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

Feathers44

Feathers44

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Nimbus020 said:
Thanks for this: 1D49 (17:23 W'loo to Dorking) probably worth giving a miss this eve!
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Both 1D49 and 2D51. 2 consecutive single 450s through Epsom, one a stopper and the other a semi-fast.

without realising, I got as far as Motspur Park on a Chess Sth service, planning to hop on the 1st for one stop, doubled back to Wimbledon instead for the second, failed to get on that and landed on the one after which had a surprising mount of room on board.

very, very bad planning from someone. I’m normally quite accepting of the odd blip in service but a half hour delay in the peak… Who’s been breaking the 701s today?
 
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mansonlo49

mansonlo49

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Nimbus020

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Feathers44 said:
Both 1D49 and 2D51. 2 consecutive single 450s through Epsom, one a stopper and the other a semi-fast.

without realising, I got as far as Motspur Park on a Chess Sth service, planning to hop on the 1st for one stop, doubled back to Wimbledon instead for the second, failed to get on that and landed on the one after which had a surprising mount of room on board.

very, very bad planning from someone. I’m normally quite accepting of the odd blip in service but a half hour delay in the peak… Who’s been breaking the 701s today?
Click to expand...
Good post - didn’t realise at Waterloo last night that 2D51 was just 4 car! (assumed it was an 8 car 450 vice the usual 701) - this is normally a busy train as it skips some stops and gets hordes of Worcester Parkers back from work! - both 1D49 & 2D51 lost quite a bit of time en route too
 
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Meglos

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WWTownEnth said:
So are we likely to see 701029 entering passenger service today?
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Unlikely as 701029 is at Clapham Junction sidings.

Virtually all Class 701 first public services have run ECS from Wimbledon Park depot to their starting point. Wimbledon Park like to do a final once over, before releasing the unit into service.
 
Big Jumby 74

Big Jumby 74

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Feathers44 said:
very, very bad planning from someone
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Had it been planned days/weeks in advance by the train planning dept., I would agree. But given this has arisen very likely from a temp failure/no show of a 701, it is very likely the Fleet controllers will have been rejigging unit provision at very short notice, and their priority will have been to find resources (450's) to cover, from where units of that class had been stabled the previous night.

Under these circumstances having time to check the individual diagram content would likely be a luxury , and ending in two consecutive services on the same route being short formed, is unfortunate, but not a deliberate act of 'bad planning'.
 
NSEWonderer

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Nimbus020 said:
Good post - didn’t realise at Waterloo last night that 2D51 was just 4 car! (assumed it was an 8 car 450 vice the usual 701) - this is normally a busy train as it skips some stops and gets hordes of Worcester Parkers back from work! - both 1D49 & 2D51 lost quite a bit of time en route too
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Lovely 4 car on the Windsor instead today, always fun having one of them and making sure to remember all the stop car marks again :D
 
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Nimbus020

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NSEWonderer said:
Lovely 4 car on the Windsor instead today, always fun having one of them and making sure to remember all the stop car
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Do you ever sound the horn to alert passengers that you’re short-formed when you pull into stations? - maybe you want to lie low in the cab in any case!
 
NSEWonderer

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Nimbus020 said:
Do you ever sound the horn to alert passengers that you’re short-formed when you pull into stations? - maybe you want to lie low in the cab in any case!
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I made the mistake of doing that in a 4 car stock changed Desiro on a rounder at a station where doing so makes an already loud horn, even louder and reverberating.

Poor couple got the fright of their lives aswell as I got to watch mini Heathrow occur as the males phone took off, thankfully not onto the tracks. The deathstare till I departed was something :D . Ended up that they didn't want the train in the first place. So yes now I don't blow the horn, you snooze you loose.
 
Feathers44

Feathers44

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Big Jumby 74 said:
Had it been planned days/weeks in advance by the train planning dept., I would agree. But given this has arisen very likely from a temp failure/no show of a 701, it is very likely the Fleet controllers will have been rejigging unit provision at very short notice, and their priority will have been to find resources (450's) to cover, from where units of that class had been stabled the previous night.

Under these circumstances having time to check the individual diagram content would likely be a luxury , and ending in two consecutive services on the same route being short formed, is unfortunate, but not a deliberate act of 'bad planning'.
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Acknowledged, and I do know that really. The alternative of two missing consecutive services would have been worse since I’d have been fighting all those additional people on the one I was on but the bad luck of two on the trot and one a skip-stopper or semi-fast was hard to accept in the moment.
 
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Goldfish62

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Reported on LinkedIn about three hours ago by an SWR manager involved in the rollout that all 60 701/0s are now accepted for passenger service.

www.linkedin.com

So as I commence my summer holiday break, a huge milestone has been achieved! We have endorsed and accepted for passenger service all 60 of the Class 701/0 10 car Arterios (600 coaches!) It hasn’t… | Adrian Corti | 10 comments

So as I commence my summer holiday break, a huge milestone has been achieved! We have endorsed and accepted for passenger service all 60 of the Class 701/0 10 car Arterios (600 coaches!) It hasn’t always been plain sailing, but I’ve worked with some great people to help achieve this. These...
www.linkedin.com www.linkedin.com

We have endorsed and accepted for passenger service all 60 of the Class 701/0
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Big Jumby 74

Big Jumby 74

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Feathers44 said:
Acknowledged, and I do know that really.
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Thank you for your reply. I wasn't having a go at your comment, but felt I needed to reply for the benefit of others who (perhaps?) have not been involved in such matters.

It is completely understandable that when out and about oneself, and one gets caught out by an unexpected cancellation or short form, it will annoy one. That is only human nature!
 
