Thameslink/ Class 700 Progress

[Islineclear3_1]

What new sidings?
I remember years ago there was a shed there

Will all the littlehampton to London Bridge services become Thameslink ones?

Yes and the shed was demolished and from what I remember, the sidings were mothballed. I thought new ones were laid within the last 2 - 3 years...

 

[Bungle965]

Not sure if it has been reported but 700050 went into service on Saturday making it the 85th 700 in service.
Sam

 

[class387]

No sure if it has been reported but 700050 went into service on Saturday making it the 85th 700 in service.
Sam View attachment 41816

Does this (and the other newer RLUs) have tables, or is it just the FLUs being fitted with them?

 

[Bungle965]

Does this (and the other newer RLUs) have tables, or is it just the FLUs being fitted with them?

It does indeed have tables, from my recollection also it has WiFi.
Sam

 

[class387]

It does indeed have tables, from my recollection also it has WiFi.
Sam

Good to know. I personally haven't yet had a 700 with tables as the 700/1s with tables usually work the GN route. Hopefully I can see this one. Do you know whether retrofits have started to earlier units?

 

[JonathanH]

Good to know. I personally haven't yet had a 700 with tables as the 700/1s with tables usually work the GN route. Hopefully I can see this one. Do you know whether retrofits have started to earlier units?

While it is true that all of the GN route 700 services so far have used units (ie 125, 128, 139 and 140) with tables, there are quite a few 700/1s with tables working at the moment on the Thameslink route too (ie 127, 130, 131, 132, 135, 137, 141, 142, 143 and 145 to date taking the place of earlier units).

 

[APUK002]

There was a run one night last week from three bridges to ashford intl, via Redhill and tonbridge. Is that a first 700 along the line via godstone.

Oo,kl news

 

[APUK002]

700 051, I believe, as that was reported on a Yahoogroup on Friday as having been seen in France en route to the tunnel.

It was 051,see fb pic here:

 

[APUK002]

It does indeed have tables, from my recollection also it has WiFi.
Sam

Wonderful info,thanks, so the newer made 700’s have both tables and WiFi fitted ,retrofittment of tables/sockets/WiFi programme started yet?

 

[BRblue]

Yes and the shed was demolished and from what I remember, the sidings were mothballed. I thought new ones were laid within the last 2 - 3 years...

The were reinstated before the London Olympics but were not needed/used in the end.
They remain out of use and as far as I'm aware they are staying that way.
Although there have been a few rumours regarding Thameslink stabling trains there, we have heard nothing official in that regard.

 

[Class455]

700 107 has been placed into storage at Dollands Moor. Apparently GTR has too many 700's at the moment according to this photo description.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/35502189@N03/25003455177/in/contacts/

 

[JonathanH]

700 107 has been placed into storage at Dollands Moor. Apparently GTR has too many 700's at the moment according to this photo description.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/35502189@N03/25003455177/in/contacts/

GTR appears to have too many 700s presumably pending:
a) opening of extended sidings at Cauldwell Walk which will allow 6 700/0 diagrams to change to 700/1 diagrams - when is this due for completion?
b) 700/0s to start on GN services released by the above
c) a few more Southern workings to change over from 377s? Will 700s work in service to East Grinstead before May ?

Presumably the original introduction plan would have seen a few more 700s in use by now?

 

[Peter Sarf]

Does this all mean that fairly soon there will be nowhere to put the displaced EMUs ?.

 

[APUK002]

700 107 has been placed into storage at Dollands Moor. Apparently GTR has too many 700's at the moment according to this photo description.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/35502189@N03/25003455177/in/contacts/

Ha,made me lol this.

 

[APUK002]

GTR appears to have too many 700s presumably pending:
a) opening of extended sidings at Cauldwell Walk which will allow 6 700/0 diagrams to change to 700/1 diagrams - when is this due for completion?
b) 700/0s to start on GN services released by the above
c) a few more Southern workings to change over from 377s? Will 700s work in service to East Grinstead before May ?

Presumably the original introduction plan would have seen a few more 700s in use by now?

Oo,can’t wait for part b

 

[physics34]

GTR appears to have too many 700s presumably pending:
a) opening of extended sidings at Cauldwell Walk which will allow 6 700/0 diagrams to change to 700/1 diagrams - when is this due for completion?
b) 700/0s to start on GN services released by the above
c) a few more Southern workings to change over from 377s? Will 700s work in service to East Grinstead before May ?

Presumably the original introduction plan would have seen a few more 700s in use by now?

they are behind on the training so not sure if East Grinsteads will be 700s before May.

