Class 376 refurbishment: why don't they add aircon and toilets?

[Charlie_RBX]

Moderator note: Split from

Class 376 refurbishment 2025/2026

Southeastern Railway to address the issues surrounding the lack of toilets on the Class 376... Can't argue with that! The only question - where does the waste go? ;)

www.railforums.co.uk

Why don’t they just add aircon and toilets

 

[Doomotron]

Why don’t they just add aircon and toilets

If you're willing to pay for the upgrade, I'm sure they will.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Why don’t they just add aircon and toilets

Cost?

 

[SolomonSouth]

Why don’t they just add aircon and toilets

Perhaps it is simply not possible to add toilets - after all, they weren’t designed with toilets in mind.

Ditto for air con.

Sometimes things just cannot be done.

 

[brad465]

They are 20 years old, so retrofitting this stuff will be too costly and not likely to get any investment return as they could be withdrawn before long. If Southeastern limit them to Cannon St services and don't go beyond Orpington or Dartford in passenger service (more restrictive than Gravesend and Sevenoaks), the toilet issue is somewhat solved. 707s have the toilet provision, which combined with being <10 years old makes retrofitting toilets easier.

Sometimes I wonder what the point of Air Con is on most metro services, much of the year it's not necessary and when it is the huge demand often causes it to break down anyway. As long as reasonable window ventilation is provided this can help. On intercity services I can understand the need for Air Con as windows that open isn't really an option.