Which type of train still in service today will you miss most when they've all been withdrawn from use on the national network?

[Anonymous10]

Controversial one but the class 153 holds many memories and was the start of many of my journeys and trips away over last few years.

 

[Chester1]

Probably, maybe 20. Under the current plans AFAIK the West Coast Partnership franchise will still operate on the WCML, alongside HS2, so they may even be around after HS2 opens, albeit perhaps with the worst examples of the fleet scrapped by then.

The services currently run by Avanti will be reduced as HS2 slowly opens. The government won't want heavy competition between HS2 and the WCML.
Withdrawing 2 out of 3 Birmingham services would only reduce the number of rostered units by about 8. That may mean no withdrawals of 390s until HS2 is opened to Lichfield. It depends what demand is like. It might be that its best to transfer the 10 x 807s (7 coaches) to boost capacity on Liverpool and Scottish services. Twenty years for full fleet being withdrawn sounds about right the rate HS2 is going.

I think Pendolinos are a unit I will sort of miss, they are really good but HS2 services should be better.

 

[SolomonSouth]

The Class 390. Smoothest ride of any multiple unit in the UK, great seats, fairly good room, and a nice ambience.

 

[43096]

455s? Iconic?

Perhaps it was an ironic post?

 

[12LDA28C]

Perhaps it was an ironic post?

That must be it.

 

[Express380]

All the Sprinters types and the Turbos I will miss the most many enjoyable journeys spent on them over the years.

 

[Wivenswold]

There have been some amazing trains on our network over the years, so a bit of me dies inside when Electrostars are mentioned as being iconic.
They look like they were designed by an accountant, they rattle like heck, they don't sound interesting and the interiors are bog-standard. The only ones I'd chose to travel on because they were at least comfortable are currently rusting away in store (379's).

 

[william.martin]

The Class 390. Smoothest ride of any multiple unit in the UK, great seats, fairly good room, and a nice ambience.

Agreed, I must admit I wouldn't like 390049 if they left it in that skanky virgin interior, its undoubtedly the fleet member in the worst condition.

All the Sprinters types and the Turbos I will miss the most many enjoyable journeys spent on them over the years.

As of turbos, yes they are brilliant trains with exception ride quality compared to other classes of a similar age, mine have been replaced by 196's however give me a chance and I will be back on one in no time.

I won't miss sprinters as such as at the end of the day I would much prefer a 195 over one, however I think that they deserve a huge round of applause for how well they have performed over the last 30 years and have served the bustling Welsh capital of Cardiff too the remote landscapes of Yorkshire with ease.

 

[Captain Bigwig]

I don't know if I'll miss them exactly, but it'll be a watershed moment on the rail network the day the final Class 08 is withdrawn.

 

[Jamesrob637]

I don't know if I'll miss them exactly, but it'll be a watershed moment on the rail network the day the final Class 08 is withdrawn.

That won't be for a good few years yet

 

[Captain Bigwig]

That won't be for a good few years yet

Indeed not!

 

[GoneSouth]

Believe it or not, Voyagers!

At speed they are such a smooth ride compared to all that shuddering from the Hitachis. The lighting is subdued and warm making it feel quite relaxing, the seat back isn’t vertical so you don’t feel like you’re being forced to sit bolt upright for 4 hours. The seats are also not slightly less comfortable than a park bench like they are on the hitachi, they are actually very comfortable.

Having an accessible toilet in every coach is also to be applauded (but not by many on here, probably who just don’t appreciate how much easier they make life for many people). We need to make our railways more accessible, not less.

It’s not the designer of the train to blame for the overcrowding, it’s the government for trying and failing to stifle growth on XC.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather not have a throbbing diesel engine under my backside, but if I must, I’d choose this over an 80x on seat comfort alone.

Like the HSTs before them, they have carried me many many thousands of miles over the years and I’m dreading a possible future without these little powerhouses as the government is obviously only interested in getting people to and around London by rail!

