Greater Anglia Bombardier Aventras (Class 720): Technical discussion and introduction

[robert west]

That’s been around a while

just seen my list
it's 534 still to arrive
i make still to enter service are
720101-104 and 111-144 and
750502 503 504 505 507 508 509 510 513 518 519 534 541 544 582 583
not sure about 720512 516 107 and 109

 

[Peter Mugridge]

just seen my list
it's 534 still to arrive
i make still to enter service are
720101-104 and 111-144 and
750502 503 504 505 507 508 509 510 513 518 519 534 541 544 582 583
not sure about 720512 516 107 and 109

I had 720 512 for haulage yesterday ( paired with 720 540 ).

I had 720 107 for haulage a couple of weeks ago.

 

[robert west]

I had 720 512 for haulage yesterday ( paired with 720 540 ).

I had 720 107 for haulage a couple of weeks ago.

thanks for the updates

 

[Bikeman78]

Broxbourne is now all 10/12 cars, lengthened platforms 1 & 4 opened last Monday.

Happy days. I'm amazed that it's taken this long. If the 720s had been delivered to the original timescale there would have been a lot of them sitting around with nothing to do. Five cars on peak Broxbourne or Hertford trains with pre Covid loads doesn't bear thinking about.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Happy days. I'm amazed that it's taken this long. If the 720s had been delivered to the original timescale there would have been a lot of them sitting around with nothing to do. Five cars on peak Broxbourne or Hertford trains with pre Covid loads doesn't bear thinking about.

At least they've got them in traffic and kept them there unlike 701 and 730.

 

[dk1]

At least they've got them in traffic and kept them there unlike 701 and 730.

Then there’s the 196s & 197s too. Pretty shambolic really compared to the 720 roll out.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Then there’s the 196s & 197s too. Pretty shambolic really compared to the 720 roll out.

Not forgetting the 777's either!

 

[dk1]

Not forgetting the 777's either!

Yes that’s ongoing too. Amazing to think we got the 755s into traffic on Norwich locals quicker than many expected. That astonishingly is over 3 years ago now.

 

[1D54]

Saw a 720 heading south through MK earlier. Didn't get the chance to see which one as i was on a unit heading north, mileage accumulation?

 

[47584Suffolk]

If a GA unit (as opposed to c2c), then 720109 according to pics just seen on End of the Line. 720111 was hauled from Derby to Wembley, also on Friday 16/9.

However, there is a bit of a mystery which I'm hoping some kind person out there can resolve. Last Tuesday 13/9 there was a 720-formed 5Q50 10+07 Wembley ICD to Ilford. According to my records, that could only have been 720109 as it was the sole GA example then at Wembley. So how come it was out on the WCML on F.16/9? Possibly, the answer lies in a 5Q72 14+39 Ilford to Wembley ICD Class 720 move on Weds 14/9. Was that 109 going back to Wembley for some reason? Many advanced thanks for any relevant info.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Sep 2022 ==

If a GA unit (as opposed to c2c), then 720109 according to pics just seen on End of the Line. 720111 was hauled from Derby to Wembley, also on Friday 16/9.

However, there is a bit of a mystery which I'm hoping some kind person out there can resolve. Last Tuesday 13/9 there was a 720-formed 5Q50 10+07 Wembley ICD to Ilford. According to my records, that could only have been 720109 as it was the sole GA example then at Wembley. So how come it was out on the WCML on F.16/9? Possibly, the answer lies in a 5Q72 14+39 Ilford to Wembley ICD Class 720 move on Weds 14/9. Was that 109 going back to Wembley for some reason? Many advanced thanks for any relevant info.

Mystery solved re 720109's delivery to Ilford. After working yesterday's (M.19/9) 5Q27 Wembley to Rugby via Stafford shakedown run, it returned south as 5Q28 12+32 Rugby to Camden, the 5Q22 15+16 to Ilford. 720109 + 720582 were out today (Tu 20/9) on Southend branch FFR trips.

 

[gdj]

If a GA unit (as opposed to c2c), then 720109 according to pics just seen on End of the Line. 720111 was hauled from Derby to Wembley, also on Friday 16/9.

However, there is a bit of a mystery which I'm hoping some kind person out there can resolve. Last Tuesday 13/9 there was a 720-formed 5Q50 10+07 Wembley ICD to Ilford. According to my records, that could only have been 720109 as it was the sole GA example then at Wembley. So how come it was out on the WCML on F.16/9? Possibly, the answer lies in a 5Q72 14+39 Ilford to Wembley ICD Class 720 move on Weds 14/9. Was that 109 going back to Wembley for some reason? Many advanced thanks for any relevant info.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Sep 2022 ==


Mystery solved re 720109's delivery to Ilford. After working yesterday's (M.19/9) 5Q27 Wembley to Rugby via Stafford shakedown run, it returned south as 5Q28 12+32 Rugby to Camden, the 5Q22 15+16 to Ilford. 720109 + 720582 were out today (Tu 20/9) on Southend branch FFR trips.

