Class 701 'Aventra' trains for South Western Railway: progress updates

[OneTrackMinded]

Wouldn't be a problem if the driver opened the doors.

Which they do on 701s, providing an almost instant door release at stations which helps to cut down on dwell time and makes the process much more seamless than having to stand at the door for 5 seconds.

 

[w11_supremecy]

Wouldn't be a problem if the driver opened the doors.

It is most definitely can be and is a problem because the guard needs to access the panel - known as the Guard Operating Panel (GOO) - in order to be able to close the doors and give the Ready to Start signal to the driver…

 

[wokspotter]

Which they do on 701s, providing an almost instant door release at stations which helps to cut down on dwell time and makes the process much more seamless than having to stand at the door for 5 seconds.

Apologies,I didn't know that drivers now open the doors on 701s.Obviously the guard needs access to the dispatch panel to close them.

 

[OneTrackMinded]

It is most definitely can be and is a problem because the guard needs to access the panel - known as the Guard Operating Panel (GOO) - in order to be able to close the doors and give the Ready to Start signal to the driver…

For future rolling stock, they should implement an app on a phone which allows it to be done from the palm of the guard’s hand.

 

[norbitonflyer]

For future rolling stock, they should implement an app on a phone which allows it to be done from the palm of the guard’s hand.

Not a good idea. Sooner or later a guard will activate the door close procedure when he's still on the platform, either by accident or in an attempt to save a few seconds

 

[Nogoohwell]

This has security concerns written all over it.
Dreadful idea - sorry

 

[OneTrackMinded]

Not a good idea. Sooner or later a guard will activate the door close procedure when he's still on the platform, either by accident or in an attempt to save a few seconds

True.

This has security concerns written all over it.
Dreadful idea - sorry

I believe the current system has more security risks. Anyone can just press the doors close and local door close buttons on the guard panel while the guard is outside the train, lock the guard out of the train and press the buzzer twice. I personally believe the guard panel should be shut once the doors are open and only reopened when the guard is standing next to it again.

 

[Goldfish62]

I believe the current system has more security risks. Anyone can just press the doors close and local door close buttons on the guard panel while the guard is outside the train, lock the guard out of the train and press the buzzer twice. I personally believe the guard panel should be shut once the doors are open and only reopened when the guard is standing next to it again.

How is that different from any other rolling stock that has local door panels in the passenger saloon? We've had trains since the 1980s with this arrangement and I'm not aware of a single such instance.

 

[TRAX]

For future rolling stock, they should implement an app on a phone which allows it to be done from the palm of the guard’s hand.

What could go wrong ?

 

[OneTrackMinded]

How is that different from any other rolling stock that has local door panels in the passenger saloon? We've had trains since the 1980s with this arrangement and I'm not aware of a single such instance.

I meant all rolling stock, not just 701s. There might not have been an instance of it, but there’s certainly a risk of it happening. Just having the buttons open to touch by anyone while the member of staff operating them is outside the train is always going to be a risk.

 

[Goldfish62]

I meant all rolling stock, not just 701s. There might not have been an instance of it, but there’s certainly a risk of it happening. Just having the buttons open to touch by anyone while the member of staff operating them is outside the train is always going to be a risk.

There's a risk of all sorts of all sorts of things happening. That's what risk assessments are for. If you apply "what if" and "something must be done" in case of a 1 in a billion chance of something happening then the only safe way to run a railway is not to run any trains.

But on the other hand if you are genuinely concerned, perhaps contact the ORR?

 

[commuter41]

New one for me yesterday on 701037 - the automatic PA listing the station stops was running, then the guard started making a manual PA but the automatic PA didn't stop. So with two people talking over the top of each other you couldn’t make out what each of the announcements were trying to say!

 

[Oxalin]

New one for me yesterday on 701037 - the automatic PA listing the station stops was running, then the guard started making a manual PA but the automatic PA didn't stop. So with two people talking over the top of each other you couldn’t make out what each of the announcements were trying to say!

This one I don't believe is exclusive to 701s, I had the same thing on a 444 the other week...

 

[GeoffS]

New one for me yesterday on 701037 - the automatic PA listing the station stops was running, then the guard started making a manual PA but the automatic PA didn't stop. So with two people talking over the top of each other you couldn’t make out what each of the announcements were trying to say!

Can't guards hear the automatic PA?

 

[OneTrackMinded]

But on the other hand if you are genuinely concerned, perhaps contact the ORR?

Never said I was genuinely concerned. It’s just an observation. The ORR are another DfT puppet organisation anyway, like the entire railway is.

 

[Oxalin]

Can't guards hear the automatic PA?

Guess it depends if the fault is train-wide, or if it still cancels the auto announcer in the carriage the guard is in?

 

[RUK]

The cheap build quality of the 701’s they will be life expired in about 10 years!!!

The first Aventras, for the Elizabeth line, entered service just over 9 years ago…

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

New one for me yesterday on 701037 - the automatic PA listing the station stops was running, then the guard started making a manual PA but the automatic PA didn't stop. So with two people talking over the top of each other you couldn’t make out what each of the announcements were trying to say!

That tends to happen if you don't push the PA button hard enough, in my experience.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Maybe a 701/5 or two on the move tomorrow ?.

I have posted the following on the class 93 thread.

Two STP light engine moves to Bicester today Monday 29/06/2026.
Both ROG as I understand it.

I am guessing to make a pair of 93s for movement of a 701 or two perhaps.
Or perhaps only one will be activated with the other as a backup etc.
No sign of an onward move but these 701 moves tend to go to Derby via London iirc.