 

[Paul London]

GTR appears to have too many 700s presumably pending:
a) opening of extended sidings at Cauldwell Walk which will allow 6 700/0 diagrams to change to 700/1 diagrams - when is this due for completion?
b) 700/0s to start on GN services released by the above
c) a few more Southern workings to change over from 377s? Will 700s work in service to East Grinstead before May ?

Presumably the original introduction plan would have seen a few more 700s in use by now?

I thought the class 700/0 and 700/1 diagrams were currently random:

Eg the 17:17 City Thameslink to East Croydon - 30 minutes, ultimate destination Brighton

Friday 19/1 700/0 - 300 people standing
Monday 22/1 700/1 - handful standing
Tuesday 23/1 700/0 - 300 people standing
Wednesday 24/1 700/1 - handful standing
Today --- ? Who knows.

 

[Domh245]

That train is supposed to be a 700/0 - but it may be the case that Thameslink and Siemens are putting 12 cars out on 8 car diagrams (where feasible, ie not to Sevenoaks or Sutton)

 

[MML]

I still think the proportion of 700/0 to 700/1 is wrong.
Too many 8-car units are operating on the Brighton route, particularly during peak hours.
One can only hope a decision is made to extend some units to allow more services to be operated by 12-car units.

 

[samuelmorris]

Surely that's only temporary though until the new timetable is implemented? As far as I'm aware the only 8-car 'mainline' service was Cambridge to Maidstone?

 

[Bald Rick]

I still think the proportion of 700/0 to 700/1 is wrong.
Too many 8-car units are operating on the Brighton route, particularly during peak hours.
One can only hope a decision is made to extend some units to allow more services to be operated by 12-car units.

Temporary arrangement - the 8 cars have to go somewhere before the service gets expanded. Plan is for all Brightons to be 12s.

 

[Hadders]

The majority of 700s are 8-car not 12. Most will end up on the GN side I suspect to reduce our capacity in the peaks.

 

[samuelmorris]

In terms of peak tph I think it's 2 to Cambridge, 2 to Welwyn, 4 to St Albans, 2 to Luton is it not, so no, not really?

 

[AM9]

The majority of 700s are 8-car not 12. Most will end up on the GN side I suspect to reduce our capacity in the peaks.

The class 365 total capacity is stated as 728 for an 8-car train (1092 for a 12-car set), whereas the 8-car class 700 is 1146.

 

[D365]

The class 365 total capacity is stated as 728 for an 8-car train (1092 for a 12-car set), whereas the 8-car class 700 is 1146.

Touchy subject.

 

[Hadders]

There are not 1,146 seats on an 8-car 700.

 

[MatthewRead]

When will off peak Thameslink services to Orpington start?

 

[colinbloom]

GN commuters seem to have a lot more of a problem with 387s than their counterparts who travel on Gatwick Express, experiencing near enough identical trains, just with a different paint job! And when it comes to the Southern and GX Electrostar fleet, those trains typically attract far fewer air con complaints than anything running north of the Thames. I really don't know why this should be.

GTR has actually spent a copious amount of money and time in air con overhauls for older trains, and the HVAC systems on 700s and other newer stock do seem to be getting better. I spent several exceedingly uncomfortable journeys on freezing 700s last winter, but I'm yet to have a problem a year later. The same applied with air con seeming to get better towards the later part of summer. As for 387s, I must admit I've never really found any with major problems.

One thing is certain, though - trying to open the windows in the event that the HVAC has not failed is likely to make the problem much, much worse. Those windows do very little and are chiefly for emergency ventilation and to mitigate against total air con failure in the summer - but opening them for "a bit of air" in the middle of winter is likely to direct a freezing cold jet of air at the air handling systems, which will not do them any good at all.

Why do 387's need a window for emergency ventilation but 700's don't? In the summer I always try and sit by the emergency window with my T-key in my bag just incase the power goes off and I am stuck in a greenhouse for hours. Looks like I'll have to replace my T-key with a hammer going forward.

I'd rather have opening windows and no air-con. Windows don't fail on the hottest day of the year. The other problem is that when it's mild outside but not warm enough for the air con to kick in and the trains are packed, the moisture from people makes the air very wet and unpleasant. There would always be 1 or 2 hoppers open in this event on old trains, just to keep the smell of wet dog at bay.

 

[Failed Unit]

The class 365 total capacity is stated as 728 for an 8-car train (1092 for a 12-car set), whereas the 8-car class 700 is 1146.

That’s a very GTR press release based answer. Irrelevant if number of seats is what matters.

 

[urpert]

When will off peak Thameslink services to Orpington start?

With the May timetable change. 2 of the Victoria trains each hour are cut back to Bromley South to make space.