Class 455s on the West London Line services.

[swt class 450]

Hi all. Just another question about the 455s diagrams. Are there any 455s still operating on the West London Line these days? I remember that the short workings that terminated at Kensington Olympia and at Shepherds Bush used to be operated by 455s but i am not sure if this is still the case? Are these still 455s or has the line gone to 100% class 377s these days? Many thanks in advance for any information.

 

[leo knight]

I think these journeys are now in the hands of 5car 378s as they work through k olympia and then through the North London line to Stratford. Not sure if a 455 ever operated to shephards Bush though. Part of the west London line operates as London overground. A 455 prob never work olympia as it were never third rail as they were in the hands of 33/1 + 4TC sets. Tell me if I'm wrong.

 

[swt class 450]

To clarify i was referring to the Southern services on the West London Line rather than the London Overground services. The 455s have definitely worked to Kensington Olympia and Shepherds Bush in the past. They used to do it quite regularly a few years ago and i think they may still do but i am not too sure. The third rail extends all the way to Willesden Junction before the trains have to switch to the overhead wires.

 

[leo knight]

Yes you're right I just checked the wiki Web site and it is served by Southern and London overground presumably by 455s with Southern. 456s a few years back and was always electrified. Shephards Bush were a branch line off the west London line back in 1916 and back in operation from 1986.

 

[Ianno87]

To clarify i was referring to the Southern services on the West London Line rather than the London Overground services. The 455s have definitely worked to Kensington Olympia and Shepherds Bush in the past. They used to do it quite regularly a few years ago and i think they may still do but i am not too sure. The third rail extends all the way to Willesden Junction before the trains have to switch to the overhead wires.

No, the third rail only extends to North Pole Jn, it's AC only beyond there to Willesden Jn. Overground services now change supply without stopping.

When Southern Class 455 use(d) the route, they were on services that turned back at Shepherds Bush, or in the North Pole reversing siding (the former Eurostar depot access)

I can't personally confirm whether there are any 455 operated WLL services any more. Most/all will be 377s

 

[RUFJAN15]

I haven't seen these trains (Southern terminating at Shepherds Bush) recently but a quick look at RTT for tomorrow provides some answers:

1) 2M21 (08.40 ECR - SPB) is formed at ECR off the 2O15 from WFJ, so should be 377. It returns to CLJ as 2O27, then to depot

2) 2M41 (14.46 SRS - SPB) comes off depot as 5M41. At SPB it forms 2O47 to ECR at 15.49, returning as 2M51 and forming 2O57 to ECR at 17.49. This returns to the depot from ECR as 5O57. This circuit could still be 455.

Has anyone seen the afternoon workings recently?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've certainly seen 455s on the short workings in recent years. Obviously they can't go past Shepherd's Bush, so if one does go out on a regular service to fill in it's going to get terminated short.

 

[700007]

I went to see the workings a few months back just before the May timetable change and in the AM peak it was a 377.

 

[Eastwestjct]

The Southern service that use to Kennny O was the parliamentary service which operated for a few years after XC stopped running to Brighton.

This was operated by 455 after morning peak before going to selhurst

 

[swt_passenger]

I think these journeys are now in the hands of 5car 378s as they work through k olympia and then through the North London line to Stratford. Not sure if a 455 ever operated to shephards Bush though. Part of the west London line operates as London overground. A 455 prob never work olympia as it were never third rail as they were in the hands of 33/1 + 4TC sets. Tell me if I'm wrong.

Yes, you’re definitely completely wrong.

The last Southern 455 service to/from Shepherds Bush, (reversing in the North Pole turnback), that I can find online was in the May 2016 CWNs. By Dec 2017 they were replaced in the CWNs by a pair of 377s. Don’t know if this happened then or later.

 

[tsr]

Definitely no 455s booked now, or Kensington Olympia terminators for that matter. All Southern WLL services run to Shepherds Bush, Watford Junction or Milton Keynes Central, and are all booked for 8 coaches (2x 377/2 units) without exception. They should probably be allocated 5 coach 377/7s during the off-peak and evenings, but unit diagramming for dual voltage stock can be hard enough as it is.

There were small numbers of 455s up to the May 2018 timetable change.

Just a note also on the point of 3rd rail electrification and turnbacks. Southern services to and from Shepherds Bush usually turn round in the North Pole Turnback Siding, which is simply a bit of track between some warehouses and not at all a depot. This is 3rd rail electrified and as such the short workings don’t have to change over onto AC.

 

[gazthomas]

User1234, looking at your posts I'm thinking you really, really like 455s!

 

[700007]

The trains do sometimes just turn around on the Southbound platform at Shepherds Bush without any movements to the sidings.

 

[swt class 450]

Many thanks for the info. That's a shame that they no longer do the West London Line any more. So all of the interesting routes that the 455s did (West London Line and Dorking to Horsham and Leatherhead to Guildford) are all gone now. I guess the reason for this is probably so that they no longer have to train Guards for 455s as these were the only routes where the 455s required Guards with the rest being DOO.

 

[Class455]

User1234, looking at your posts I'm thinking you really, really like 455s!

Not as much as I do

 

[tsr]

Many thanks for the info. That's a shame that they no longer do the West London Line any more. So all of the interesting routes that the 455s did (West London Line and Dorking to Horsham and Leatherhead to Guildford) are all gone now. I guess the reason for this is probably so that they no longer have to train Guards for 455s as these were the only routes where the 455s required Guards with the rest being DOO.

Nope, conductors still sign 455s to allow them to learn and route-refresh diversionary routes where this is the main traction in use. This is subject to review in future.