One 0V71 from Derby RTC arrives 13:26.

Second 0V72 from Crewe Gresty Bridge arrrives 14:11

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:R50613/2026-06-29/detailed
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:R50871/2026-06-29/detailed

 

[Siemens Staines]

There's definitely at least one but I don't have access to what it is exactly right now, main suburban though.

From todays allocations it looks like the 49th 701 diagram is

5J07 0545 Clapham Yard Sidings to London Waterloo
2J07 0636 London Waterloo to Hampton Court
2J14 0723 Hampton Court to London Waterloo
2F13 0820 London Waterloo to Woking
2F22 0933 Woking to London Waterloo
2G23 1033 London Waterloo to Guildford
2G34 1204 Guildford to London Waterloo
2M33 1317 London Waterloo to Chessington South
2M40 1404 Chessington South to London Waterloo
2F39 1450 London Waterloo to Woking
2F48 1603 Woking to London Waterloo
2G49 1703 London Waterloo to Guildford
2G60 1834 Guildford to London Waterloo
2F59 1950 London Waterloo to Woking
2F68 2103 Woking to London Waterloo
2G69 2203 London Waterloo to Guildford
2F82 2324 Guildford to London Waterloo

replacing a pair of 450s which in turn have replaced a pair of 458/4s which have been reduced to 4 pairs of booked diagrams.

5S05 0426 Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs to London Waterloo
2S05 0522 London Waterloo to Weybridge
1S14 0702 Weybridge to London Waterloo
2V15 0837 London Waterloo to London Waterloo
5Y86 1010 London Waterloo to Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs

I presume the evening peak half of this diagram is still as per the May LTP diagrams
5V51 1633 Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs to London Waterloo
2V51 1737 London Waterloo to London Waterloo
2C61 1918 London Waterloo to Reading
2C72 2109 Reading to London Waterloo
2S75 2252 London Waterloo to Weybridge
5Y69 0012 Weybridge to Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs

A 5th pair of 458s is out vice 701 on 2U09 etc, but that is shown as 8v10 on journeycheck.

 

[talldave]

In the hour from 6.30am at CLJ, 4 of the 6 services I could catch from platforms 5/6 are not 701s. It really doesn't feel like we're anywhere near finished .

 

[Peter Sarf]

In the hour from 6.30am at CLJ, 4 of the 6 services I could catch from platforms 5/6 are not 701s. It really doesn't feel like we're anywhere near finished .

Only six services in one hour from platforms 5 & 6 at Clapham Junction - even at 06:30 (am) I would expect more regardless of what units !.
I suppose they are contra peak services so the real heavy lifting is going on in the opposite direction through platforms 3 & 4 at that time of day ?.

 

[WWTownEnth]

How many non 701 diagrams are now left on the main line suburban services? It can’t be many….

 

[800001]

Only six services in one hour from platforms 5 & 6 at Clapham Junction - even at 06:30 (am) I would expect more regardless of what units !.
I suppose they are contra peak services so the real heavy lifting is going on in the opposite direction through platforms 3 & 4 at that time of day ?.

17 class 701s in total across all
Platforms called at Clapham heading into Waterloo too put it into perspective (if I've counted rights

 

[Goldfish62]

Only six services in one hour from platforms 5 & 6 at Clapham Junction - even at 06:30 (am) I would expect more regardless of what units !.
I suppose they are contra peak services so the real heavy lifting is going on in the opposite direction through platforms 3 & 4 at that time of day ?.

Contra-peak flows on the Windsor lines have been cut drastically since Covid. An unusual feature of this service group is that they were as busy in the contra-peak flow as with the peak flow. You'd see train after train leave CJ in the AM Peak packed to the gunnels. That's why pre-Covid the Windsor lines were the busiest in terms of passenger numbers of SWT/SWR's three service groups.

 

[Siemens Staines]

How many non 701 diagrams are now left on the main line suburban services? It can’t be many….

I make it five pairs of 450 still on the main line side that at one time were 455s. The diagrams commencing 2F06, 2D08, 2G05, 2F08 & 2G10. There are a few other 12-car 450 peak hour diagrams that have always been 450s, so I don't think of them as being involved in the 701 roll-out, but I may be wrong.

 

[adc82140]

Going by a quick skim of RTT, all Sheppertons and Kingston rounders are 701, and all but a very small amount of Hampton Courts, Dorking and Chessingtons. The real mixture of 450s and 701s is on the Guildford new line and Woking stoppers. Back in the slammer era, the Guildford via Woking (as was) was always a mixture of 455s and VEPs.

 

[talldave]

Only six services in one hour from platforms 5 & 6 at Clapham Junction - even at 06:30 (am) I would expect more regardless of what units !.
I suppose they are contra peak services so the real heavy lifting is going on in the opposite direction through platforms 3 & 4 at that time of day ?.

Those are the ones that show up on my realtimetrains feed filtered for Staines.

 

[Nimbus020]

Going by a quick skim of RTT, all Sheppertons and Kingston rounders are 701, and all but a very small amount of Hampton Courts, Dorking and Chessingtons. The real mixture of 450s and 701s is on the Guildford new line and Woking stoppers. Back in the slammer era, the Guildford via Woking (as was) was always a mixture of 455s and VEPs.

Thanks - the Chessington line still has quite a few 450s diagrammed

 

[Meglos]

Thanks - the Chessington line still has quite a few 450s diagrammed

The Chessington diagrams are on the back of the need for training of some crews operating out of Guildford. A 450 diagram will often by similar to something like GLD-WAT-CSS-WAT-GLD.