360 running speed

[Spartacus]

What you also have to factor in, is the rather useless timetabling at Wellingborough in that a Corby / London gets delayed on the US awaiting a late running EMR Sheffield to pass on the fast line.

If Transport UK (branded EMR) were serious about running the Corby / London on time they would either adapt the timetable or ensure the Sheffield / London was on time every time passing Wellingborough.

This poor regulation then impacts on the Thameslink service at Harpenden on the US waiting to cross onto the UF.

If you do everything you can to keep the Sheffield on time you're very much screwing over the XC service from Sheffield, which is usually the cause of the 1Cs being late.

I really don't know what could be done to 'adapt' the timetable, I've looked at if the Corbys could be kept on the slows a bit longer to keep them more robust, but it just won't work with a clockface timetable, which effectively means it doesn't without an extra diagram and having a unit stand somewhere for ages.

About the only thing I'd say could be immediately changed would be not cancelling out the Corbys as soon as there's any issues between Bedford & St Pancras. Maybe there's reasons for not running them as far as Bedford, or at least Wellingborough, but I can't see it. Besides that it's rebuilding the route at least between Kentish Town and Bedford so it runs DS, DF, UF, US to avoid the numerous crossing conflicts!

 

[ChilliSauce]

If you do everything you can to keep the Sheffield on time you're very much screwing over the XC service from Sheffield, which is usually the cause of the 1Cs being late.

I really don't know what could be done to 'adapt' the timetable, I've looked at if the Corbys could be kept on the slows a bit longer to keep them more robust, but it just won't work with a clockface timetable, which effectively means it doesn't without an extra diagram and having a unit stand somewhere for ages.

About the only thing I'd say could be immediately changed would be not cancelling out the Corbys as soon as there's any issues between Bedford & St Pancras. Maybe there's reasons for not running them as far as Bedford, or at least Wellingborough, but I can't see it. Besides that it's rebuilding the route at least between Kentish Town and Bedford so it runs DS, DF, UF, US to avoid the numerous crossing conflicts!

Perhaps the solution to this problem of 1 late trains makes another late is if the Corby / London is on time at Wellingborough and the Sheffield / London is late ...just stick the on-time Corby / London out in front .. Bad luck on the Sheffield / London already late anyway and so missed it booked slot. It can then follow the Corby / London as least as far as Bedford when that gets put Slow Line for the Bedford station stop ..

 

[Edvid]

No applicable changes to the Sectional Appendix for March 2026 so the EMU 100 differential is still in force.

Despite this I finally recorded a sub-21 run (20m54s) on the 360s from StP to Luton Airport Parkway earlier this evening, helped by not having to follow a 700 on this occasion.

 

[voyager1]

Is there a date when the 360s will become 12 car trains? Not sure if its the result of the daylight hours shifting and flexi-workers changing their hours but the 1647 St Pancras to Corby seems to be getting more busier.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Perhaps the solution to this problem of 1 late trains makes another late is if the Corby / London is on time at Wellingborough and the Sheffield / London is late ...just stick the on-time Corby / London out in front .. Bad luck on the Sheffield / London already late anyway and so missed it booked slot. It can then follow the Corby / London as least as far as Bedford when that gets put Slow Line for the Bedford station stop ..

However - and I think I've made this point before - if the Up Sheffield is late from experience it is also likely that the preceding Up Nottingham is late also. In this situation passengers on the Nottingham for South of Kettering will miss the Up Corby which always leaves on time (earlier delays permitting) regardless of the Nottingham's arrival, with passengers missing the connection, sometimes very marginally. What then happens is the on time Up Corby waits to cross out at Wellingborough incurring . a delay longer than that required to hold the connection at Kettering.
But I realise the railway now is totally operations-led.

 

[Spartacus]

Perhaps the solution to this problem of 1 late trains makes another late is if the Corby / London is on time at Wellingborough and the Sheffield / London is late ...just stick the on-time Corby / London out in front .. Bad luck on the Sheffield / London already late anyway and so missed it booked slot. It can then follow the Corby / London as least as far as Bedford when that gets put Slow Line for the Bedford station stop ..

Do that and the Corby-ST Pancras will almost always be delayed waiting for it to get past at Bedford anyway, and you'll have the Sheffield - St Pancras about 10 minutes late at that point, the Sheffield - St Pancras gets stuck behind the Bedford - Brighton, ends up delaying the next Corby - St Pancras behind it and probably starts late out of St Pancras. And that's without looking at any potential conflicts with anything crossing over in the other direction.

