Class 345 progress

[essex_commuter]

2W37 (0812 SNF-LST) was advertised as being formed of 7 coaches on the platform display this morning but 315s showed up - does anyone know if this service is imminently transferring to 345 or is it an error with the display?

I decided to skip the previous train and get this one because of that line on the display. That'll teach me!

 

[samuelmorris]

Heh, unlucky buddy! I've seen that refer to carriages out of use as well of course, but never on TfL Rail before and only seeing it now, knowing they use it to indicate 345-operated services makes me think that's less likely, especially since no other announcements were made to suggest a vehicle out of use.

 

[Kite159]

Looked like the 2C43 0917 Gidea Park to London Liverpool Street service this morning was a 345 (just passed it heading towards Liverpool Street at Maryland as 345009 is the unit on the 09:30 Shenfield from Liverpool Street).

My god the door opening buzzers are loud!

 

[essex_commuter]

Looked like the 2C43 0917 Gidea Park to London Liverpool Street service this morning was a 345 (just passed it heading towards Liverpool Street at Maryland as 345009 is the unit on the 09:30 Shenfield from Liverpool Street).

My god the door opening buzzers are loud!

There was definitely 2 345's out this morning. I got 345008 on the 7:58 from Gidea Park, and passed another one (sounds like 009) going the other way.

 

[Kite159]

One small thing I noticed is the penalty fare warning stickers on the doors are the old style "ticket or oyster" compared to the "validatied smartcard" style for contactless

First impressions are good, although I can see some passengers being unhappy with the reduction of seating compared to 315s, yes they might be able to get on during the peaks but will probably be standing most of the way. The door opening buzzers are too loud in my view but the make a good news when opening/closing

Considering they are going be used on airport services they don't have a lot of luggage space

 

[samuelmorris]

Yes they are excessively loud - I hope they change that but I'm not optimistic. With the exception of tube stock, Bombardier door sounders have a tradition of being on the obtrusive side. There may not be any actual luggage racks to speak of, but it's worth remembering that the disabled areas are 'wheelchairs and luggage' areas when not being used by wheelchair passengers. There should be plenty of space unless people board during peak hours in which case they're always going to have that problem and there should still be more space to get out to Paddington than on the tube!

The lack of seating has not shown itself to be too much an issue because the overall capacity of the unit is larger, but it does mean there are a lot more standing passengers from Liverpool Street than there were before. By Stratford it's irrelevant as you can barely board a 315 there, so even in 7-car guise it's a big improvement.

There was definitely 2 345's out this morning. I got 345008 on the 7:58 from Gidea Park, and passed another one (sounds like 009) going the other way.

Are you certain? I haven't seen 345009 anywhere yet, I didn't even realise it had been delivered.

Edit - yep, fair enough, just been on it - just leaves 006/007 for me now then I believe.

 

[321over360]

I know 345010 was out and about yesterday as I saw it as I was travelling westbound on the Central Line.

I hope a 345 takes over the weekday 0444 Shenfield to Liverpool Street duty soon

 

[simple simon]

A day or so ago I saw on a railgen website that starting from 18th September 2017 there will be two Class 345 trains in full passenger service.

If I get to see a timetable for the second train I'll share the info, both here and on the traininfo.htm page on my website.

First however, I need to see the timetable made available in the public domain. This is not something that I can do.

Simon

 

[Kite159]

I know 345010 was out and about yesterday as I saw it as I was travelling westbound on the Central Line.

I hope a 345 takes over the weekday 0444 Shenfield to Liverpool Street duty soon

010 was on the off-peak extra service (10:35 from Liverpool Street to Shenfield) yesterday

 

[Mordac]

Does anyone know which are the powered bogies on these units? I'm assuming the same as for the Electrostars, i.e. the 'inner' of each powered vehicle, but it's difficult to tell when they're so quiet!

I'm a bit late, but don't think anyone's replied to this yet. According to P5, the configuration is:

2-Bo + Bo-2 + Bo-Bo (+ Bo-2) + 2-2 (+ 2-Bo) + Bo-Bo + 2-Bo + Bo-2

with the ones in brackets being the two coaches that will be added up to make 9.

 

[Roast Veg]

Curious that the additional coaches are not the other way around, it seems odd to have 3 powered/4 unpowered/3 powered when the rest is so uniformly distributed, but I'm sure there's a reason for it. Perhaps the traction is just that much better in the middle?

 

[hwl]

I'm a bit late, but don't think anyone's replied to this yet. According to P5, the configuration is:

2-Bo + Bo-2 + Bo-Bo (+ Bo-2) + 2-2 (+ 2-Bo) + Bo-Bo + 2-Bo + Bo-2

with the ones in brackets being the two coaches that will be added up to make 9.

Correct - the motor cooling arrangement makes them very quiet so it is hard to tell unless you look at the data plates on each bogie, the traction electrics can be on adjacent cars too (for 2nd 4th 6th 8th car in 9 car units) so no easy hints there either.

 

[hwl]

Curious that the additional coaches are not the other way around, it seems odd to have 3 unpowered/4 powered/3 unpowered when the rest is so uniformly distributed, but I'm sure there's a reason for it. Perhaps the traction is just that much better in the middle?

Traction electronics wise they are 2 seperate four car units with 1 pantograph, 1 transformer and 2 traction electronics boxes per 4 car unit with a trailer between the 2 units. The traction electronics for the end and pantograph cars (1st and 2nd form either end) are in the end car and the traction electronics for the 3rd and 4th car (from either end) are in the 3rd car hence the arrangement minimises the amount of traction power cabling.

The traction electronic boxes also contain the combined auxiliary power supplies and can power upto 6 traction motors - a big break from electrostar practice which also reduces mass significantly.