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WWTownEnth

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Goldfish62 said:
Reported on LinkedIn about three hours ago by an SWR manager involved in the rollout that all 60 701/0s are now accepted for passenger service.

I can't post any link because I'm not a connection of said gentleman.
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Well we know 028 is because it briefly carried passengers before being requisitioned for training duties. I assume this must therefore mean 029 has been accepted by SWR today and also cleared for passenger services.
 
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markle

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Quite a few 701 services today seem to have been substituted with 450s. Any idea what's taken so many 701s out of commission?
 
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Goldfish62

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WWTownEnth said:
Well we know 028 is because it briefly carried passengers before being requisitioned for training duties. I assume this must therefore mean 029 has been accepted by SWR today and also cleared for passenger services.
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Yes, that's what I'm assuming.
 
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moley

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Goldfish62 said:
Reported on LinkedIn about three hours ago by an SWR manager involved in the rollout that all 60 701/0s are now accepted for passenger service.

I can't post any link because I'm not a connection of said gentleman.
Click to expand...
 

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wickham

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Well, that statement is clear enough !
But, neither 701028 or 701029 are actually in service today (14.08.26), so what is going on !
 
CR165022

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Both of them are in the sidings at Clapham and given there was a derailment there this morning, it probably messed things up a bit if they were planning to put one of them into service today.
 
Big Jumby 74

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CR165022 said:
Both of them are in the sidings at Clapham and given there was a derailment there this morning,
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Egress from (& access to) the yard is down to three roads in the throat essentially in normal times, and depending on the exact location of the derailment, the entire yard could be blocked, shutting in 200 plus cars potentially.
 
Siemens Staines

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47 701s are in passenger service this morning with the six oustanding diagrams being three 2*458/4(2R90, 2U07, 2U09), one 2*450(2J10) and two cancelled (2J07/2J14 & 2J92).
 
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wickham

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Goldfish62 said:
Reported on LinkedIn about three hours ago by an SWR manager involved in the rollout that all 60 701/0s are now accepted for passenger service.

www.linkedin.com

So as I commence my summer holiday break, a huge milestone has been achieved! We have endorsed and accepted for passenger service all 60 of the Class 701/0 10 car Arterios (600 coaches!) It hasn’t… | Adrian Corti | 10 comments

So as I commence my summer holiday break, a huge milestone has been achieved! We have endorsed and accepted for passenger service all 60 of the Class 701/0 10 car Arterios (600 coaches!) It hasn’t always been plain sailing, but I’ve worked with some great people to help achieve this. These...
www.linkedin.com www.linkedin.com
Click to expand...
Mr. Corti's statement is clear enough, but why is he standing with his banner in front of 701027 (at Windsor) when this one has been in service since June ?
For those that don't know and possibly historians in years to come, seeing this will make them think that 701027 was the last into service, but as we know, 701029 will be.
Which, incidently, does not actually appear to be in service yet (Monday 17/08/26):
Before the weekend, 701028 & 701029 were both reported to be in Clapham Yard (and presumably are still there today), but up till now, units seem to have entered service from Wimbledon Depot not Clapham, as has been pointed out on this forum before.
So what actually is going on - are we being hood-winked ?
 
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WWTownEnth

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wickham said:
Mr. Corti's statement is clear enough, but why is he standing with his banner in front of 701027 (at Windsor) when this one has been in service since June ?
For those that don't know and possibly historians in years to come, seeing this will make them think that 701027 was the last into service, but as we know, 701029 will be.
Which, incidently, does not actually appear to be in service yet (Monday 17/08/26):
Before the weekend, 701028 & 701029 were both reported to be in Clapham Yard (and presumably are still there today), but up till now, units seem to have entered service from Wimbledon Depot not Clapham, as has been pointed out on this forum before.
So what actually is going on - are we being hood-winked ?
Click to expand...

wickham said:
Mr. Corti's statement is clear enough, but why is he standing with his banner in front of 701027 (at Windsor) when this one has been in service since June ?
For those that don't know and possibly historians in years to come, seeing this will make them think that 701027 was the last into service, but as we know, 701029 will be.
Which, incidently, does not actually appear to be in service yet (Monday 17/08/26):
Before the weekend, 701028 & 701029 were both reported to be in Clapham Yard (and presumably are still there today), but up till now, units seem to have entered service from Wimbledon Depot not Clapham, as has been pointed out on this forum before.
So what actually is going on - are we being hood-winked ?
Click to expand...
agreed. Something not quite right here.
 
Peter Mugridge

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There have been a small number of 701s before which entered service from Clapham Yard, albeit I believe they ran into there earlier the same day after having done an empty run from Wimbledon for an hour or two earlier in the day.... not several days prior, although the derailed 444 may have complicated things a bit.

I don't see any need for the MD to have waited until the final unit was actually in service to do the photo opportunity; as long as the paperwork had been signed off to approve that final unit first then it would make sense to just do the photo opportunity at the nearest convenient location with whichever unit just happened to be there?
 
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wickham

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Peter Mugridge said:
There have been a small number of 701s before which entered service from Clapham Yard, albeit I believe they ran into there earlier the same day after having done an empty run from Wimbledon for an hour or two earlier in the day.... not several days prior, although the derailed 444 may have complicated things a bit.

I don't see any need for the MD to have waited until the final unit was actually in service to do the photo opportunity; as long as the paperwork had been signed off to approve that final unit first then it would make sense to just do the photo opportunity at the nearest convenient location with whichever unit just happened to be there?
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Peter,
I take your point about the "convenience" of a photo shoot - but you have missed my point about the historical significance of the event, involving the correct unit !
 
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