Greater Anglia. Why the need for 745s and 720s

[Bald Rick]

The schedules are unlikely to be accelerated while there are so many 321's around and the 720's still building up reliability.

Schedules won’t be accelerated until it can be sure there are no 321s around.

 

[Shunter_69]

Oh we dont want to start all that again

I assumed the level boarding meant it was 745/1’s

 

[RailWonderer]

Now we're carried away with this rumour, could we start seeing pairs of 755s on IC services and Ipswich stoppers? I was told by staff that the plan to reinstate the full timetable was September but until then demand doesn't require so many sets.
As for Stansted it makes sense to retain 379s on Stansted or if they must go, then 720s will have to be reconfigured. From the 3 journeys on them I have taken, the aisles are a problem - too narrow to walk with luggage and there are no racks and no litter bins either.

 

[AverageTD]

Although it's a little for GA now, one of the solutions for the FLIRT's dwell time issue is changing around the door config on any new units. Perhaps something like 2 doors every other car while the others remain with the single door config.

 

[Energy]

Although it's a little for GA now, one of the solutions for the FLIRT's dwell time issue is changing around the door config on any new units. Perhaps something like 2 doors every other car while the others remain with the single door config.

Like the TfW ones.

 

[AverageTD]

Like the TfW ones.
View attachment 97482

Precisely, just with a longer FLIRT now!

 

[Bletchleyite]

You can pretty much spec any layout you like, it is a modular design.

 

[grumpyoldman01]

Not just trains though - there would need to be quite a lot of platform rebuilding and straightening.

Would platforms need rebuilding and straightening?

I got on a 755 at Beccles' curved down platform the other day, and there was still quite a big gap between train and platform even with the step out; I understand this problem is overcome by each platform at a Greater Anglia operated regional station having its own dedicated wheelchair ramp specifically designed to meet that particular location's requirements (class 755s don't carry their own ramps)

 

[JonathanH]

Would platforms need rebuilding and straightening?

I got on a 755 at Beccles' curved down platform the other day, and there was still quite a big gap between train and platform even with the step out; I understand this problem is overcome by each platform at a Greater Anglia operated regional station having its own dedicated wheelchair ramp specifically designed to meet that particular location's requirements (class 755s don't carry their own ramps)

So it wasn't the level boarding without assistance at all stations that the previous poster was advocating.

To have level boarding without assistance requires (fairly) straight platforms at a uniform height.

 

[grumpyoldman01]

So it wasn't the level boarding without assistance at all stations that the previous poster was advocating.

To have level boarding without assistance requires (fairly) straight platforms at a uniform height.

Sorry I should have been more precise - I was really questioning use of the word lot.

Thinking about the situation I saw on the curved platform at Beccles, I'm reasonably confident I could have pushed my late wife's wheelchair on without assistance using the 755's step, and a couple of years ago I watched in awe as a guy drove his powered wheelchair off a bus over quite a big gap between it and the raised curb.

But without the step (or whatever it's called!) on the 745s/755s, a ramp would have been needed at Beccles for a wheelchair even with the low floor, and no doubt interventions would still be necessary at some stations (even with the train's step), but if investment was needed at somewhere like Shippea Hill which couldn't be justified commercially the low floor would still be of great help if a ramp was being used - it's hard to push a wheelchair up into a Meridian!

I appreciate the Shippea Hill example wouldn't be assistance free, but writing as someone who's accompanied a person who had mobility issues, just having a low floor which was approximately at platform level would have been great. And I can't think of any station we used were the low floor/step combination found on the 745s/755s wouldn't have been sufficient for our needs, hence my questioning of the use of the word lot.

 

[JonathanH]

Sorry I should have been more precise - I was really questioning use of the word lot.

Indeed, yes, any move towards level boarding improves the situation, even with curved platforms and at stations where a ramp is still needed.