 

[Pippy1505]

Is there a date when the 360s will become 12 car trains? Not sure if its the result of the daylight hours shifting and flexi-workers changing their hours but the 1647 St Pancras to Corby seems to be getting more busier.

Unlikely due to unit availability and still issues regarding 12 car operation with RMT

 

[WTT Gremlin]

What you also have to factor in, is the rather useless timetabling at Wellingborough in that a Corby / London gets delayed on the US awaiting a late running EMR Sheffield to pass on the fast line.

If Transport UK (branded EMR) were serious about running the Corby / London on time they would either adapt the timetable or ensure the Sheffield / London was on time every time passing Wellingborough.

This poor regulation then impacts on the Thameslink service at Harpenden on the US waiting to cross onto the UF.

Out of curiosity, how is 'useless timetabling' responsible for what appears to be a complaint regarding train performance and regulation?

You would like to think that Transport UK (trading as EMR) are suppose to be the experts on this.

Sadly they are also lacking with maintaining connections at Kettering when their Nottingham / London is running late ..into the Corby / London srrvice. Including quite happy to close the doors on the 360 on the US as the late 222 pulls in on the UF. Only for the 360 to then depart late from Wellingborough. Hardly a customer service and an organisation that is apparently happy to cause 30 minutes of delay resulting in 50% delay repay.

Transport UK give me the impression that all they are really interested in is running as fast as they can between Leicester / London and maintaining any connections to / from stations in-between is little more than a distraction and inconvenience.

Personally for journeys "to the north" I gave up with Transport UK / EMR / Midland Main Line a long time ago.. Having lost count of the number of delays / cancellations / miss connections at Leicester and/or Kettering when trying to return on EMR from Sheffield. Now preferring to drive over to the ECML. The sad thing is it shouldn't have to be like that.

And just what would be the additional delays caused to the network by holding that service back, to spare you the inconvenience of a not excessive 30 minute delay?

 

[tram21]

And just what would be the additional delays caused to the network by holding that service back, to spare you the inconvenience of a not excessive 30 minute delay?

A not insignificant number of delays, knock on delays and therefore delay repay claims.

 

[edwin_m]

A not insignificant number of delays, knock on delays and therefore delay repay claims.

Indeed. It's critical for the running of the service that the EMRs hit their slots at Bedford and don't get stuck behind a Thameslink.

 

[voyager1]

Have they started refitting the 360s yet? In the past week or so, there seems to be a lot of services only formed of 4 carriages.

Also how long will it take to refit them?

 

[Edvid]

It's been a year since the OLE125 works concluded and the EMU 100 differential remains in place, so still no 110mph 'BedPan' runs for the 360s. Having asked Network Rail what the outstanding issues were and when they were likely to be resolved, they advised me to contact EMR's standards team; in turn EMR refused my query on grounds of safety/operations-related confidentiality.

Did the extra verification checks mentioned in post #116 not pass muster?

I appreciate the main goal of OLE125 was to allow the 810s to run at full speed in electric mode south of Bedford and in that regard the project was successful. That said it's still a bit disappointing the 360s will remain capped at 100mph south of Bedford for the foreseeable unless anyone can say otherwise.

(And before anyone mentions the 100mph Thameslink 700s, the vast majority stick to the slow lines north of Harpenden Jn)

 

[AM9]

(And before anyone mentions the 100mph Thameslink 700s, the vast majority stick to the slow lines north of Harpenden Jn)

However, if raising the speed of 360s reduces headways when following 700s, there's no point in wasting energy rushing up to the maximum allowed speed of the track. Better that they keep a constant speed unless they late and are needed to catch up with their planned path when the way ahead is clear.

 

[Snow1964]

However, if raising the speed of 360s reduces headways when following 700s, there's no point in wasting energy rushing up to the maximum allowed speed of the track. Better that they keep a constant speed unless they late and are needed to catch up with their planned path when the way ahead is clear.

There is big difference between being authorised to run at 110mph (which can be used if running late), and timetabling 110mph routinely

 

[edwin_m]

However, if raising the speed of 360s reduces headways when following 700s, there's no point in wasting energy rushing up to the maximum allowed speed of the track. Better that they keep a constant speed unless they late and are needed to catch up with their planned path when the way ahead is clear.

If I recall correctly most of the speeds above 100mph are north of Harpenden where, as mentioned, hardly any 700s use the Fasts. The extra speed ought to give the 360 a better chance of getting off the Fasts at Kettering iwithout delaying the Sheffield train, although a Wixams stop would more than cancel it out.