 

[Roast Veg]

Traction electronics wise they are 2 seperate four car units with 1 pantograph, 1 transformer and 2 traction electronics boxes per 4 car unit with a trailer between the 2 units. The traction electronics for the end and pantograph cars (1st and 2nd form either end) are in the end car and the traction electronics for the 3rd and 4th car (from either end) are in the 3rd car hence the arrangement minimises the amount of traction power cabling.

The traction electronic boxes also contain the combined auxiliary power supplies and can power upto 6 traction motors - a big break from electrostar practice which also reduces mass significantly.

Aha, that explains it very nicely, thanks.

 

[700007]

I think I might have said it earlier this year but the plan is to introduce a new train to the diagram every fortnight and by Christmas it should be nearly a full house of Aventras running the off peak service.

In turn, 4 315 units a month become write offs unfortunately.

 

[321over360]

I think I might have said it earlier this year but the plan is to introduce a new train to the diagram every fortnight and by Christmas it should be nearly a full house of Aventras running the off peak service.

In turn, 4 315 units a month become write offs unfortunately.

Would be nice to have lots of Aventras running up and down the GEML

But it will be nice to see the back of the 315s as they are showing their age including in their ability to move properly. The 345s are a much nicer onboard environment, yes we have S8 style seating and no toilet (but to compensate for the lack of onboard toilet i hope TFL ensure their are facilities working at the existing stations and in the core stations)

Another thing why would be nice to see a 345 taking over more 315 duties is the lovely air con, gotta hand it to Bombardier, they make decent air con on their trains unlike Siemens

 

[Blindtraveler]

Many on here say Deziro AC is great but having gone from a 700 to an S stock to a 345 earlier this year within an hour the latter 2 were far superior.

 

[samuelmorris]

Original Desiro AC, e.g. Class 360 was pretty effective I found, if very noisy. The A/C on 700s is much quieter and varyingly effective - on the days I've really needed it, it's been absolutely fine, but I have been on several trains which I think could have done with it being on and it either wasn't, or was defective. My experience of the A/C on 345s is mixed - when the train is empty it's very potent, but performance doesn't seem to ramp up accordingly when the train is full, it certainly doesn't feel as strong as on the S stock. On some vehicles it's also started making a great deal of unnecessary noise, which is a bit concerning for almost brand new trains.

 

[THC]

Three random 345s in service this morning between Gidea Park and Chadwell Heath. Largest number I've yet seen on my morning commute.

THC

 

[iphone76]

Three random 345s in service this morning between Gidea Park and Chadwell Heath. Largest number I've yet seen on my morning commute.

THC

I think there would be one or two more out if it wasn't for signalling issues / train issues at Stratford this morning. I saw a few in the yard at Godea Park when I passed earlier.

 

[jon0844]

Went on the 1120 from LST this morning and have to say I was quite impressed with the relaxed atmosphere inside. Subdued lighting and very tinted glass made it feel like no other train I think I've ever been on before.

A stark contrast to the 700s.

Where they have the normal 2+2 seating, the aisles are quite narrow though compared to the 700s (like the 387s). Certainly not so easy to pass others at the same time or go through with a buggy.

But on the other hand, there's stacks of room by the doorways.

The train (345009) had a number of Bombardier staff with hivis on but the train seemed to run fine to Stratford where I jumped off to go back. Missed another 345 in the other direction!

 

[samuelmorris]

This I think emphasises the point about armrests on the 700s - it's pretty easy to stroll through the train with both seats occupied. It isn't especially difficult doing that on 345s, but certainly not quite as easy. That said, when it comes to strollers, wheelchairs etc. the areas for these should be clearly marked on the stations and I'm guessing will probably be in areas without transverse seating to walk through? You would also hope that people would make space as appropriate. I can't think of many trains where you could get a stroller through the aisle easily!

As far as I'm aware the trains still haven't had their software update yet, despite entering service in increasing numbers. One of the issues with the original version seems to be that the rearmost door is typically locked out of use and there seemed to often be a member of staff at the rear of the train policing that. Not sure if that has been fixed yet.

 

[jon0844]

You can get a buggy down the aisles of a 700, just. Obviously not so much the 'SUV' style ones.

It's good that you can walk through and pass people standing in the aisles of a 700. On a 345 you'll hopefully be able to do it if nobody is standing in the 2+2 seating areas.

Swings and roundabouts, as the internal layouts are quite different. And as I was on the train for about 7 minutes, I thought the 345 was fine. I imagine most of my usage in the future will be Farringdon to Heathrow or the West End.

700s will be for much longer distances.

 

[spark001uk]

Network Rail has just published a video marking the completion of Crossrail trackwork.

[youtube]loDdUlbk_Eg[/youtube]

 

[samuelmorris]

2C74 1810LST-GDP also 345 today, 006 specifically.

 

[rebmcr]

Network Rail has just published a video marking the completion of Crossrail trackwork.

Network Rail has nothing to do with it!

 

[Trailfinder]

More Crossrail PR misinformation!

Crossrail trackwork in the tunnels may be complete, but it isn't outside.

I went in and out of Paddington today and can report that the tracks come out of the tunnels and stop. The trackwork to form the Westbourne Park reversing facility etc (part of Crossrail) is in progress of being formed. The track that formed the previous construction railhead being removed.

 

[Olaf]

Network Rail has just published a video marking the completion of Crossrail trackwork.

[youtube]loDdUlbk_Eg[/youtube]

Reminds me of the old "Time Tunnel" TV Series.

 

[Uzair]

What happened to the planned scissors crossover at Canary Wharf?

 

[samuelmorris]

All 345 diagrams back to 315 operation this evening, have they discovered a problem?