Class 701 'Aventra' trains for South Western Railway: progress updates

[Forestboy]

It won't be 4 drivers for that long?? It will ramp up at a suitable point, especially once most of the instructors including new ones have been trained on it. Also have the fact that during that time the 701s will eventually roll out which would mean the 455s would start to drop out. I believe it may be the case that the 455 traction have or will cease to be trained to new drivers(qualified or trainee) joining SWR from now, unless I'm wrong and someone more in the know can confirm?

If true then that will mean one less traction for instructors to be occupied by.

That is correct.New trainees that have just started won't be trained on 455 traction.The last lot of trainees that will be assessed on 455 traction for their final assessment are well into their training. I was told a few months back what the first trainee group would be that will not be trained for 455 traction , but have forgotten what class it is.I think they've already started though.

 

[VWRO2]

That is correct.New trainees that have just started won't be trained on 455 traction.The last lot of trainees that will be assessed on 455 traction for their final assessment are well into their training. I was told a few months back what the first trainee group would be that will not be trained for 455 traction , but have forgotten what class it is.I think they've already started though.

That'll be the group I'm in, BDT3. We've received basic handling (the 3 of us from our group that work from 455 depots) but no proper traction training. We started at the beginning of April.

 

[JonathanH]

701039 allocated to the 0645 London Waterloo to Shepperton this morning https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:L60084/2024-09-30/detailed#allox_id=0

701036 on the 0633 London Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:L61960/2024-09-30/detailed#allox_id=0

 

[NSEWonderer]

That is correct.New trainees that have just started won't be trained on 455 traction.The last lot of trainees that will be assessed on 455 traction for their final assessment are well into their training. I was told a few months back what the first trainee group would be that will not be trained for 455 traction , but have forgotten what class it is.I think they've already started though.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Sep 2024 ==

That'll be the group I'm in, BDT3. We've received basic handling (the 3 of us from our group that work from 455 depots) but no proper traction training. We started at the beginning of April.

Thanks

 

[Goldfish62]

It's weekends and evenings that have been suffering the most recently.

But nothing remotely like the carnage at weekends and evenings I experience regularly elsewhere, eg, GWR, Northern, GTR, which are essentially no-go zones at such times!

 

[St. Paddy]

69008 with 701503/504 moving from Derby to Eastleigh today

 

[Snow1964]

69008 with 701503/504 moving from Derby to Eastleigh today

These are 2 of the 6 outstanding 5car units not reported as having a Rock Rail charge. (501, 502, 525, 526 are other 4 half length units)

 

[markle]

deleted

 

[NSEWonderer]

Completely forgot today was the Shepperton branch roll out

 

[OneTrackMinded]

[deleted, duplicate]

 

[43096]

Nice little video on Twitter from SWR about the 701 now serving Shepperton:

x.com

x.com

Hopefully the rollout is beginning to build a bit of momentum...

SWR would be well advised to shut up with the publicity about the roll out, as it is just embarrassing for them. Hope somebody replies pointing out how many years late they are.

 

[gmaguire]

They've been doing that ever since 701s entered service in January.
I assume it WAS Arterio?

Sorry I didn’t see it. I was on a train just ahead of it and couldn’t wait at Waterloo.

 

[GEC465]

In my opinion the best looking Aventra class out of the family.

Imo it's defo a good looker but 50/50 with 720/730s

 

[blaiseh]

SWR would be well advised to shut up with the publicity about the roll out, as it is just embarrassing for them. Hope somebody replies pointing out how many years late they are.

especially as they cancelled the 0523 from Shepperton due to lack of train crew and ran it empty from the depot into Waterloo - https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:12555/2024-09-30/detailed

 

[SWT_USER]

SWR would be well advised to shut up with the publicity about the roll out, as it is just embarrassing for them. Hope somebody replies pointing out how many years late they are.

Totally agree with this. SWR should just be getting on with it quickly and quietly. Especially as there are likely to be problems ahead given the lack of units actually fit for passenger service.

It IS good news that there is another diagram now though.

 

[swtrains]

SWR would be well advised to shut up with the publicity about the roll out, as it is just embarrassing for them. Hope somebody replies pointing out how many years late they are.

Glad someone pointed this out. I wonder if they'll do a video for every new route

 

[Snow1964]

SWR would be well advised to shut up with the publicity about the roll out, as it is just embarrassing for them. Hope somebody replies pointing out how many years late they are.

I think it a little over 260,000 minutes late based on original plan of being introduced into service from Autumn 2019

 

[Forestboy]

That'll be the group I'm in, BDT3. We've received basic handling (the 3 of us from our group that work from 455 depots) but no proper traction training. We started at the beginning of April.

