Question for the train people of NSC ~ Gatwick Express!!

[Norman Potting]

Who remembers these beauties around the Southern Region? Oak Paneling and luxury soft cushions, unlike the rock hard seats of the electrostar stock of todays railway. Remember riding them as a young lad many times. Probably taken out of service in the early 70's?

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That is quite enough train porn thank you! What I want to know is, with Southern ordering new units with gay abandon why can't they squeeze in an order for some more Class 170 stock, some more cars to turn the 2 - car units that run along the coast into 3 or 4 would be good.

 

[Bladders]

Who remembers these beauties around the Southern Region? Oak Paneling and luxury soft cushions, unlike the rock hard seats of the electrostar stock of todays railway. Remember riding them as a young lad many times. Probably taken out of service in the early 70's?

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The old Class 401 2-BIL. Made in the 1930's and the last was withdrawn in 1971.

Only one left in existence at York.

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

Love the Gatwick Express, and they don't stop at Croydon which is always a bonus

 

[BEN12360]

Simply, why do these bloody trains keep breaking??
Yet again my train home was split from the usual 10 coaches down to 5 which is becoming a more then a regular occorance. And every time it is the standard announcement "we apologise for the short formation of this service today, this is due to a fault earlier today which could not be rectified"

These trains seem to breakdown more then our bloody players which is some going at the moment!
Are they realy that fragile or are the "split up" to be used elsewhere on the network?

Get a Car and drive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or a Bike or Helicopter or Plane or Hovercraft or Boat...........BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

 

[dougdeep]

Because they are over 40 years old and parts to repair them are hard to source hence having to make do with what you have to keep them going.

No, they shifted all of the old ones onto the Seaford line.

 

[worthingseagull123]

Sadly the prices keep going up, whereupon the level of service gets worse year upon year.

It is like Connex running the trains again.

Praying that Southern lose the franchise.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

Sadly the prices keep going up, whereupon the level of service gets worse year upon year.

It is like Connex running the trains again.

Praying that Southern lose the franchise.

Your obsession is unhealthy......

Stagecoach should get it, done a good job with East Midlands and South West.....also have a bit of Virgin Trains.

 

[Hamilton]

Just don't let first group near us. Certainly not those cretins at FCC.

 

[worthingseagull123]

Your obsession is unhealthy......

Stagecoach should get it, done a good job with East Midlands and South West.....also have a bit of Virgin Trains.

Not really unhealthy. Just tired of crap service, being ripped off and nothing I can do about it (easily).

 

[1swedegull]

Marvellous thread ... even tbough the gatwicks are 442s its considerably better then a 460 which is now being made into a commuter train for swt
personally heritage is better. many a time on the way to hove i would do a 73 on the gatwicks for standard unit forward.... although nothing compares to the proper motive power the seagulls express used to employ ..the class 33s they cant be beaten .

 

[theboybilly]

Marvellous thread ... even tbough the gatwicks are 442s its considerably better then a 460 which is now being made into a commuter train for swt
personally heritage is better. many a time on the way to hove i would do a 73 on the gatwicks for standard unit forward.... although nothing compares to the proper motive power the seagulls express used to employ ..the class 33s they cant be beaten .

While I can't argue that a Class 442 has a more comfortable ride than anything else on the Southern Region, as a Gatwick Express Driver I have to say I'd have a Class 460 any day. They weren't perfect but were much more suited to Rail/Air operations and were vastly more reliable than a 442. The older trains were never designed to have the modern computerised gubbins bolted on 30 years after they were built, and taking them out of Eastleigh Depot (or wherever) where they spent years in storage rotting away was never going to be without problems.
Add the fact that spares can't be sourced, and the cannibalisation of one unit to keep another going, it's pure luck that they have as many units on the go that they do. The 442s should be scrapped in my opinion and replaced by state-of-the-art trains (not built by Alstom mind) But the bean-counters will always go down the cheapest route, and the passenger ends up paying with constant cancellations and failures.

 

[matski_98]

FWIW if you're on a short formation Gatwick Express head straight to First Class and sit in comfort. Its normally declassified due to overcrowding but the guard is too busy hiding to tell anyone.

 

[theboybilly]

FWIW if you're on a short formation Gatwick Express head straight to First Class and sit in comfort. Its normally declassified due to overcrowding but the guard is too busy hiding to tell anyone.

Hmm..good luck with that

 

[Hiney]

TMLS often has an opinion on this particular topic - often re-defining the English language as he goes.

He's turned it into an art form.

Im afraid I will have to disagree. The most uncomfortable by far. The head rests are too high. Your back is almost like having a curtain pole shoved up against it and then the ****ers break down ALL THE TIME. They are in short a DISGRACE. Even more DISGRACEFUL is that these unreliable pieces of SHIT are still allowed on the tracks.

I actually try and AVOID these trains wherever physically possible.

The 7.33 to London Bridge is now one of satans trains so I get an earlier one it used to be the green/white "normal" ones. Now its Thameslink/FCC(!) just so I dont have to sit uncomfortably for the journey. Introducing these carriages just compounded the fact that it is ALWAYS late getting into LB, when you add the lateness to taking another ten mins getting off the ****ers with their single door at each end....thats if the ****ing doors open.

And there it is.

Marvellous work

 

[Hiney]

Who remembers these beauties around the Southern Region? Oak Paneling and luxury soft cushions, unlike the rock hard seats of the electrostar stock of todays railway. Remember riding them as a young lad many times. Probably taken out of service in the early 70's?

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I always remember the old 4COR EMUs as having the panelling and soft cushions. They had the wierd concertina connectors between the coaches. It was a real job negotiating them as they rattled along the south coast line.

Happy days

 

[goldstone]

442? How old-fashioned. ......

But at least you should score more goals with two up front.

 

[worthingseagull123]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rvice-fares-soar-overcrowded-late-trains.html

Southern now worse nationally in terms of public satisfaction.

Hopefully not long till they are gone for good

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I've been commuting to London Bridge on the Gatwick Express...

*touch wood*

I hope you don't do that on the train.

 

[Badger]

I hope you don't do that on the train.

It stops people sitting next to me