Greater Anglia Rolling Stock Updates

[dk1]

All this griping about hard seats yet the ones i choose to sit in on GA are the newer harder upright ones near the disabled area in 1st & at carriage ends in Standard. Can't see the problem for 2hrs.

 

[F Great Eastern]

All this griping about hard seats yet the ones i choose to sit in on GA are the newer harder upright ones near the disabled area in 1st & at carriage ends in Standard. Can't see the problem for 2hrs.

I never spoke about hard seats, the toughness is not the issue!

I like those seats as well, but should be no surprise as I like longer seats with proper back support!

 

[dk1]

I never spoke about hard seats, the toughness is not the issue!

I like those seats as well, but should be no surprise as I like longer seats with proper back support!

Wasn't just you cocker. Just saying I prefer them, that's all.

 

[Trainfan344]

How are the 170 refurbs progressing?

 

[F Great Eastern]

How are the 170 refurbs progressing?

Are there any actually in proper service, I've been on 170s a lot in the last few weeks but not seen a refurbished one either in 3 car or 2 car form.

There was one 170 I was on Cambridge to Norwich last Tuesday though that was exceptionally clean and very good air-con almost like it'd been given a bit of work.

 

[TheEdge]

Are there any actually in proper service, I've been on 170s a lot in the last few weeks but not seen a refurbished one either in 3 car or 2 car form.

There was one 170 I was on Cambridge to Norwich last Tuesday though that was exceptionally clean and very good air-con almost like it'd been given a bit of work.

170201, 208 and 270 have all been refurbished and are in service.

The mystery 170 may have been 170204, it obviously had lots of work done as part of its collision repairs so looks in much better nick than the other non refurbished 170s.

 

[Alfie1014]

Hopefully the Bombardier stock will be better so some Ipswich / Manningtree / Colchester commuters will chose those and balance out the loadings better.

Good luck with that thought, the Aventras are going to be people movers, plain and simple, 2+3 (with the oh so loved FAINSA) seating, though there are reports that GA a rethinking the lack of 1st class.

 

[superalbs]

Good luck with that thought, the Aventras are going to be people movers, plain and simple, 2+3 (with the oh so loved FAINSA) seating, though there are reports that GA a rethinking the lack of 1st class.

Could've sworn a few pages back that GA said they're not going to use the "controversial" Fainsa seating.

 

[chubs]

170201, 208 and 270 have all been refurbished and are in service.

The mystery 170 may have been 170204, it obviously had lots of work done as part of its collision repairs so looks in much better nick than the other non refurbished 170s.

Was on a fully refurbished 170 a couple of weeks ago and it was lovely.

Yesterday had the 3 car with new seat covers but old everything else, it rattled the whole journey, the vestibule doors were all jammed open and the toilet stank. AC was working well though!

A 379 wa son the Stansted to Cambridge run and these have really taken a beating considering how young they are, but I suppose StanEx is very intensive with lots of baggage. It was mostly the carpet and the floor that was all damaged, the rest was nice.

 

[dk1]

Was on a fully refurbished 170 a couple of weeks ago and it was lovely.

Yesterday had the 3 car with new seat covers but old everything else, it rattled the whole journey, the vestibule doors were all jammed open and the toilet stank. AC was working well though!

The cleaners isolate those internal doors on nights & forget to reset them then nobody bothers. I do reset them on the rare occasions I prep the unit as find it adds to noise & fumes in the saloon.

 

[F Great Eastern]

170201, 208 and 270 have all been refurbished and are in service.

The mystery 170 may have been 170204, it obviously had lots of work done as part of its collision repairs so looks in much better nick than the other non refurbished 170s.

The train I was on had new seat covers, did 170204 have them? Can't remember if it did it was out for so long.

 

[TheEdge]

All the 170s have the new seat covers now. So I'm still leaning towards 170204, it is noticeably nicer than the others now.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I hope they don't just scrap the 379s. They're only just over 5 years old! They'll probably scrap the 317s, which will break my heart, but they are very old.

 

[grumblingalong]

Every last one has already been sold to the Heinz can making division. Oxyacetylene prices are going up! They are planning a special seat bonfire

 

[physics34]

I hope they don't just scrap the 379s. They're only just over 5 years old! They'll probably scrap the 317s, which will break my heart, but they are very old.

lol...why would they scrap the 379s. They will be quite easily to transfer away and could have conductor shoes added

 

[fat_boy_pete]

There has been a lot of opinions shared about the new seats on the Greater Anglia replacement rolling stock, so I'd thought I'd share mine. However my opinion is influenced by some facts and some experience.

