Greater Anglia Rolling Stock Updates

[nxea321446]

321320 back in service, 326 at Doncaster along with 322, 324, 325, 327 & 328

 

[Wivenswold]

Thanks for the update @nxea321446.

 

[TonyM]

Thanks for the information. very helpful.

 

[nxea321446]

321324 just passed through New Barnet going back to Ilford again

 

[TonyM]

321322 outside Doncaster works. No sign of any others. Presumably others are being worked on inside.

 

[Alfie1014]

321320 back in service, 326 at Doncaster along with 322, 324, 325, 327 & 328

Travelled on 330 yesterday is it and 329 the last of the 30 not done?

 

[nxea321446]

Travelled on 330 yesterday is it and 329 the last of the 30 not done?

329 & 330 left to go to Doncaster, although i haven’t seen 329 about recently

 

[Wivenswold]

And that's it then. All 30 have now gone which makes the NXEA silver livery a rarity (5 left 427-431 - though 327/330 got white paint post- GA Franchise announcement) and blue grab rails/green internal facias are now extinct.

And if you think this attention to detail makes me a very boring man indeed, you're probably right.

 

[AC47461]

I was on 330 this morning.

 

[nxea321446]

And that's it then. All 30 have now gone which makes the NXEA silver livery a rarity (5 left 427-431 - though 327/330 got white paint post- GA Franchise announcement) and blue grab rails/green internal facias are now extinct.

And if you think this attention to detail makes me a very boring man indeed, you're probably right.

329 & 330 haven’t gone yet, not sure on 329, my original message was stating that just 329 & 330 are left to refurbish before the refurbishment is complete

 

[F Great Eastern]

My first journey on a Renatus 321 (was an 8 car, both Renatus) and not a great experience.

It seems that GA First Class ticket sales strategy for the services that are normally Class 90s that are being subbed by EMUs is exactly the same as if the 90s were there, which is a bit foolish, considering the number of First Class seats available have been cut drastically by this change.

This led to the shambles, tonight where an enclosed First Class portion with broken air conditioning was overcrowded and like a sauna, with no working Wifi, a PIS that had issues and blocked off plug sockets and every rattle and squeak under the sun and of course no free refreshments as it's been subbed in an overly bright environment where a third of the seats have no window of any kind anywhere near them.

But all of that pales in comparison to the horrific ride quality. Honestly, I have never had such a rough ride in my almost 20 years of using the GEML. Honestly it was so bad that I've seen multiple coffees and phones and stuff on tables go flying in ways I have never seen before. Someone ahead of me put was trying to work on their laptop, but wisely decided it might not be the best idea if they want their laptop to survive the trip.

Has anyone else noticed bad ride quality? For me, they're nowhere near a 360 and honestly I'd prefer a pre-refurb 321, since the sauna problem and poor ride quality issue doesn't occur on them.

 

[dk1]

The ride quality is to be expected following the exceptionally dry & hot summers especially around the clay based areas of Essex. I predict many more ESRs to appear as tamping is required & there are simply not enough to go round & complete all the work required. It's the same across the Fens with up to 5 between Peterborough & Ely & more through to Thetford. Other patches are also giving quite a violent ride. At least up front we can see it approaching where the track looks a bit rough & selay swigging the coffee.

 

[F Great Eastern]

The ride quality is to be expected following the exceptionally dry & hot summers especially around the clay based areas of Essex. I predict many more ESRs to appear as tamping is required & there are simply not enough to go round & complete all the work required. It's the same across the Fens with up to 5 between Peterborough & Ely & more through to Thetford. Other patches are also giving quite a violent ride. At least up front we can see it approaching where the track looks a bit rough & selay swigging the coffee.

Sure but I am on an pre refurb 321 and a 360 and loco hauled sets on the same track and it's nowhere near as bad.

 

[dk1]

Sure but I am on an pre refurb 321 and a 360 and loco hauled sets on the same track and it's nowhere near as bad.

I have always thought the 321s give an unpleasant ride. You should try it from the 90

On the subject of 1st class the surprise on some passengers faces who are used to MK3s & catering is priceless. It's been ongoing for years during GEML engineering works with those diverted via Cambridge. Boarding at Norwich they are originally very impressed with the superior seating but the fact soon hits home that there are only nine seats & theres always the one that has a strop about no complimetery tea, coffee & snacks.

 

[F Great Eastern]

I have always thought the 321s give an unpleasant ride. You should try it from the 90.

They don't give a great ride, but last night was much worse than normal - they can't touch a 360.

On the subject of 1st class the surprise on some passengers faces who are used to MK3s & catering is priceless. It's been ongoing for years during GEML engineering works with those diverted via Cambridge. Boarding at Norwich they are originally very impressed with the superior seating but the fact soon hits home that there are only nine seats & theres always the one that has a strop about no complimetery tea, coffee & snacks.

For me I can live without the refreshments, it was just everything together made up for a poor experience.

It's rare for me to be on First outside weekends truth be told since my company only normally pay for standard unless it's exceptional circumstances, but often at weekends, there is only £2-£3 difference between First Class and Standard class on later services from London, so normally it's a no brainer, with access to the first class lounge and the snack and drink on-board and the better environment.

The problem with the service last night was that whilst there was 32 First Class seats (16 in each Unit) 8 of them have no view of any window and clearly Abellio's yield management system was not adapted to take account of the fact there would be an EMU there with substantially less First seats, so you had the ridiculous situation where a lightly loaded train was overcrowded in First, add the lack of AC making it sauna like, blocked off plug sockets and a poor ride meant actually Standard was better than First!