 

[SolomonSouth]

Believe it or not, Voyagers!

At speed they are such a smooth ride compared to all that shuddering from the Hitachis. The lighting is subdued and warm making it feel quite relaxing, the seat back isn’t vertical so you don’t feel like you’re being forced to sit bolt upright for 4 hours. The seats are also not slightly less comfortable than a park bench like they are on the hitachi, they are actually very comfortable.

Having an accessible toilet in every coach is also to be applauded (but not by many on here, probably who just don’t appreciate how much easier they make life for many people). We need to make our railways more accessible, not less.

It’s not the designer of the train to blame for the overcrowding, it’s the government for trying and failing to stifle growth on XC.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather not have a throbbing diesel engine under my backside, but if I must, I’d choose this over an 80x on seat comfort alone.

Like the HSTs before them, they have carried me many many thousands of miles over the years and I’m dreading a possible future without these little powerhouses as the government is obviously only interested in getting people to and around London by rail!

Yeah Voyagers are rather smooth operators at speed

 

[Samzino]

The 450 and 444s. Have been quite premium to ride especially via SWT days

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

455s? Iconic?

That’s what I thought, could you get any less remarkable of a train

 

[Samzino]

Shinkansen sets are generally 20 year life ( other than the N500s which seem to be going on forever ) - but I'm not sure the narrow gauge stock has such a short lifetime. I found it very hard to dig up any news about Hitachi non-Shinkansen output but I think I did find something about problems there too... perhaps someone who can read Japanese better than I can have a look.

I wonder if there's more problems trying to fix the cracking...

The JR500s would look next generation if we got them over here in the UK. That is a design that was far beyond its time.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Believe it or not, Voyagers!

At speed they are such a smooth ride compared to all that shuddering from the Hitachis. The lighting is subdued and warm making it feel quite relaxing, the seat back isn’t vertical so you don’t feel like you’re being forced to sit bolt upright for 4 hours. The seats are also not slightly less comfortable than a park bench like they are on the hitachi, they are actually very comfortable.

100% agree

Having an accessible toilet in every coach is also to be applauded

Don’t agree with that at all though. Eight accessible toilets on a pair of 221s is ludicrous.

It’s not the designer of the train to blame for the overcrowding, it’s the government for trying and failing to stifle growth on XC.

Very well said, although the main issue was not ordering enough to run all in pairs or in longer formations, but again not Bombardier’s fault.

The Class 390. Smoothest ride of any multiple unit in the UK, great seats, fairly good room, and a nice ambience.

1000%

 

[315801]

I will certainly miss the 507 and 508 units because despite what anybody might say about them, they have been in my opinion the best trains in Merseyside ( Wirral and Northern Lines ) and as far as I am concerned, they always will be.

 

[GoneSouth]

Don’t agree with that at all though. Eight accessible toilets on a pair of 221s is ludicrous.

OK, I’ll compromise with you, 1 in 1st and 2 in standard, that leaves either 1 or 2 coaches without depending on if it’s 4 or 5 car sets. That should make room for probably 8 seats on a 4 car and maybe 16 on a 5 car? XC could then boast that they have increased the capacity by thousands of seats per year as we live in an age of BS spin! Actually, that space could be used for a couple of extra seats and some much needed luggage space.

Oh, and a note to XC, please replace the carpets and seat cushions, paint the inside of the passenger areas, fix the blown windows, repair the jamming toilet doors, reengineer the end of saloon doors so they don’t slide shut after the arbitrary 10 seconds and squash you when you’re waiting in a congested area to exit the train, fix the individual lights which are a great bonus when they work, and finally fix the internal general lighting so that it all works and is a standard warm colour and not the mish mash of colours that we’ve ended up with in some coaches.

Sounds like I’m moaning, but actually I’m not, these are nice trains that just need looking after properly, then we can all learn to love them again. They’ve been my work, holiday and visiting family train for 20 years now and like my house, they need redecorating !