 

[Mzzzs]

Seen that 360s are now allowed up to 110mph

 

[Bald Rick]

Seen that 360s are now allowed up to 110mph

That explains why they are coming through St Albans half a minute earlier !

 

[InkyScrolls]

Lack of interest in the job and lack of confidence in their driving.

That's rather unfair - at many companies, mine (Northern) included, drivers have it drilled into them to never attempt to make up lost time. Doing something different increases the risk of making a mistake, and some companies would understandably rather take the hit of the delay.

 

[dk1]

That's rather unfair - at many companies, mine (Northern) included, drivers have it drilled into them to never attempt to make up lost time. Doing something different increases the risk of making a mistake, and some companies would understandably rather take the hit of the delay.

Making up lost time was one of the pleasures of the job for me. Many of my trainees still send me RTT snippets of where they have done it. Tapping my watch was instilled in them as part of the job.

 

[Edvid]

Seen that 360s are now allowed up to 110mph

About time! I assume it was this Instagram post you're referring to.

thattraindrivermum
19 h
From today Class 360’s are permitted to drive up to 110mph instead of 100mph south of Bedford

Had a look on RTT and there are what look like a couple of sub-20 runs from St Pancras to Luton Airport Parkway.

Realtime Trains | 1Y03 0617 St Pancras International to Corby | 10/06/2026

Real-time train running information for 1Y03 0617 departure from St Pancras International to Corby on 10/06/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Realtime Trains | 1Y11 0816 St Pancras International to Corby | 11/06/2026

Real-time train running information for 1Y11 0816 departure from St Pancras International to Corby on 11/06/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[Mzzzs]

About time! I assume it was this Instagram post you're referring to.



Had a look on RTT and there are what look like a couple of sub-20 runs from St Pancras to Luton Airport Parkway.

Realtime Trains | 1Y03 0617 St Pancras International to Corby | 10/06/2026

Real-time train running information for 1Y03 0617 departure from St Pancras International to Corby on 10/06/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Realtime Trains | 1Y11 0816 St Pancras International to Corby | 11/06/2026

Real-time train running information for 1Y11 0816 departure from St Pancras International to Corby on 11/06/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Well I saw it on the notice board first then Instagram second.

 

[InkyScrolls]

Making up lost time was one of the pleasures of the job for me. Many of my trainees still send me RTT snippets of where they have done it. Tapping my watch was instilled in them as part of the job.

There is a certain satisfaction to be gained from arriving right-time after a late departure!

 

[Mordac]

Making up lost time was one of the pleasures of the job for me. Many of my trainees still send me RTT snippets of where they have done it. Tapping my watch was instilled in them as part of the job.

As a passenger I really appreciate it when I can see the driver trying to do this!

 

[dk1]

As a passenger I really appreciate it when I can see the driver trying to do this!

Really is proper railway mate.

 

[Harpo]

That's rather unfair - at many companies, mine (Northern) included, drivers have it drilled into them to never attempt to make up lost time. Uniformity Doing something different increases the risk of making a mistake, and some companies would understandably rather take the hit of the delay.

It will be interesting to see how/if GBR approaches driving standards. While each company has possibly achieved uniformity in-house, the variations between TOCs* is very noticeable.

An hour spent at a station with a decent approach speed and a mix of TOCs quickly shows up the hares and tortoises.


* or ex-TOCs of course

 

[Edvid]

In contrast to what was originally planned, Class 360/1s have been authorised to run at HST differential speeds on the MML. At least I assume that's what happened because:

* The south-of-Bedford EMU 100 differential is still in place, and will now presumably stay for the foreseeable
* The 360s I rode from Bedford to Luton Airport Parkway yesterday evening definitely reached 110mph or thereabouts before Ampthill Tunnel and didn't decelerate to 100mph on approach or through it

Paired with my inaugural trip on a Class 810 that morning, it was nice to finally travel up and down the 'BedPan' section at >100mph on electric(-mode) traction.

 

[Supercoss]

The’EMU 100’ permissible speed indicators between Bedford & Cricklewood on fast lines planned for removal on
3rd August Down Fast
10th August Up fast

Here is the northbound run:

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:K02784/2026-08-02/detailed

Two HST power cars with staff welfare coach stopping adjacent to each sign to be removed 3Z10 then 3Z11 transit back to depot

 

[Edvid]

Removal of EMU 100 differential now reflected in the September 2026 LNE Sectional Appendix update (14MB pdf - see pages 66-81).