Best Air con ?

[chris11256]

I can vouch for the air con on a 357! Although it tends to vary between carriage. According to c2c the temperature is set individually for each carriage. There has been times where i've been shivering as the air con has been that cold. Thankfully it was on a sweltering day so I was thankful!

 

[Solent&Wessex]

In my experience the Class 185s have pretty good aircon year round, in winter it's not too cold and in summer not too hot even when there's not even standing room from Preston to Manchester

It depends where you are in the carriage.

Generally always sit towards the ends of the carriages, and never in first class when it is very hot or cold outside. The Desiro / 185 air con is rubbish in general. There is only HVAC per coach, so if it fails (which they do regularly - passengers may not notice but when you are on the things all day every day you do), there is no back up for that coach. At least with a 170 if one HVAC module fails there is another one, which means that the coach doesn't get completely horrible for being too hot / cold.

The HVAC also only blows out air at the ends of the carriages. So if you want heat or cold air then sit at the ends. Sitting in the middle section you get a load of noise but no air, which can make the middle section especially stuffy in summer. This also means there is no real ventilation in first class so that can get very hot / cold.

The heating only works properly when all 3 engines are on. If there is an engine out then the floor radiators go off, which means on especially cold days you are relying on the roof blowing warm air, which again is fine at the ends but if you are in the middle or in first class you have no heating.

Overall the set up of the system allows for very varied temperatures throughout the carriage.

Oh yes, and there is no way traincrew can alter or reset them, unlike 170s which can be temperature adjusted or reset with ease.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Drivers cab on a class 165. I could wear a duffel coat in there on a hot summers day and still be cool from the air con. It is glorious.

Completely agree! So much nicer than those god awful Cab Air Coolers we had years ago that just used to blow warm air in your face! I used to dread really hot summers then!

 

[johnnyp_360]

This may seem like a stupid question. But why are there opening windows on 365s? I was on one on Saturday with working air-con, a lovely cold breeze coming from the vents and people kept opening windows letting all the hot air in :\

 

[A-driver]

This may seem like a stupid question. But why are there opening windows on 365s? I was on one on Saturday with working air-con, a lovely cold breeze coming from the vents and people kept opening windows letting all the hot air in :\

365s don't have air con. The ball vents arnt air con, not sure if they are fan assisted or just air pushed through by the trains movement.

Opening the windows is often better to get air circulated, especially if people are standing as the ball vents only work if you stand under them.

One of the heating problems with 365s is that the thermostats are in line with the top of the windows so if you open the window when the heat is turned on then the cool air rushing past the thermostat turns the heating up!

317s were originally designed with air con which is why they don't have opening windows but just have vents which were originally meant to be locked shut and unlocked if the air con failed etc but the air con was left out on cost grounds.

 

[gordonthemoron]

the aircon on the pendolino I got back from manchester last sunday was lovely after a long hot day

 

[jon0844]

365 vents are fan assisted, but I'd say a fair few aren't working and so are useless. Even once you get moving, you won't get any air flow from them.

I doubt that's considered an important bit to fix when servicing the train. I wonder if they're even checked?

 

[150001]

The 168s and 172s have excellent air con. Just had a ride in 168215 and the air con was excellent throughout the trip, not too cold though. When I got out the heat just hit you! The 221/220 which I rode on from Oxford was OK, not good as the 168 though, as the smell of the toilets on both units was being spread through the car. XC really need to sort out this toilet smell when you get onboard.

 

[Goldfish62]

The aircon on 458s is pretty rubbish due to its inconsistency. You can be frozen in one seat only to move a few seats away and be boiled. It also has the unpleasant tendency in winter when the carriage temperature is approaching just right to start chucking freezing cold air at you - hardly ideal.

Also, at the first hint of warm weather the aircon usually packs up - kind of defeats the object of it.

 

[northern156]

I was sat in the middle of coach C on a 185 yesterday from Newcastle to York. 25 or 26C outside and I was cool all of the journey; I loved it!

 

[ainsworth74]

I was sat in the middle of coach C on a 185 yesterday from Newcastle to York. 25 or 26C outside and I was cool all of the journey; I loved it!

185 aircon is renowned for being very good (indeed when first delivered it was too good! TPE got many complaints about freezing cold trains), certainly in my experience 185s are always wonderfully cool even when it's roasting outside and the train is rammed.

 

[455driver]

The aircon on 458s is pretty rubbish due to its inconsistency. You can be frozen in one seat only to move a few seats away and be boiled. It also has the unpleasant tendency in winter when the carriage temperature is approaching just right to start chucking freezing cold air at you - hardly ideal.

Also, at the first hint of warm weather the aircon usually packs up - kind of defeats the object of it.

The 458 air con is fun, the driver can do a cooling (or heating) test using the TMS. I know of one driver who decided to do a cooling test on the rear cab when there was 1 foot of snow outside, I (oops I mean he ) got the cab temperatute down to 7 degrees C, the guard wasnt very impressed complaining that the heaters were not working, I think the smirk on my (oops I mean his) face gave it away and he called me (oops I mean him) some very nasty names!

I did buy him a nice expensive coffee afterwards.

 

[Solent&Wessex]

Today I had 4 separate 185 units during the day:

Unit 1 had 1 coach with a faulty HVAC, causing that coach to turn (middle and 1 end) into a sauna.

Unit 2 had 1 coach with a faulty HVAC, causing that coach to turn (middle and one end) into a sauna.

Unit 3 had 2 coaches with faulty HVACs, causing 2 of the 3 coaches to be sauna like for 2/3rds of each coach.

Unit 4 was ok, but whilst the outer ends of the coaches were cool, the middle section was incredibly warm and stuffy.

 

[colchesterken]

I went to Brighton on the hottest day of the year.Got a FCC 377 back it was very good after a hot and sun burning day
May I give them a vurtial pat on the back 12 cars on 1845 back to Bedford on Sunday night. Needed may I say standing near the barriers seats at front
Thameslink 2000 is looking good