Air conditioning - which TOCs get it right?

[trainophile]

Having travelled on a chilly LM, a reasonable VT and a sweltering Merseyrail on Sunday, I'd be interested to know from other people's experience which operators manage to keep the temperature acceptably pleasant during times of extreme weather.

I'm off to Windermere for a day on Monday, travelling as light as possible as I'll be walking around for a few hours, and don't particularly want to be burdened with jumpers and/or a jacket just to wear on the trains. Will be using NT, VT and TPE - bet there won't be "one size to fit all" in the wardrobe requirements!

 

[dvboy]

How about those trains that don't have air conditioning?

 

[Searle]

The new London Underground S Stock was delightfully cool this morning, as was Chiltern's DMU's.

Fortunately FCC were there for me with a sweaty 313 back home, I'm not sure if any of their stock has AC (apart from maybe the 377's!)

 

[Lampshade]

TPE usually get it right.

 

[northern156]

In my experiences TPE have been brilliant; the trains were at normal temperature - not too cold but not hot either. Just right.

 

[trainophile]

Sorry, I know some stock doesn't have aircon, and tbh most of the time I prefer this as it means there are opening windows so it's possible to position oneself in an air current if you're clever. That strategy doesn't work when it's over 30 degrees though.

Good news about TPE, even though it's only a 20 minute journey it's one less thing to worry about.

 

[12CSVT]

Fortunately FCC were there for me with a sweaty 313 back home, I'm not sure if any of their stock has AC (apart from maybe the 377's!)

Air conditioning was probably working too well on the 377 I was travelling on the other night - it was about 10 degrees warmer outside than it was on the train (and that was at 10pm)

 

[monty9120]

so basically the newer trains are better then the old ones

just shows how much maintenance they get once things start wearing out

 

[SussexSpotter]

How about those trains that don't have air conditioning?

313's ....boarding a Southern 313 at Lewes the other day it was like an oven!

 

[philjo]

At least the 313s have windows that let in air once the train is moving.

On the FCC GN route none of the units have air con. The 365s are best as they have air blowers & opening windows. 313s & 321s next as said they have large opening windows & south of Potters Bar the tunnels help to create a draught!
By far the worst are the 317s - the windows are so tiny they hardly let in any moving air. I try to avoid these in hot weather but not always possible.

 

[Chrisgr31]

Southerns Class 171s are air conditioned but it does seem to struggle on the busiest trains in the very hot weather. Was lovely and cool when we got on this evening but by Oxted was hot (would have been hotter with no air conditioning) however there was also a door issue so dont know if the two are linked.

 

[tsr]

The new London Underground S Stock was delightfully cool this morning, as was Chiltern's DMU's.

Ah, but I went from a cool Chiltern DMU to a blisteringly hot Central Line train the other day within the space of 3 minutes... now that's a TOC vs LU contrast! Ho ho...

Back to topic I have to say, of the many trains I have used in the London area during this spell of warmer weather, the best for overall temperatures have been an empty LO 378, a packed Southern 377, and one or two S8s. Other trains I have enjoyed for their cool conditions fairly recently have been an ATW 175 and (you'll never believe this) a refurbished GA 156.

 

[SussexSpotter]

Southerns Class 171s are air conditioned but it does seem to struggle on the busiest trains in the very hot weather.

Indeed...these can get absolutely packed solid between Brighton and Hastings and 2 cars just isn't enough.....

 

[bronzeonion]

Class 378's and Chiltern 165's have it about right tbh and as for preference between non aircon and aircon stock give me aircon over crappy loud hopper windows anyday.

 

[sn1975]

Yesterday we travelled on a couple of LM 350's, XC 22x's, and VT 390's. We found the 350's okay, one of the 22x's might have had a bit of air con working but not much and the 390's were fantastic.

Does the air con ever differ between standard and first class coaches or is it the same throughout?

 

[Searle]

At least the 313s have windows that let in air once the train is moving.

