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Thameslink/ Class 700 Progress
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The 378s were worse at the start.
I must say, having been a regular user of the 700s for over a year, that other than a couple of incidents in the very early days, I haven't found them any less reliable than what they replaced.
Another factor is that because they are long fixed formation units, comparing them to trains formed of 2 or 3 units isn't exactly a level playing field. If a 12 car 377 fails, it's miles per technical incident is 3 times better than for a class 700 failure.
urpert
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I noticed this evening that the services carrying First Class are being announced on platforms as "First Class at the front". Did some genuine FC passengers moan about overcrowding in the rear section?
Speaking of which, I havent seen one of the declassification notices on the screens in the rear compartment for ages. Which makes me nervous about sitting there and encountering a jobsworthy RPI.
tsr
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They still exist. I saw one yesterday.
J-2739
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Coming from Siemens? What do ya mean?? They generally make some of the most reliable trains on the network!
They are reliable, once bedded in. The previous ones were unreliable during their introduction (ring a bell), and picked up "doodlebug" as a nickname.
But they are also known to have built, for the worldwide market, some of the most unreliable and problematic railway rolling stock.
asylumxl
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AnsaldoBreda was first yes. Siemens always was much better, but still a lot of issues...even on the ICEs...
Agent_Squash
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Bearing in mind that Siemens have a reputation for reliability (which lead to the 185s). 444s still hold the Golden Spanner for their MTIN.
thomson787
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I travelled on 700013 twice today, found it much much better then the 319's and 465's
swt_passenger
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It's a peak only service in the tidal flow direction only - am from Littlehampton to Bedford, and pm from Bedford to Littlehampton. Only 4 trains over a 2 hour period. Which is odd because in each case the London to Bedford leg is against the main flow.
Hypothetically any of the 4 tph of peak only services can probably provide stock for a small number of additional off-peak services if they eventually decided to do so, but I don't think there'll ever be an all day service to or from Littlehampton...
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In what way. ? Apart from the hard seat and legroom issue they are a step up.
spark001uk
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Agent_Squash
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Finally got an opportunity to try the 700s. Much better than the 319s, but I was certainly glad I knew about the declassified first as there is no way people can survive from Brighton with those seats.
spark001uk
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I think knowledge is getting around now, I often get a service in the evening rush from STP or ZFD and you can see those "in-the-know" filtering through the crowd making a beeline for the arse end of the platform!
samuelmorris
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Agent_Squash said:
I dunno, I've done 40 mins in a longitudinal 345 seat and did start getting a sore bum but I've also done 70 mins on a 700 in standard seat and had absolutely no issue.
They've actually been cleared properly this time then I assume?!
Well they must have been because I'm on a return back right now. Still proper weird seeing the 700 at Victoria. I wish they replaced the 465 as well.
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I think knowledge is getting around now, I often get a service in the evening rush from STP or ZFD and you can see those "in-the-know" filtering through the crowd making a beeline for the arse end of the platform!
You'll be lucky to get a seat in the declassified first after City TL northbound in the pm peak. No chance from St Albans in the am peak on the fasts.
Funnily enough I've done Brighton to St Albans (nearly 2hrs) a few times on them, and as far as I can tell I'm still alive.
In my opinion, the seats in standard are far better than the standard seats on the 319s.
spark001uk
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Sounds about right. I'm usually on southbound in PM though; get on at STP and you may well get a declass seat, slim chance at ZFD, and south of that it's asses in faces down all gangways!
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At least you've got somewhere to dump your empty coffee cups and free newspapers though!
Whilst I can't claim to have walked through the whole train, the number of tables I saw in use was precisely zero.
Guess where all those cups with coffee dregs will be left though, - it will take some time to clear them as the train goes through the core or they'll end up on the floor. Wasn't that the reason that some were claiming a 'need' for these seat-back flaps?
Oh well, at least I can travel at times when there'll be seats with adequate legroom.
I've not seen any of these new tables in the down position (in photos, as I've not seen any in the flesh at all yet) and wonder if they have any sort of indent to hold a bottle/cup?
I wonder if the DfT will be vindicated one day should people start to leave stuff on them, which in turns makes it harder for people to get in and out of their window seat, which delays the 40-odd second dispatching target in the core.
they will be well used on some lines.......think ive mentioned before but that really busy Grinny to London Bridge that was in the news recently (which will become a 700) will have many a passenger with a coffee cup.... WHen pulling into upper warlingham there are literally around 100 people with a drink in their hand. The coffee shop there must make a killing.
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