Just for the record, the 5Q50 and 5Q72 moves you referred to last week involved C2C unit 720/606.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Haven’t seen it previously reported but 720582 has entered service and is about to work 1707 London Liv St to Southend Vic.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Haven’t seen it previously reported but 720582 has entered service and is about to work 1707 London Liv St to Southend Vic.

According to posts on se-gen earlier ( e-mail group ) that was testing with 720 109 this morning; were they both on that working or was it running solo?

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

According to posts on se-gen earlier ( e-mail group ) that was testing with 720 109 this morning; were they both on that working or was it running solo?

Unfortunately not, it was with a dud (for me) /5

 

[AC47461]

720 111 was out on service yesterday, I saw it coupled with 555 on the 1725 Southend Vic - Liverpool St at Billericay.

 

[PHWO]

Sat 8 Oct, 720516, 541 and 544 visible from London Road, Derby. You can see these from Zaytouna School car park, but will need binoculars to see the numbers. Also an un-numbered unit present. Hope this is of use to those of you down south keeping track of deliveries and haulages Phil

 

[JonathanH]

720 109

Cant see the others allocated at the moment

720109 (rear unit with 720589) was taken out of service yesterday at Stratford on 2K20 1152 London Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria after an internal panel fell from the ceiling adjacent to the universal toilet leaving exposed wiring. (Right annoying as I had boarded it with the hope of haulage.) It went empty to Southend and didn't re-enter service but not obvious what happened after that.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

720109 (rear unit with 720589) was taken out of service yesterday at Stratford on 2K20 1152 London Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria after an internal panel fell from the ceiling adjacent to the universal toilet leaving exposed wiring. (Right annoying as I had boarded it with the hope of haulage.) It went empty to Southend and didn't re-enter service but not obvious what happened after that.

720 589 was out in service today with 720 557, so I guess the errant unit is still being attended to. I did go past Ilford twice today and didn';t see it, although that doesn't mean it's not inside, but the fact that it ran empty to Southend suggests it's being looked at there?

 

[Wivenswold]

720 111 was out on service yesterday, I saw it coupled with 555 on the 1725 Southend Vic - Liverpool St at Billericay.

I'm surprised no-one spotted a combined unit number of 666 there. I hope there was a scramble to be the first to couple those two together.

 

[Alfie1014]

Rather worrying video on GAs Twitter feed from yesterday showing a 720s plug socket smoking

https://twitter.com/lpurser_ftbl/status/1580303143014780929?s=46&t=7mEup1c480HNKIiw8f4iiw

 

[800001]

Rather worrying video on GAs Twitter feed from yesterday showing a 720s plug socket smoking

https://twitter.com/lpurser_ftbl/status/1580303143014780929?s=46&t=7mEup1c480HNKIiw8f4iiw

Can happen to any plug in any train.

 

[Alfie1014]

Not sure I’d be very happy for any mains power socket to be smoking whether in a train or elsewhere!

 

[Peter Sarf]

Not sure I would plug anything of mine into a socket on a train. Seeing that makes me even less inclined to risk it. Perhaps one should first check with a small basic voltmeter to see what the voltage is !.

 

[Domh245]

Not sure I’d be very happy for any mains power socket to be smoking whether in a train or elsewhere!

The smoke will almost certainly be from the USB socket (or more accurately the electronics stepping the voltages down for the USB socket) - it could happen to anything as the root cause will be some small mass produced electronic component failing.

If it were coming from the main socket, there'd be a lot more smoke - albeit briefly before it'd hopefully trip the circuit breaker!

Not sure I would plug anything of mine into a socket on a train. Seeing that makes me even less inclined to risk it. Perhaps one should first check with a small basic voltmeter to see what the voltage is !.

Testing it with a voltmeter is unnecessary! Unless it looks obviously wrong (ie, smoke coming out of it, damage to the faceplate, or abnormal resistance when plugging in) then you'll be fine to plug your devices in*, worst case is that the socket doesn't work!


*unless you've got something that is sensitive to a dirty electricity supply, such as a desktop PC which you are unlikely to be plugging into a train! Chargers for laptops & mobiles are generally fairly robust and won't have many issues with a poor supply

 

[Domk]

Just spotted 720110 on the 10 coach service to Hertford East. Not sure if it’s a first but it did look shiny

 

[TheHSRailFan]

Just spotted 720110 on the 10 coach service to Hertford East. Not sure if it’s a first but it did look shiny

It is indeed shiny, trainlogger sightings for it started August this year with it starting last month or 2.

 

[XAM2175]

Would anybody happen to know if 101 to 144 have gone onto the vehicle register as being in subclass /5, or something else?

 

[St. Paddy]

720115 delivered to Wembley yesterday. Any others entered service recently?

 

[GeoffS]

720115 delivered to Wembley yesterday. Any others entered service recently?

720112 in service in the p.m. peak today

 

[St. Paddy]

720112 in service in the p.m. peak today

Thanks