On the FCC GN route none of the units have air con. The 365s are best as they have air blowers & opening windows. 313s & 321s next as said they have large opening windows & south of Potters Bar the tunnels help to create a draught!
By far the worst are the 317s - the windows are so tiny they hardly let in any moving air. I try to avoid these in hot weather but not always possible.

I would hardly say that 313 windows are huge, you get a breeze in the tunnels but that's about it!

 

[SussexSpotter]

I would hardly say that 313 windows are huge, you get a breeze in the tunnels but that's about it!

And when the train is full to the brim....the air doesn't circulate that well at all and it is really stuffy! Also if your on a stopping service the train doesn't pick up much speed anyway.....on the approaches to Lewes it is at a crawl. I do feel sorry for some of the Southern guards who have to work shifts on board the 313's in the Summer though....in this heat, compared to the 377's it must be awful without the air conditioning!....

 

[Aictos]

The new London Underground S Stock was delightfully cool this morning, as was Chiltern's DMU's.

Fortunately FCC were there for me with a sweaty 313 back home, I'm not sure if any of their stock has AC (apart from maybe the 377's!)

Only trains FCC operate with air con at the moment is the Class 377 fleet, all others have openable windows so would defeat the object of air con see Stansted Express 317/7s when they kept openable windows plus install air con :roll:

 

[tsr]

...all others have openable windows so would defeat the object of air con see Stansted Express 317/7s when they kept openable windows plus install air con :roll:

See also: FGW Turbos...

 

[CNash]

I start my day in almost-unbearable stuffiness courtesy of a Southeastern 465 Networker - no aircon, and windows that open at about a 10-degree angle. If I'm lucky, I get one with the ball vents!

Thankfully, the second leg of my journey is served by SWT's 450 Desiros, so I cool down in fully air-conditioned loveliness...

 

[Old Hill Bank]

See also: FGW Turbos...

Are you talking about air conditioning or forced air ventilation?

 

[Starmill]

I stepped onto a freezing 185 at Mauldeth Road this afternoon for the journey to Manchester Pic, and had a packed at sweltering 323 back home.

Can't TPE keep stopping their Cleethorpes services once the work is completed?

In addition I should mention that I did Nuneaton to Peterborough on Monday on an XC 170 whose air con actually had me shivering. When I arrived in Peterborough the air outside must have been nearly 15 degrees warmer - it was like getting off a plane in Spain or similar!

Thence came a lovely EMT 158 for Nottingham which frankly, I nearly passed out on due to excessive heat - guard had opened all but one of the windows, why not the last I'm uncertain but that air con was NOT on (although for a 158 that's hardly a surprise is it?).

 

[mister-sparky]

Southeastern 375's are very good in the hot weather temperature-wise

 

[Yew]

so basically the newer trains are better then the old ones

just shows how much maintenance they get once things start wearing out

Mainly because older aircon systems used CFC's, great refrigerants, but not good for ozone. These days they mostly run on R134a, which is pretty good, but is not as 'powerful' so older systems suffer a drop in performance.

 

[RPM]

I see a lot of Tweets on TOC feeds saying "can you please ask the driver of the xx.xx service to turn the air conditioning on". People really seem to think that there are individual controls in the driver's cab for the air conditioning in every vehicle. Why do they assume it is switched off anyway? It doesn't seem to have entered their heads that it might have failed.

 

[Chrisgr31]

I see a lot of Tweets on TOC feeds saying "can you please ask the driver of the xx.xx service to turn the air conditioning on". People really seem to think that there are individual controls in the driver's cab for the air conditioning in every vehicle. Why do they assume it is switched off anyway? It doesn't seem to have entered their heads that it might have failed.

Well on the Southern Class 171s if you tweet Southern about the air con in a specific coach it is not unknown the the guard to appear shortly afterwards to try and reset it

 

[RPM]

Well on the Southern Class 171s if you tweet Southern about the air con in a specific coach it is not unknown the the guard to appear shortly afterwards to try and reset it

Yes that's a good use of Twitter - but no good on a DOO railway.