 

[RailWonderer]

But all of that pales in comparison to the horrific ride quality. Honestly, I have never had such a rough ride in my almost 20 years of using the GEML. Honestly it was so bad that I've seen multiple coffees and phones and stuff on tables go flying in ways I have never seen before. Someone ahead of me put was trying to work on their laptop, but wisely decided it might not be the best idea if they want their laptop to survive the trip.
Has anyone else noticed bad ride quality? For me, they're nowhere near a 360 and honestly I'd prefer a pre-refurb 321, since the sauna problem and poor ride quality issue doesn't occur on them.

On the down track when riding over the M25 between Brentwood and Romford the train shakes and wobbles a lot, especially on 321s, though on the up track it's less severe. As for rolling stock 321s imo have always been awful with seating that is very low to the ground and close to the opposite seat where knees are always touching, and the noise they make sounds horrible also. In that respect Renatus 321 and 360s are better. I don't mind about the blocked plug sockets since my expectations for the GEML have always been low anyway. 90s are comfortable but old and dirty and should've been replaced a long time ago. The deceleration, long dwell times from opening and closing doors, checking to see they're all locked, then the slow acceleration seems to be a burden to the network. I have no idea why they have lasted this long.

 

[Alfie1014]

Track quality does seem especially bad at the moment, plus a number of condition of track TSRs not aiding performance. I also believe the Renatus 321s seem to ride much worse than unrefubed ones, perhaps the suspension has been tweaked to accommodate the increased weight of the vehicles? I travelled home on one of the hauled substitutes yesterday afternoon (8 car 8 unrefurbed 321 and the ride was OK) but recent trips on Renatus units and 360s have been lively to say the least, as a regular traveller you get to know where to brace!

 

[F Great Eastern]

On the down track when riding over the M25 between Brentwood and Romford the train shakes and wobbles a lot, especially on 321s, though on the up track it's less severe. As for rolling stock 321s imo have always been awful with seating that is very low to the ground and close to the opposite seat where knees are always touching, and the noise they make sounds horrible also. In that respect Renatus 321 and 360s are better. I don't mind about the blocked plug sockets since my expectations for the GEML have always been low anyway. 90s are comfortable but old and dirty and should've been replaced a long time ago. The deceleration, long dwell times from opening and closing doors, checking to see they're all locked, then the slow acceleration seems to be a burden to the network. I have no idea why they have lasted this long.

Indeed, I don't like the seats on the old 321s, but I'd rather have a bank of three seats in standard class to myself, with windows that I can open and see out of, that doesn't rattle and squeak non stop and average ride quality, than a Renatus 321 in First class where Abellio have sold too many seats for, with broken AC, with a third of seats that have a wall adjacent to them rather than a window that feels like a sauna, which you are frequently thrown from side to side o a regular basis. Silly as it sounds, standard class was a premium worth paying extra for yesterday.

At one point last night when the ride quality was at it's worse there was a fairly loud bang. almost like the body of the train struck something, since it wasn't your typical sound on poor riding trains that we had throughout the journey. Didn't seem many speed restrictions though since we were at Colchester for 6 minutes waiting our time and over 2 minutes early in Ipswich. Ride quality was bad for pretty much whole journey though, fractionally better after Manningtree.

 

[dp21]

Just a point on renatus ride quality; the addition of the air conditioning and other weight on the top of the vehicles increases sway therefore they've had to stiffen the suspension.

It's therefore somewhat unavoidable that the ride suffers.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Latest rumour is that Irish Rail are interested in the possibility of acquiring Class 156 or 158 units over the next 12-18 months to be reguaged as an interim measure.

That would certainly suggest that the GA ones could be the ones involved?

 

[samuelmorris]

For 156s perhaps, but where would the 158s be coming from?

 

[LAX54]

I am assuming the first 755 can't be far away from these shores now, 2nd November we have a trial run with a conventional unit overnight between Norwich and Diss in preparation for the tests on the first 755, this is so everyone involved understands the process.
755 will be stabled at Coldham Lane, and be Loco hauled to Diss each night, they aim to make 3 trips each night it runs.

 

[eastdyke]

Very exciting times!

 

[jopsuk]

There's a thread for discussion of the Stadler units here

 

[superalbs]

There's a thread for discussion of the Stadler units here

The title of this thread is a bit ambiguous tbf.

 

[Wivenswold]

The purpose of this thread was to have somewhere to come to discuss GA rolling stock generally while the huge changes are taking place. Lately a couple of additional threads have started for specific units and there's definitely room for them too. I think it's rather nice to have somewhere to come and talk more generally about the GA rolling stock scene as there's a lot going on...soon.

That ambiguity was deliberate.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Any news on when we are expecting to see the first new trains arrive in the UK?

Currently on a PKP Flirt for last two hours which have flew. Really nice and hoping that we get something as nice but still have reservations that the GA spec won't be as good.

 

[samuelmorris]

Any news on when we are expecting to see the first new trains arrive in the UK?

Currently on a PKP Flirt for last two hours which have flew. Really nice and hoping that we get something as nice but still have reservations that the GA spec won't be as good.

How come? We've seen quite extensive detail of what our Flirt units are going to look like and so far they look about the best-specified of any new unit in the UK (though admittedly that isn't saying all that much). What are you still concerned about, the seat pitch?

 

[dk1]

Crew training on 755s may start as early as early as the week after next.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Any news on when we are expecting to see the first new trains arrive in the UK?

Currently on a PKP Flirt for last two hours which have flew. Really nice and hoping that we get something as nice but still have reservations that the GA spec won't be as good.

I think the PKP ones (which I really like too, far better than the awful "clone" that PKP commissioned from PESA, the DART) are probably the closest thing to what we're getting as they are high floor like the UK ones. But sadly the UK ones won't be getting the vastly superior Grammer IC3000 seat that the Polish ones have.