Hi VW.The last group to be trained on 455 traction is BDT8/23 that started last December.

 

[Goldfish62]

A video posted today by SWR.

14 reactions · 5 comments | New Arterio train now on the Shepperton line | This morning, customers on the Shepperton line got to experience our new Arterio trains in passenger service for the first time. It is the next step in... | By South Western

This morning, customers on the Shepperton line got to experience our new Arterio trains in passenger service for the first time. It is the next step in...

www.facebook.com

 

[swtrains]

I am currently onboard 2H60, boarding at Wimbledon. The PIDs are still unbelievably bad, it said we were at Raynes Park upon boarding, and it says we are skipping Vauxhall despite the guard saying we will be stopping there.

 

[DMckduck]

I am currently onboard 2H60, boarding at Wimbledon. The PIDs are still unbelievably bad, it said we were at Raynes Park upon boarding, and it says we are skipping Vauxhall despite the guard saying we will be stopping there.

Still has TFL rail on it too which is incredibly outdated!

Surely a massive PIS update is either in the works or near completion based on feedback.

The PIS/PA experience in general is quite underwhelming

 

[Flange Squeal]

But nothing remotely like the carnage at weekends and evenings I experience regularly elsewhere, eg, GWR, Northern, GTR, which are essentially no-go zones at such times!

Sunday is inside the working week for SWR traincrew, so this may well make some difference when compared to others?

 

[WarrenTManager]

Still has TFL rail on it too which is incredibly outdated!

Surely a massive PIS update is either in the works or near completion based on feedback.

The PIS/PA experience in general is quite underwhelming

Wouldn’t they be waiting for the delayed renaming of the Overground lines plus the contactless area update

 

[OneTrackMinded]

Surely a massive PIS update is either in the works or near completion based on feedback.

There was quite a big update a few months ago when they switched out most of the user interface and added scrolling text. I do hope another one is on the way, hopefully to make those side screens by the doors useful too.

 

[Goldfish62]

Sunday is inside the working week for SWR traincrew, so this may well make some difference when compared to others?

I'm excluding the impact of Sunday working issues.

There was quite a big update a few months ago when they switched out most of the user interface and added scrolling text. I do hope another one is on the way, hopefully to make those side screens by the doors useful too.

The side screens near the doors were working on the one I went on the other day, essentially repeating info on the main screens and giving the date and time.

 

[OneTrackMinded]

The side screens near the doors were working on the one I went on the other day, essentially repeating info on the main screens and giving the date and time.

All they do at the moment is display the SWR logo which takes up a very large portion of the screen and the destination/next stop in a very small font. They should display all elements that the main screens do, or at least feature a moving map.

 

[swtrains]

After riding the 701s on the Wimbledon side (my local), I wanted to share my thoughts.

Starting with the positives: the acceleration is very impressive, much better than the current fleet and even a bit faster than the 707s. The Wi-Fi is pretty decent too, getting 10Mbps up and down, same as the 707s.

The ride quality is decent at high speeds, though deceleration into some stations – like Vauxhall and Wimbledon (coming from Waterloo) – felt oddly bumpy. I forgot how poor the window alignment is. If you enjoy looking out at the scenery, and you don’t manage to get the perfect seat, you’re in for a bit of a disappointment, you’ll either see the dull grey interior of the train, or half a window. I also noticed that the SWR app does not show the carriage status information for these new trains, despite being SWR’s own new set of trains. It is baffling they didn’t integrate this, when you would expect it from their modern new train.

Now, onto the bad: To put it simply, the PIDs are cack. Earlier, when I boarded the train at Wimbledon, it showed the train was at Raynes Park, and would only call at Waterloo – wrong on both counts. The guard had to keep making announcements that we would in fact, be stopping at Clapham and Vauxhall. On my return, the route map omitted Clapham Junction, see the photos attached below. Whether this is down to poor software or carelessness, it is absolutely ridiculous that something so basic isn’t working. I was not expecting this to happen since there were no issues with announcements when I rode these previously on the Windsor line and the Hounslow loop.

Apart from that, the PIDs themselves have been horribly made. The scrolling text of stations is painfully laggy and almost to the point of making your eyes hurt, as the text struggles across the screen. Honestly, I feel like a dot matrix display would have done a better job here, although that would be wrong of me to say so, as the outside dot matrix displays take ages to scroll through the list of stations. Since these trains are based on the Electrostar software, which can handle normal scrolling speeds on the outside displays, it is confusing that the 701s are so slow, especially when units like the 720s can do this with no issues.