I was lucky enough to visit the Bombardier factory last week as part of a stakeholder visit, to see the mock up of the interior of the new Adventra Class 720 being designed for Greater Anglia. I'm only going to discuss one aspect of the visit, my experience of the seats.

Firstly they are not the infamous Fainsa seat used in the Class 700, but a different model. I sat in them for around 45 minutes during the visit, which I think is a fairly average time for a GA commuter (comparable to WTM-LST or RLG-LST) with many sitting less and a few for a longer period. My impression was that they were firm, but not uncomfortable. Of course they have the high seat backs of the modern seat and they are much more upright that the seats in the class 321's, which I find fairly uncomfortable to sit in because of their low cushion height and ridiculous seat back angle. I had travelled the first part of the way to Derby in a 360, so it was interesting to compare the experience. They were quite similar but I would say the new seats were firmer, although they may be because they are new and hadn't had tens of thousands of bottoms on them like the one in the 360!

While I was there I deliberately asked to sit in the 'worst' seats in the mock up, e.g the ones with the most restrictive leg room. These are 2 airline seats, which typically are the last ones in the carriage at the end. They make up about 2% of the seats of a class 720/5 (5 car unit) or in real numbers there are 5 pairs or ten seats in the unit. Every other seat has more leg room and the priority seat pair nearest the doors have much more leg room than most.

Here is a picture of my legs when stretched out in these seats:



As you see, the cantilevered seat support in front stops me stretching out too far, but for someone with a dodgy knee like me, there was reasonable room to stretch out. Seat pitch for these worst seats is 30" in airline measurements.

Here is a picture of the legs of a 6' 2" Bombardier Engineer sitting in the same seat, which he kindly did so I could get a better angled picture



So generally I think most people will be fairly comfortable, even in these worst airline seats. Note the seat back tables, they will have a novel set of grooves in them so people can stand up iPads and phones on them without slipping, powered either by the 3 Pin plug or the 2 x USB sockets which are situated between each pair of seats.

Finally, just to prove I'm not a cheerleader for GA, here is a picture of the daft 3 x Airline seats, which they have shoehorned in to meet the DfT target number of seats. Thankfully there will be only 4 sets of these in a 720/5 and 7 in a 720/1 10-car.



I doubt they will see 3 people in them very often, unless you have a family or 3 friends travelling off peak. I expect the middle one to be usually empty in the peaks.

 

[MatthewRead]

There has been a lot of opinions shared about the new seats on the Greater Anglia replacement rolling stock, so I'd thought I'd share mine. However my opinion is influenced by some facts and some experience.

I was lucky enough to visit the Bombardier factory last week as part of a stakeholder visit, to see the mock up of the interior of the new Adventra Class 720 being designed for Greater Anglia. I'm only going to discuss one aspect of the visit, my experience of the seats.

Firstly they are not the infamous Fainsa seat used in the Class 700, but a different model. I sat in them for around 45 minutes during the visit, which I think is a fairly average time for a GA commuter (comparable to WTM-LST or RLG-LST) with many sitting less and a few for a longer period. My impression was that they were firm, but not uncomfortable. Of course they have the high seat backs of the modern seat and they are much more upright that the seats in the class 321's, which I find fairly uncomfortable to sit in because of their low cushion height and ridiculous seat back angle. I had travelled the first part of the way to Derby in a 360, so it was interesting to compare the experience. They were quite similar but I would say the new seats were firmer, although they may be because they are new and hadn't had tens of thousands of bottoms on them like the one in the 360!

While I was there I deliberately asked to sit in the 'worst' seats in the mock up, e.g the ones with the most restrictive leg room. These are 2 airline seats, which typically are the last ones in the carriage at the end. They make up about 2% of the seats of a class 720/5 (5 car unit) or in real numbers there are 5 pairs or ten seats in the unit. Every other seat has more leg room and the priority seat pair nearest the doors have much more leg room than most.

Here is a picture of my legs when stretched out in these seats:

View attachment 33652

As you see, the cantilevered seat support in front stops me stretching out too far, but for someone with a dodgy knee like me, there was reasonable room to stretch out. Seat pitch for these worst seats is 30" in airline measurements.

Here is a picture of the legs of a 6' 2" Bombardier Engineer sitting in the same seat, which he kindly did so I could get a better angled picture

View attachment 33653

So generally I think most people will be fairly comfortable, even in these worst airline seats. Note the seat back tables, they will have a novel set of grooves in them so people can stand up iPads and phones on them without slipping, powered either by the 3 Pin plug or the 2 x USB sockets which are situated between each pair of seats.

