Yes former I meant to say! Interesting, the units really did seem shambolically constructed! Wimbledon really must have made huge efforts to somewhat improve these vehicles.
The 458 cabs are awful. Terrible visibility, switches all over the place and as ergonomic as a cardboard box.
As it is SWR have got too many 701s hence their investigating whether to add batteries to some of them to run to Exeter so I don't see any way the 458/5s will remain on an inner suburban route.
Do you have a source for this? It’s not something I’ve seen anywhere
There has been discussion of 450s getting batteries for Waterloo to Exeter with an official source, not 701s (nor 458s). I think if you read 'Goldfish62's post carefully they were talking about 450s, in that SWR have so many 701s, they are able to displace the 450s.
www.railforums.co.uk
Well actually, the Engineering Director did say in that YouTube video that they are considering Desiros or 701s. He made that very clear.There has been discussion of 450s getting batteries for Waterloo to Exeter with an official source, not 701s (nor 458s). I think if you read 'Goldfish62's post carefully they were talking about 450s, in that SWR have so many 701s, they are able to displace the 450s.
Battery 450s replacing 159s on West of England line?
Moderator note - split from: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/swr-refurbishing-class-158-and-159.275269/ To be honest, they should just do away with it now, it is never enforced, any morning train into and afternoon train out of Exeter first is just full of students with their feet on the...
Would you expect that the still not fully commissioned, in warranty, finickity units, or the 20 year old, out of warranty well proven units with much simpler power distribution would be more likely to see conversion?
www.realtimetrains.co.uk
Likely that they are trying to create competition between two different fleets to keep conversion costs down. But SWR representatives have definitely said 450 and 701 being looked at.
I suspect all it will be is to try and keep costs down. The weight distribution work already done on the design of the 701 with 4 of 5 cars of the 5 car motored makes is harder to convert as there's not an "empty" underframe kicking about. Whereas the 450s have an entire carriage with basically nothing under it, and facility to have (and may already have) an isolated DC bus from the "Pantograph" car through to both ends that could be hijacked for battery conversion since, it won't need to run on OLE.
I was simply pointing out Neil Drury, Engineering Director of SWR stated in his interview with Richard Bowker that SWR are considering both the Desiros and 701s. That's it, that's the official position. That's all I was pointing out. End of.
Missed that one coming back from Widnes - do you happen to know (roughly) when that happened please?If RTT allocations are correct, then it looks like 458406 has made its debut in passenger service today;
Realtime Trains | 2S18 0803 Weybridge to London Waterloo | 30/11/2024
Real-time train running information for 2S18 0803 departure from Weybridge to London Waterloo on 30/11/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
It left Widnes on 30 September.
Training other depot drivers, up? That would be a full course to depots that haven't learned them before.(Fratton)(Guildford?)(Woking?)
I am not sure that Southeastern would want 25 year old cast offs. Probably their desire would be to replace the (similarly aged Networkers) with a brand new fleet. Either the Class 458/4s will be stored or scraped once the full Class 701s enter service. (Though the Arterio roll out could take many years) Maybe the Class 458/4s could be used as a testbed for battery capabilities?
Cynically l'm not sure all too often that what Southeastern wants comes into it. 25 year old "refurbished" castoffs are still newer than 30 year old trains that have had the bare minimum done to them...
Thank you
Just shows how seat comfort is objective. I think the new seats are a vast improvement and among the most comfortable on any current British train! Never liked the old ones. Mushy and no lower back support. The 450 seats are better.
Good to know someone else has common sense.
Personally find them more uncomfortable than ironing boards.
The seats would have needed heavy refurbishment including the frames as they've had hard life and have been bashed around. Also, given that they're a non-standard, obsolete design I doubt if armrests are still available, but even if they were I'm betting that it was cheaper to get new seats.
Considering that they're getting 22-year-old cast-offs by the end of the year, 458s don't seem outlandish.
At this point in time, the proposal of battery conversion of Class 450/0s or Class 701/5s is about as speculative as any of the postings on this forum.
A single 450 will be full & standing from the start, if such an idiotic plan actually happens it will likely be triple 450s to Salisbury with pairs onwards to Exeter.
One assumes that the seating would be replaced.