 

[BenS123]

For me it's got to be the 444. Over 20 years service so far, reliable all the way. Extremely comfortable trains which offer a quiet experience to passengers. I'd even go as far as to call them easily the best 3rd rail trains in the country.

My most travelled on class of train (in fact I'm about to go on one in a couple of hours!).

It's sad as anything that replaces them will be a downgrade... We should really aim for more trains like 444s.

 

[prod_pep]

I will certainly miss the 507 and 508 units because despite what anybody might say about them, they have been in my opinion the best trains in Merseyside ( Wirral and Northern Lines ) and as far as I am concerned, they always will be.

Absolutely agree. Although it's easy to look at the old guard through rose-tinted spectacles, I genuinely do think they are better trains overall than their replacement. Much better seating, far superior ride quality, you can trust one to get you home and they sound great too. It's not like the Southern 313s for example where the newer 377s are clearly superior.

Of the other PEP-derived classes, the 314s stand out the most as due to their presence, I discovered a fantastic city in Glasgow.

 

[Jamesrob637]

For me it's got to be the 444. Over 20 years service so far, reliable all the way. Extremely comfortable trains which offer a quiet experience to passengers. I'd even go as far as to call them easily the best 3rd rail trains in the country.

My most travelled on class of train (in fact I'm about to go on one in a couple of hours!).

It's sad as anything that replaces them will be a downgrade... We should really aim for more trains like 444s.

Class 442

Hold my pint

 

[Wivenswold]

During my research I was sad to read about the withdrawal of Charlie, British Rail's last "Shunting Horse" in 1967.
The sixties must have been a heartbreaking time for rail enthusiasts with the loss of steam, regional livery variations and some wonderful branch lines.

 

[Flying Snail]

Class 442

In their original layout, definitely. The last proper express train on the Southern.

The only reason I'd have any affection for the majority of the current post-privatisation stock is the inevitability of whatever replaces it being even worse for comfort.

175s perhaps, nice interiors on the rare occasion they aren't massively overcrowded and the CAF junk replacing them is no upgrade, not to mention their brutal engineering failings gave us a few more years of loco hauled civility on the coast.

 

[A60stock]

1973 stock (LU) - For me, these aren't just a part of the Piccadilly line, they ARE the Piccadilly line. When you think of that line, you naturally associate it with the 73 stock and it will be weird when this is no longer reality.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

1973 stock (LU) - For me, these aren't just a part of the Piccadilly line, they ARE the Piccadilly line. When you think of that line, you naturally associate it with the 73 stock and it will be weird when this is no longer reality.

I feel that way with the Jubilee line.

 

[southern442]

VERY unpopular opinion incoming:

DLR B90/B92/B2K stock.
They are very worn out at this point, and the oldest ones having almost 35 years of service life is not bad at all for what they are. BUT, as with the posts above, they ARE the DLR in my eyes, and I find they are full of character in many ways. Plus I'm not a huge fan of longitudinal seating, and opportunities to sit forward facing on the DLR will be much reduced when these go!

 

[childwallblues]

For me it has to be the 507/508 which have been so much of a part of the Merseyside railways for over 40 years.

 

[LiftFan]

VERY unpopular opinion incoming:

DLR B90/B92/B2K stock.
They are very worn out at this point, and the oldest ones having almost 35 years of service life is not bad at all for what they are. BUT, as with the posts above, they ARE the DLR in my eyes, and I find they are full of character in many ways. Plus I'm not a huge fan of longitudinal seating, and opportunities to sit forward facing on the DLR will be much reduced when these go!

That reminds me, I’m going to miss sitting at the front on the Tyne & Wear once those new trains are in.

 

[KevL]

TPE nova 3, class 68 n stock. Quiet n comfortable. Far better than 185s, and i can work on my journey without the whine of engines and not get backache.