Finally, just to prove I'm not a cheerleader for GA, here is a picture of the daft 3 x Airline seats, which they have shoehorned in to meet the DfT target number of seats. Thankfully there will be only 4 sets of these in a 720/5 and 7 in a 720/1 10-car.

View attachment 33654

I doubt they will see 3 people in them very often, unless you have a family or 3 friends travelling off peak. I expect the middle one to be usually empty in the peaks.

Is that a Renatus 321 how many are in service now may I ask?

 

[fat_boy_pete]

Is that a Renatus 321 how many are in service now may I ask?

No. The pictures are of the interior mock up in Derby of a Bombardier Adventra Class 720.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Those 3x airline seats look a bus that has been converted to school-bus style seating.

Looks like they've changed the spec from the original mocks.

 

[Wivenswold]

No. The pictures are of the interior mock up in Derby of a Bombardier Adventra Class 720.

I question if I may, was the trunking cover on the floor by the wall intrusive at all? It certainly looks much smaller than the floor-mounted heaters on the 321s/360s.

Is that carpet on the floor? I'm quite impressed, looks like a quality interior.

 

[class387]

I'm also quite impressed, as I have been with all the other Aventra interiors. Looks about as good as 3+2 can get. Seats look good as well.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'm also quite impressed, as I have been with all the other Aventra interiors. Looks about as good as 3+2 can get. Seats look good as well.

Agreed, they certainly look better than 350/2s, particularly in having seat back tables. Wouldn't be too upset if an Abellio-LM ordered some.

Only thing I'd say is to square off the heating conduit so it can be used as a footrest.

 

[Wivenswold]

Any more news on the Renatus introduction?

After a search on Flickr it appears 301/303/304/312/321 are now back.
Would think that 306/307/308/310 are next once the first tranche enter service.

 

[hwl]

Agreed, they certainly look better than 350/2s, particularly in having seat back tables. Wouldn't be too upset if an Abellio-LM ordered some.

Only thing I'd say is to square off the heating conduit so it can be used as a footrest.

Except it isn't a "heating conduit" as the Aventras have electric underfloor heating in conventional (i.e. non bench seating areas) hence why it is much smaller as it just has cabling in it. A very different experience in the window seats from Desiro City or lots of older stock.

 

[TheDavibob]

Except it isn't a "heating conduit" as the Aventras have electric underfloor heating in conventional (i.e. non bench seating areas) hence why it is much smaller as it just has cabling in it. A very different experience in the window seats from Desiro City or lots of older stock.

Any quantification of "much smaller" available? Can someone sit straight in the seat with both feet down, for example?

 

[samuelmorris]

Thanks a lot for posting that information fat_boy_pete, I'm fairly happy with how these trains are being specified in general, there seems to be a decent amount of thought having gone into it, which makes a change from the complaints about the 387s and 700s resulting from DfT-led objectives. I suppose all we have to potentially complain about here in that regard is the 3+2 seating. Between these units, the 745s and the TfL fleet, I'm fairly confident that come 2020, apart from being among the newest, Liverpool Street will have not just one of the newest, but subjectively, among the best rolling stock fleets in the country. Despite the high-intensity metro configuration in use, the 345 was a pleasure to travel on and gives me confidence that the 720s will, with the right spec, make fine units to spend a substantial commute on. It's actually quite exciting.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Except it isn't a "heating conduit" as the Aventras have electric underfloor heating in conventional (i.e. non bench seating areas) hence why it is much smaller as it just has cabling in it. A very different experience in the window seats from Desiro City or lots of older stock.

Pity, in that case, it couldn't be removed entirely.

 

[Kettledrum]

I'm also quite impressed, as I have been with all the other Aventra interiors. Looks about as good as 3+2 can get. Seats look good as well.

I can't believe we're still making new stock with 3+2 seating. The seats are way to small, often aren't all used because most adult passengers are too big, and take up space that passengers could use to stand. They take up space that would otherwise be gangways, so it takes longer for passengers to get on and off too.

Does this never get fed back when interior layouts are revealed or consulted upon?

 

[hwl]

Any quantification of "much smaller" available? Can someone sit straight in the seat with both feet down, for example?

It only intrudes across 20% of the window seat width and passed the sit straight with both feet test with me...

 

[hwl]

Pity, in that case, it couldn't be removed entirely.

It only occupies the space above the curved lower section of the bodyside and also hides some of the floor/side panel join features and seat mounting mounting points (seats are cantilevered from the bodyside with no floor support). It effectively just "straight lines" the curve on the outside of the body which many people forget how significant it is.