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Scotrail Class 385 Discussion

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thetangoman

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GLC said:
Saw a 385 in Glasgow Central this morning. Sitting in platform 12 at about 0920. There were maybe 3 or 4 members of staff inside at the front of it, sitting about chatting. Looks quite good I think!
Click to expand...

Seen it passing Glasgow Airport while on the M8. Must be on mileage accumilation
 
47271

47271

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I had my first run on one today. It was alright. Granted the seats are a bit firm and there's more rattles and vibration than you'd expect, but we went end to end in 5 minutes less than the timetable, I had a table of four to myself, excellent wifi and power, and I hardly noticed the journey.

There seems to be far more of them around than reading of this thread would suggest. All of the E&G and North Berwick trains I saw, of which there were only four in total it's true, were 385s. I saw no 365s or 380s.
 
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Stopper

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I believe the E-G diagrams are split between 385s and 365s equally. xx:00 and xx:15 tend to be 385s while the rest are 365s. There were 100% some 365s out today as I saw at least 3.
 
47271

47271

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Stopper said:
I believe the E-G diagrams are split between 385s and 365s equally. xx:00 and xx:15 tend to be 385s while the rest are 365s. There were 100% some 365s out today as I saw at least 3.
Click to expand...
Fair enough, I suspected that it was just chance that I saw nothing other than 385s.
 
GrimShady

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47271 said:
I had my first run on one today. It was alright. Granted the seats are a bit firm and there's more rattles and vibration than you'd expect, but we went end to end in 5 minutes less than the timetable, I had a table of four to myself, excellent wifi and power, and I hardly noticed the journey.

There seems to be far more of them around than reading of this thread would suggest. All of the E&G and North Berwick trains I saw, of which there were only four in total it's true, were 385s. I saw no 365s or 380s.
Click to expand...

The WiFi external connection was very good IMO, something which the other units can't say.
 
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Stopper

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47271 said:
Fair enough, I suspected that it was just chance that I saw nothing other than 385s.
Click to expand...

I agree with your post though. I don’t mind the seats, simply because I’m just glad to get one. I’ve spent years and years on standing crammed in on 158s and 170s that I appreciate any seat. Still, I only get a seat around 30% of the time on the 385, I think only making them 8-car could prove to be short sighted. An increase to 6tph via the Almond chord is necessary.
 
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youngac

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A couple of days ago a twitter user tweeted a photo of one of the four test units being fitted out in Pistoia. Apparently they won’t be delivered back to the U.K. until March.
 
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anthannan

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That doesn't sound good. Just when deliveries were going fairly well too.
youngac said:
A couple of days ago a twitter user tweeted a photo of one of the four test units being fitted out in Pistoia. Apparently they won’t be delivered back to the U.K. until March.
Click to expand...
 
GusB

GusB

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Typhoon_93 said:
Being fitted out as planned...!!! it takes Aycliffe 30 days to complete one from a shell to finished vehicle. The ones in Italy have been there months....
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Is that for the whole unit, or just one carriage?
 
Typhoon_93

Typhoon_93

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That’s per car and cars arrive daily. The last car for set 385044 (last Aycliffe built one) due out of production before Christmas shut down.
 
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InOban

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I suppose they must have plenty units for the December timetable by now.
 
HankyuDentetsu

HankyuDentetsu

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I've had the pleasure of riding on 385s a handful of times now, here are my thoughts:

The good:

  • They're new, they're clean, feel quite spacious, and I quite like the ambiance (I know others here have said the lighting is a bit harsh - I don't mind it).
  • When working correctly, I don't find the audio announcements overbearing like some have mentioned here.
  • They're nice and quick - I don't feel any difference between them and a 380 despite the 3-car element reportedly being underpowered.
  • The ironing board seats aren't too bad and I like the posture that they force me into. Anything over an hour journey would probably be pretty tough but for the distance being traveled, they're fine.
  • The tables are nice and big, the plugs are handy.
  • Once in full 8-car formation on EtoG, they represent a significant capacity increase, one that I think is genuinely impressive given our fairly modest population and ridership figures.
  • (Jury very much out on the 4-car suitability on the E/G - Dunblane and E/G via Cumbernauld routes until they've been launched)

The meh/the bad:

  • They're so basic inside! Clinically dull!
  • The ride is bumpier than the 170s, 380s, and 365s, no doubt in my mind about it.
  • The window placement just isn't as good; the 380s layout is better. You can tell they've cut down on window area to make the units cheaper to build.
  • They should have included USB ports to charge phones with, not just plugs.

The genuinely frustrating:

  • Basically I'm just going to rant about the lack of - and poor quality - visual display provisioning we've been lumped with
  • The CIS seems very unreliable. The system seldom seems to be correct, or working at all - on several journeys the displays and automated announcements have been turned off altogether.
  • I've also seen several go by with no destination listed on the external front or side displays, too. Can anyone shed light on why this is? Must be so confusing for tourists using the line (of which I've seen a marked increase over the last few years).
  • The internal displays definitely flicker a lot - I've seen that mentioned here before; it's very pronounced when you are walking towards them. Cheap.
  • Why is there only one centrally located display screen per car?! 50% of the seating in each car is facing away from the screen - if you're hard of hearing and not sitting in the right direction you're not really any better off than you were in 40 year old rolling stock.
  • The level of display based information is just not good enough. It's 2018 - some actual screens would have been nice; they're getting them on new rolling stock down south, why not up here? And given the Japanese manufacturer, we know they can do it - new Japanese suburban counterparts are full of useful screens providing information.
Final thoughts:

Overall, they're decent enough trains, and the fact that they're faster, and will be 8 car sets as of next December means that they are a step forward. I can't argue or complain here - those are the facts. It just really just irks me how much was scrimped on the internal finish; these units are a clear step down in comfort from the 170s they are replacing and that to me seems like a real missed opportunity to me. Passing grade, reliability now going to be key in the coming years.
 
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