It was mentioned on this forum a couple of months ago that the outer displays switch off while moving, and this issue is still present. Upon arriving at Wimbledon, the displays didn’t turn on until the doors opened, leaving you clueless about the destination without platform DMIs. It’s beyond me why these units in particular have so many issues, when other Aventra fleets are competent enough to handle PIDs. Despite reportedly undergoing over a thousand software revisions at this point, these basic problems persist.

Furthermore, the announcements are still voiced by Celia. Enthusiasts might enjoy the nostalgia, but it is quite frankly, embarrassing that 40-year-old 455 trains use the new announcements, while this brand-new fleet sticks with the old ones. I know it’s nitpicking but come on - this is a poor show from SWR. I was lucky enough to commute daily on the 707s up until their recent departure, and they have set the bar high, whereas the 701 feels like a downgrade in some respects. How can you not get the basics right? It’s just unbelievable.

 

[OneTrackMinded]

The scrolling text of stations is painfully laggy and almost to the point of making your eyes hurt,

The reason this is the case is because the displays themselves have such little processing power available to them that they can only handle that speed. Same is the case on the 730s.
I think we can see now why other models, like the 345, 710, and 720 didn't choose to having scrolling boards...

 

[Goldfish62]

After riding the 701s on the Wimbledon side (my local), I wanted to share my thoughts.

Starting with the positives: the acceleration is very impressive, much better than the current fleet and even a bit faster than the 707s. The Wi-Fi is pretty decent too, getting 10Mbps up and down, same as the 707s.

The ride quality is decent at high speeds, though deceleration into some stations – like Vauxhall and Wimbledon (coming from Waterloo) – felt oddly bumpy. I forgot how poor the window alignment is. If you enjoy looking out at the scenery, and you don’t manage to get the perfect seat, you’re in for a bit of a disappointment, you’ll either see the dull grey interior of the train, or half a window. I also noticed that the SWR app does not show the carriage status information for these new trains, despite being SWR’s own new set of trains. It is baffling they didn’t integrate this, when you would expect it from their modern new train.

Now, onto the bad: To put it simply, the PIDs are cack. Earlier, when I boarded the train at Wimbledon, it showed the train was at Raynes Park, and would only call at Waterloo – wrong on both counts. The guard had to keep making announcements that we would in fact, be stopping at Clapham and Vauxhall. On my return, the route map omitted Clapham Junction, see the photos attached below. Whether this is down to poor software or carelessness, it is absolutely ridiculous that something so basic isn’t working. I was not expecting this to happen since there were no issues with announcements when I rode these previously on the Windsor line and the Hounslow loop.

Apart from that, the PIDs themselves have been horribly made. The scrolling text of stations is painfully laggy and almost to the point of making your eyes hurt, as the text struggles across the screen. Honestly, I feel like a dot matrix display would have done a better job here, although that would be wrong of me to say so, as the outside dot matrix displays take ages to scroll through the list of stations. Since these trains are based on the Electrostar software, which can handle normal scrolling speeds on the outside displays, it is confusing that the 701s are so slow, especially when units like the 720s can do this with no issues.

It was mentioned on this forum a couple of months ago that the outer displays switch off while moving, and this issue is still present. Upon arriving at Wimbledon, the displays didn’t turn on until the doors opened, leaving you clueless about the destination without platform DMIs. It’s beyond me why these units in particular have so many issues, when other Aventra fleets are competent enough to handle PIDs. Despite reportedly undergoing over a thousand software revisions at this point, these basic problems persist.

Furthermore, the announcements are still voiced by Celia. Enthusiasts might enjoy the nostalgia, but it is quite frankly, embarrassing that 40-year-old 455 trains use the new announcements, while this brand-new fleet sticks with the old ones. I know it’s nitpicking but come on - this is a poor show from SWR. I was lucky enough to commute daily on the 707s up until their recent departure, and they have set the bar high, whereas the 701 feels like a downgrade in some respects. How can you not get the basics right? It’s just unbelievable.

I've not experienced any of these issues on Windsor services. Seems like SWR optimised the PIS for Windsor and forgot that they'd be running on other lines...

 

[DMckduck]

All they do at the moment is display the SWR logo which takes up a very large portion of the screen and the destination/next stop in a very small font. They should display all elements that the main screens do, or at least feature a moving map.

I think most useful would be a coach number, currently the coach number isn't visible for long enough. So for passengers it's sort of guess work where they are located in the train.