Class 350 golden spanner

[DarloRich]

I note that the lnwr fleet of class 350 trains has come 1st, 2nd and 3rd in thier class at the golden spanner awards.

I will post the press release later on but the 350/3 trains run on average 138000 miles between failure.

Not bad for a train that seems to be hated by many experts here!

 

[superkev]

Bit better than the current crop of new trains which according to Modern Railways are struggling to pass Pacer reliability.
K

 

[DarloRich]

I find them very impressive trains

 

[Mordac]

They have doors at thirds, therefore are awful trains, according to a significant section of the forum here.

 

[cjmillsnun]

I travel on their sister 450s regularly and I found them to be well made and (aside from the 3+2 seating) comfortable units.

 

[87015]

So a third of their claimed reliability a few years ago?

 

[superalbs]

Is there a full updated list of MTIN stats published recently?

 

[43096]

Is there a full updated list of MTIN stats published recently?

It will be in January's Modern Railways.

 

[DarloRich]

http://news.wmtrains.co.uk/pressrel...perates-most-reliable-electric-trains-2803413

London Northwestern Railway has won this year’s Golden Spanner award for the most reliable First Generation Electric Multiple Unit in the UK.

The accolade was awarded to the Siemens 350/3 units, which are part of a fleet that operates over 80 services a day to and from London Euston.

The trains were recognised for running an average of 138,000 miles between technical incident over the past year.

London Northwestern Railway also leases Siemens 350/2 and 350/1 units. These came in second and third in the same category respectively.

 

[cactustwirly]

Not a surprise really, they are a very well built solid EMU, far superior to anything that's come out of Newton Aycliffe & Litchurch Lane!

 

[Grumpy]

I seem to recall that prior to the arrival of the 350's, these services were run by the 321's based at Bletchley which regularly headed the national reliability tables. I wonder how much of the current result is due to the Siemens product, and how much to the nature of the service/expertise of the Bletchley/Northampton maintenance staff.

 

[F Great Eastern]

And the 185s won the modern DMU category as well.

It says a lot about the build quality of Siemens compared to what comes out of Newton Aycliffe & Litchurch Lane!

 

[cactustwirly]

I'd be interested to see who wins future golden spanners, the Siemens 70xs or the Stadler EMUs with GA.
Both manufacturers seem to have very solid build quality.

 

[Wivenswold]

The 2000s Desiros are good, solid and nowadays reliable trains. The ride takes a while to get used to as it's less forgiving over bad track but otherwise will always opt for 360 over 321 or 350 over 319.

 

[Mag_seven]

They have doors at thirds

Please explain what you mean by this?

 

[zn1]

138k between casualty...that is hard to beat, and these ladies are worked hard daily over the WCML North and south...they might not be the prettiest or nicest to ride, but you can at least know they will get you home..

 

[Ken H]

dont the golden spanner trophies look like a voidmeter?

You put it between sleepers so the bottom of the rail rests on the round knob.
run a train over it. Tells you know much measured shovel packing is needed.

 

[swt_passenger]

Please explain what you mean by this?

Suburban train door positions, notionally at ⅓ and ⅔ of the coach length, as opposed to ‘long distance’ style end doors.

 

[Mag_seven]

Suburban train door positions, notionally at ⅓ and ⅔ of the coach length, as opposed to ‘long distance’ style end doors.

I thought that might be the answer having thought about it though why it should be a problem I don't know!

 

[swt_passenger]

I thought that might be the answer having thought about it though why it should be a problem I don't know!

Some people seem to feel unnecessarily strongly about it, I guess they ignore any potential dwell time issues.

 

[gordonthemoron]

350/1 & 350/3s are nice trains, don't like the seating in 350/2s (3+2)

 

[samuelmorris]

Quite a result considering they're so similar to the 350/4s which were panned for poor reliability when introduced, then again look at what the 458s achieved before refurbishment. I'll be very interested to see the rest of the stats table. I suspect it'll still make grim reading for anything built subsequently to the 350/3s...

 

[DarloRich]

350/1 & 350/3s are nice trains, don't like the seating in 350/2s (3+2)

agreed - although they are seemingly bomb proof ( never had one fail on me despite being a daily user) and the 350/2's do eat up lots of peak time passengers.

 

[Bletchleyite]

agreed - although they are seemingly bomb proof ( never had one fail on me despite being a daily user) and the 350/2's do eat up lots of peak time passengers.

I'm no great 3+2 seating fan, and they do need seatback tables, but they aren't bad really. They'd fit quite well in the North West, say. Much nicer than the 3+2-layout 319 interior and much newer (and very reliable).

The main problem is of them ending up in the wrong place, and that's more wrong because of the 100 vs 110mph top speed (so guaranteed late running if ending up on the Crewe service) than the seating.

 

[DarloRich]

I'm no great 3+2 seating fan, and they do need seatback tables, but they aren't bad really. They'd fit quite well in the North West, say. Much nicer than the 3+2-layout 319 interior and much newer (and very reliable).

The main problem is of them ending up in the wrong place, and that's more wrong because of the 100 vs 110mph top speed (so guaranteed late running if ending up on the Crewe service) than the seating.

I think they are fine as they are for services south of Rugby ( although in reality that means Northampton) but not for those going further north

 

[hwl]

I seem to recall that prior to the arrival of the 350's, these services were run by the 321's based at Bletchley which regularly headed the national reliability tables. I wonder how much of the current result is due to the Siemens product, and how much to the nature of the service/expertise of the Bletchley/Northampton maintenance staff.

It also depends whether the maintenance contract is in TOC or with the manufacturer. The later (which Siemens do a lot of) leads to tendency to make sure trains fail less so there are penalty payments, if done by the TOC they are OK with a higher failure rate as they optimise their own costs .
If you read the Holden report you'll see SWR gamed the system by allocating failures to staff rather than the units that actually failed for example!

 

[samuelmorris]

That was SWT doing that wasn't it, not the current operator?

 

[E_Reeves]

350s offer an extremely smooth ride IMO. Always a pleasure to travel on them

 

[A0]

I think they are fine as they are for services south of Rugby ( although in reality that means Northampton) but not for those going further north

I think what you actually mean is London - Birmingham services as really there are two services combined here - London - Northampton and Northampton - Birmingham particularly since the last re-shuffle when they serve some of the intermediate stations between Coventry and New Street rather than just International as they did in Silverlink days.

 

[Bletchleyite]

350s offer an extremely smooth ride IMO. Always a pleasure to travel on them

There are many things going for them but ride quality isn't it - over the bogies in particular it's atrocious.

Only reason it's tolerable (with a few heavy jolts over the likes of Ledburn) is that the WCML is pretty much up to Teutonic track standards these days. The 185s on TPE ride atrociously, and the SWR Desiros barely any better, as the track isn't as good there. Though it does make a massive difference where you sit - right in the middle is hugely smoother than the ends.