Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone had any more details about the new Class 730 Aventras due for London Northwestern? Interested to know how they'll be specified and what services they'll be used on.
Thanks
Anyone know how the 730/2s will differ from the 730/1s?
Agreed. There has been a long-standing inability (incapability) of WMT and predecessors back to Regional Railways Central days to allocate the right stock to the diagrammed turns.I don't *know*, but it wouldn't surprise me if the /1s had 3+2 seating and the /s 2+2.
Given their present inability to keep 350s on the right diagrams (even though sending a /2 to Crewe causes delays) I'm not convinced that having the WCML sets in two subclasses is at all sensible - better to have them all the same.
Agreed. There has been a long-standing inability (incapability) of WMT and predecessors back to Regional Railways Central days to allocate the right stock to the diagrammed turns.
Absolutely spot on. Standardisation always makes it easier - one of SWR’s reasons for replacing all its 455/456/458/707 fleets was to standardise the metro/suburban fleet.But if you can't do it, the sensible answer is to have as much as possible the same. So have all 350s rejigged to the same layout and power sockets fitted to the /1s (the /1 and /3 layout is similar but not identical, and /1s don't have power sockets in Standard), and only have one subclass of WCML Aventra (with a high-ish density 2+2 layout like the 350/1s presently have).
This is it.Given their present inability to keep 350s on the right diagrams (even though sending a /2 to Crewe causes delays) I'm not convinced that having the WCML sets in two subclasses is at all sensible - better to have them all the same.
I'd also be interested to see the research done on whether that middle seat is used during peak times, or whether it's worth having more space for standing.
Presently, we have maximum 3x350s coupled together on the Euston-Northampton trains. Will the 730s be limited to 2x units or can platforms handle 3x?
2x, but as they are 24m units rather than 20m 2x730 is the same length as 3x350.
1x730 is 120m long, the rough length of a Class 350 and a half, which is actually a perfect length for most off peak south WCML services. 4 is rarely enough but 8 often excessive.
The Greater Anglia class 720 Aventras will have 3+2 seating. The London Northwestern class 730s are part of the same family of trains, just with corridor fitted cabs, so there is a precedent, though hopefully they won't be so fitted if they're intended for the longer-distance services.There haven't been any new 2+3 trains for ages. 172s were 2+2 so if you have 2+2 for those, so would it be actually likely that there would be have 2+3 for these new trains?
I believe that the London Northwestern units are due to enter service by June 2021.It should present a fair increase in capacity, with 37x80m units being replaced with 45x120m units. I'm assuming no announcement has been made on when these are intended to be introduced. Given the delays to the first two Aventra classes, it could be a fair wait before we see any of these in service.
It should present a fair increase in capacity, with 37x80m units being replaced with 45x120m units
Interior and exterior renders here: https://twitter.com/tobythetram/status/1058485676998565888
Very, um, bold interior choice for the CAF units.
Re the orange on the seats - more like a design rejected by easyJet..Good to see no 3+2 (though the mind now boggles as to what the difference between the north and south WCML interiors will be?), and the LNR interior looks very classy (though can we please *actually* have the fake leather headrests? The East Anglia ones have been delivered without). And the seats look decent, they look like the 2+2 version of those on Abellio East Anglia which do appear better than ironing boards and quite similar to the Grammer E3000 found in the Desiros.
But that orange? Yuck. It looks like a Stagecoach bus interior on a bad day.
Anyone know how the 730/2s will differ from the 730/1s?
Diagrammed, no. The reality is they will be used indiscriminately, as per the random unit generator we have discussed previously.So it turns out, despite what I thought, that the south WCML ones will be 3+2 and the others 2+2. Who bets they will, as at present, just be diagrammed as one fleet?
Diagrammed, no. The reality is they will be used indiscriminately, as per the random unit generator we have discussed previously.