choice, NXEA left everything in ONE blue, or in the case of certain stations on the rural lines like Bury St. Edmunds repainted everything green to match the old Anglia Railways signage (!)

Adam

 

[LAX54]

As a thought.... instead of the new IC sets, would they not have done better converting the Mk 3 coaches with plug doors, and buying some Class 88 locos and keeping the valued hauled sets going ?

Only a thought after seeing that Class 68 and hauled set do the run on Saturday !

 

[MCR247]

In what sense would it be better? If you mean slower then yes maybe

 

[samuelmorris]

As a thought.... instead of the new IC sets, would they not have done better converting the Mk 3 coaches with plug doors, and buying some Class 88 locos and keeping the valued hauled sets going ?

Only a thought after seeing that Class 68 and hauled set do the run on Saturday !

Still two wasted vehicles' length of potential capacity and no advantages of distributed traction. Mk3 coaches also can't last forever even with the conversion, so you wouldn't get the same life expectancy despite a fairly large proportion of the investment - it would also mean no commonality with the Bi-mode versions of the same train for ease of maintenance in addition to the more fundamental issues of being a slower train and providing less capacity.

 

[LAX54]

In what sense would it be better? If you mean slower then yes maybe

Class 88 100mph, Mk3 100mph, cant see the GEML ever going above that, would have thought the acceleration of an 88 is similar to a new EMU, but as has been said life of said set ups would be limited.

 

[samuelmorris]

Nah there's more to it than that - a Class 90 has more power than a 12-car trio of 321s, but the loco-hauled sets don't accelerate as fast despite weighing a similar amount. Having traction distributed throughout the train makes a big difference.

 

[jopsuk]

As a thought.... instead of the new IC sets, would they not have done better converting the Mk 3 coaches with plug doors, and buying some Class 88 locos and keeping the valued hauled sets going ?

Only a thought after seeing that Class 68 and hauled set do the run on Saturday !

I'm pretty damn sure that that will have been looked at when Abellio were preparing their bid (as will other bidders) and that the ROSCO that owns the coaches would have prepared options to present to bidders for consideration.

 

[Wivenswold]

Let's not forget that replacement of loco hauled trains was specified as part of the new Anglia franchise and that innovation also got GA extra points. I'm not sure sticking a new diesel loco on the front of Mk3s could have been seen as an improvement or innovative.

 

[mushroomchow]

Bombardier strike again - the internal mock-up of the Aventras is absolutely atrocious.

Hope GA commuters like staring at the bodyshell, rubbing shoulders in a 5-seat setup and having to clamber over the 8 (EIGHT) fold-down seats in the narrow vestibule to leave the train.

 

[samuelmorris]

Bombardier strike again - the internal mock-up of the Aventras is absolutely atrocious.

Hope GA commuters like staring at the bodyshell, rubbing shoulders in a 5-seat setup and having to clamber over the 8 (EIGHT) fold-down seats in the narrow vestibule to leave the train.

OK, a few points:

First of all, none of those problems are really the fault of Bombardier but rather the spec the TOC provided them. Secondly, the seat layout, especially with regard to window alignment, is not representative due to having to illustrate all aspects of the train in a small space rather than have an entire 5-car unit on display.
The 3+2 is yes rather annoying, but that's to do with the huge seats per hour target set in the franchise agreement. Arguably, with a fair increase in number of seats per train, odds on you being able to sit on the 2-across side, or the third seat in the 3 simply being unoccupied, will increase a little.

Lastly, the interior (including the tip-up seats concept) is still under review and to my knowledge is not yet finalised. Atrocious is quite a strong way of putting it.

I'm not sure sticking a new diesel loco on the front of Mk3s could have been seen as an improvement or innovative.

Bit of a stretch labelling an 88 as a diesel loco, but I take the point, indeed not. Loco-hauled passenger services for that sort of distance nowadays are a total anachronism.

 

[dk1]

As a thought.... instead of the new IC sets, would they not have done better converting the Mk 3 coaches with plug doors, and buying some Class 88 locos and keeping the valued hauled sets going ?

Only a thought after seeing that Class 68 and hauled set do the run on Saturday !

You are back to the problem of all that dead space in the Loco/DVT. No chance of extending platforms at Liverpool Street hence the need for EMU.

 

[Wivenswold]

Does anyone know the whereabouts of 317344? It appears to be the only ex-GN EMU from the recent cascade that hasn't made it into service on GA.

Is it being refreshed or is this a likely candidate for an early withdrawal for spares (along with 722)?

 

[Defiance149]

Does anyone know the whereabouts of 317344? It appears to be the only ex-GN EMU from the recent cascade that hasn't made it into service on GA.

Its at Ilford, presumably on C6 now 317345 is done.

 

[capital12]

Caught 321407 the other day and was surprised to see it had, what appeared to be, the full GA refresh inside ie new seat covers, red grab poles, new or painted side panels etc.

 

[dk1]

Does anybody know why the Renatus bins are in the livery they are? Just as the fleet gradually gains GA colours another variation comes along.

Also a couple of weeks after the loss of the 68s we have 11 shameful cancellations today on the local routes out of Norwich.

 

[Wivenswold]

Thanks for the information @Defiance.

@dk1, the Renatus livery is similar enough to the new livery applied to some of the class 317s and the refurbished 170s and 90/Mk3s to suggest that this was the intended scheme for GA. I applaud them for making minor changes to suit each unit.

Of course things change and the new trains will have a new design too. I think we'll miss the variety we currently have.