Anyone been on a Javelin?

[atomicdanny]

I dont mind the Javelins.. But as i have posted on here many times there are too many stops once it leaves the HS1 and on into east Kent..

I think you only mean the Faversham ones? which I agree with although the others only have two or three stops after ashford which isn't really that much?

St Pancras - Stratford Int - Ebbsfleet Int - Ashford Int - Canterbury West - Ramsgate
or
St Pancras - Stratford Int - Ebbsfleet Int - Ashford Int - Folkestone West - Folkestone Central - Dover Priory

(when compared to the Faversham ones, which in my opinion should only really stop at say Faversham - Chatham - Strood - Ebbsfleet - Stratford - St Pancras taking out 5 stops!)

 

[danfitz123]

They are nice units running on a nice route (I've done London to Margate). However, the way they snake through some areas - especially west of Ebbsfleet - can leave you feeling somewhat ill if you aren't prepared for them! Lousy G-forces :?

The interior is okay, but nothing special. But the voice is oh-so-optimistic! Every station sounds almost joyful. And the sound bite is... well, Japanese. That says it all really. It certainly sound eastern, but in this case that's not a particularly good thing.

haha. Reminds me of the way "ruth" on ATW says Holyhead.

 

[Mike395]

Assume you mean the North Kent services Clip? I think Southeastern have got the Ashford services pretty much bang on in terms of stops - only exception might be Broadstairs, although that said, due to the slow linespeed at that point they dont lose much at all by stopping there, and it's well used in the peaks.

Edit: that'll teach me for reading a thread, then replying an hour later without refreshing!

 

[Mintona]

In my experience, as many people board off peak at Broadstairs as board at Ramsgate, and more than at Margate.

Faversham services call at so many stations because;
Sittingbourne is a big town with connections to Sheerness,
Rainham has a massive daytripper market,
Gillingham has almost always had all trains in Kent stop there,
Chatham is the largest Medway town,
Rochester probably could be dropped,
Strood has connections from Maidstone,
Gravesend is where the real time saving is, and so has loads of people using it from there.

 

[Mike395]

That's a fair point re: Broadstairs actually, and I would of thought it is especially well used in the summer (when Im not in that part of the world :P ) due to it being a seaside town, and especially for their 'Folk Week' events!

 

[Clip]

In my experience, as many people board off peak at Broadstairs as board at Ramsgate, and more than at Margate.

Faversham services call at so many stations because;
Sittingbourne is a big town with connections to Sheerness,
Rainham has a massive daytripper market,
Gillingham has almost always had all trains in Kent stop there,
Chatham is the largest Medway town,
Rochester probably could be dropped,
Strood has connections from Maidstone,
Gravesend is where the real time saving is, and so has loads of people using it from there.

But there are plenty of trains that can ferry the people to say Rochester so it doesnt have to stop at all of the medway stations.

Trains never used to always stop at Sittingbourne all the time in years gone by either - Just because it is a bigger town now doenst always justify it - though i dont see why they dont do the Sheerness train as some sort of loop from faversham > Rochester> sheerness > faversham - but thats a different story.

Also in the evening there is a Broadstairs one via Faversham and it still has to stop at whitstable and so on on its way down. They really can and should cut out everything that is necessary and actually make it really worthwhile because at the minute its just a waste

 

[Elec_Engr]

Used the Javelin for the first time the other day - Really impressed with the speed and acceleration of it. This is what all domestic services should be like. Downside was a noticeable lateral movement in lead carriage but aware that Hitachi engineers are looking at a fix. Slightly surprised to note lack of WiFi provision as service is marketed as a premium one. All said and done looking forward to using it again on the 30th down to Dover.

Train didn't wobble either down to FKC or back tonight - Looks like they're getting on top of the lateral movement issue!

 

[222007]

I used them today only for a short trip granted St Pancras to Ebbsfleet but i didnt feel too much movement that wouldnt be considered normal on other trains. I was very impressed with the acceleration although the doors did seem to take an age to open when we were getting off. All in all i felt they were descent enough for the job there doing

photo's of the javelins can be seen here http://www.seandeacon.fotopic.net/c1927965.html