Why are the Class 700s so terrible?

[highspeed990]

Deleted duplicate post

Which one?

 

[highspeed990]

Hull Trains do not provide services at Stevenage other than a few on sundays and you definitely haven't seen any 313s at Peterborough (at least not recently!) Perhaps you're thinking of 317s but they're gone now.

That's silly. They serve stevenage on sundays of all days but they don't serve peterborough at all.

 

[highspeed990]

Depends on location.

Until about 2/3 months ago 700s had an issue where they would take 66% power straight away even if you chose a lower power level. This resulted in the train lurching forward at 66% effort for a second and then quickly backing off to the drivers' selected power level. This has since been fixed and no longer happens.

Some locations have conductor rail gaps which can cause lurching. Most drivers shut off power over gaps but some don't.

Some locations in the core have low adhesion due to a couple of over active greasers which don't seem to ever get sorted.

Generally I find the 700s to be very smooth at taking power.

This happens on overhead lines too though

 

[Abpj17]

Leagrave to City Thameslink is 49 minutes (and uncomfortable on those seats). Due to timetable padding, I that's increased by 2 minutes in recent years. Fortunately, Leagrave is far enough out it’s near-guaranteed to get a seat in the rear first-class that’s not first class.

There are no ‘fast’ alternatives. Trains don’t stop at West Hampstead. EMT is an emergency option only - it might only be 20 minutes from Luton to St P, but you have to add back at least 30 mins to get out to Leagrave (worst for Harlington) and again from St P to where you actually need to be in London.

Where can ‘average’ data be found? And it’s probably more useful to look at different measures of ‘average’ to look at the less skewed ones.

 

[EssexGonzo]

I commute on them every day and tbh, the comfort or discomfort of the seats are the least of my worries. I'm just glad when one turns up

For the last 3 weeks, I have gotten on the same train into town and the same train out; not one has been cancelled (yet)

Sometimes I would not have been able to get on a service had it been a 319

And surely above every other factor (except safety) being cited in this thread, THIS is the main point of these trains? Getting to work vs not getting to work? The KPIs for this route, I would guess as a punter, are around reliability, timing and passengers moved. Not surveys about the seat comfort, lighting colour temperature or aesthetics.

I've rarely used this route but from what I've read about it it was broken in terms of capacity and reliability. The average person can (more likely) now get to work reliably. The prospect of "luxury" in metropolitan commuter land is long behind us.

This route is not a Virgin-type "wow factor" long haul route. As others have said, it's mainly about the peak rush and getting into or across London. A glorified, longer-distance tube?

A bit like the whinging some time ago about the 345s on the Elizabeth line not having toilets - it's not about the long, end to end journey, more about the thousands of shorter hops in between, in this case being able to get on a train at Stratford towards Shenfield.

 

[Hadders]

And surely above every other factor (except safety) being cited in this thread, THIS is the main point of these trains? Getting to work vs not getting to work? The KPIs for this route, I would guess as a punter, are around reliability, timing and passengers moved. Not surveys about the seat comfort, lighting colour temperature or aesthetics.

I've rarely used this route but from what I've read about it it was broken in terms of capacity and reliability. The average person can (more likely) now get to work reliably. The prospect of "luxury" in metropolitan commuter land is long behind us.

This route is not a Virgin-type "wow factor" long haul route. As others have said, it's mainly about the peak rush and getting into or across London. A glorified, longer-distance tube?

A bit like the whinging some time ago about the 345s on the Elizabeth line not having toilets - it's not about the long, end to end journey, more about the thousands of shorter hops in between, in this case being able to get on a train at Stratford towards Shenfield.

But the Great Northern route isn't broken yet we'll be getting the much maligned 700s instead of the 365s.

I'm sure the mechanically the 700s are an excellent train and I don't have an issue with fewer seats per carriage so that more people can stand. What I do have a problem with is the bargain basement seats that have been used which are totally unsuitable for anyone making a longer distance trip. I believe an interior based on the 365s would have been better.

The lack of seat back tables (although thankfully being rectified) just underlines the lack of attention to detail.

 

[bramling]

But the Great Northern route isn't broken yet we'll be getting the much maligned 700s instead of the 365s.

I'm sure the mechanically the 700s are an excellent train and I don't have an issue with fewer seats per carriage so that more people can stand. What I do have a problem with is the bargain basement seats that have been used which are totally unsuitable for anyone making a longer distance trip. I believe an interior based on the 365s would have been better.

The lack of seat back tables (although thankfully being rectified) just underlines the lack of attention to detail.

This sums things up quite well. It seems the attitude with today's Thameslink service is people think themselves lucky just that a train turns up. And people on here wonder why one is reluctant to buy in to this.