Door Problems on Class 442s

[djh1986]

Anyone else experienced problems with Southern getting the doors shut on Class 442s?

Had it happen to myself a few times within the last few months on the 22.19 service from Brighton to East Croydon which I'm a regular on and seen a few come to grief at East Croydon with the same problem. Had one severe delay, one short formation and one cancellation which meant I had to stop in Brighton as it would have been pointless getting the FCC stopper back at that hour.

Is this well known as it appears to be causing an above average amount of disruption from what I've seen? Could be that it's the same set but I've seen the problem five, maybe six times this year (not noted which set).

I understand the 442s will be used more from December onwards so I hope the problem will be ironed out.

 

[RobShipway]

I know when I lived in Bournemouth in the early 1990's there were issues with the doors from time to time, but after a while the issues went away as i think the staff got more used to them. Probably the same situation with the Southern staff, they just need to get use to the trains.

 

[387star]

Speaking of the 442s are they to be primarily used on London-Brighton fasts, Gatwick-London (obviously) and the Eastbournes... or will they move to other routes now Southern take on the entire fleet?

Also I did hear as a result of 313s moving to Southern and 377s moving about that the 3 car low density 377s with Connex spec interiors would be reconfigured to provide extra high capacity units...

 

[Fincra5]

Well from what i know, The 442s will begin to work the majority of Brighton-VIC fasts and enough will cover the required gatex services. Other than that they aren;t planned to be on other routes.

And no the 377/3s aren't going to reconfigured, altough that was the original plan. In order to provide the extra capasity more quickly the reconfiguration was scrapped.

 

[387star]

Ah so there are no plans to standardise the class 377 interiors? Obviously the connex spec interiors are starting to look the most shabby being the oldest... the seats are more comfy however!

 

[djh1986]

Only lived down South for just over a year so are the Connex 377 interiors the ones with blue, red and grey seats? They are much much comfier and easier on the eye than the brash green. Also, the luggage racks are better too as they are glass rather than have holes in them, making it impossible to put wet coats or umbrellas in the overhead racks!

Don't care much for the interior on the 442s either, seats aren't too comfortable and aren't many table seats but the ride quality is far superior.

 

[387star]

Yes the Connex ones have a mix of (mostly grey) but also blue and 'red' seating... I think the southern trains used under the wires also have a connex interior abelt higher density. The seats are much softer not sure why but someone on here once told me southern changed the seat design so it would last longer?

Yeah not sure why the overhead racks have holes in them! I do think the black carpets look smarter though and personally I prefer the green to the grey seats and green carpet..

So... how many tables per 442 coach? Is it as bad as FGW? Are any seats comfortable nowadays? I imagine they make them less comfy so they last longer and deter vandalism/fire resistant etc... plus cheaper! What would you compare the 442 seat pitch to? lets face it SWT would have made theres high density if they kept them. Who knows...they might return to SWT one day...
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btw is it just me or are the passenger saloons of the 442s higher off the ground than most new rolling stock inc 377s and 444s? They look more bulky, wider and stronger looking than the desiros/electrostars or is that just me? This why the ride quality is better?

 

[djh1986]

They only have 4 tables per carriage and the seats are very upright and I suppose they're similar to the bulk of the SW Trains more recent stock.

You do feel very high up in the 442s, you're right.

 

[Fincra5]

Still, 442s are, to me anyway, a lot more comfortable than the usual 377s that worj the route too. I think at somepoint Southern are going to refresh the 377/3s.

 

[thelem]

There is a noticeable step down off the 442s, so the must be higher than the 377/319s. Seats are OK, except the arm rests are far too low.

I've not been aware of problems with the external doors (I normally get them going from Burgess Hill to Brighton so maybe any problems tend to occur at the start of the route). The internal doors are a bit of a pain though, they don't seem to have any proximity sensors, so they will close as people are walking through them.

 

[ainsworth74]

The internal doors are a bit of a pain though, they don't seem to have any proximity sensors, so they will close as people are walking through them.

That seems to be a problem on quite a bit of stock I've had to save people from being squeezed by 22xs, 185s and 158s.

 

[Fincra5]

That seems to be a problem on quite a bit of stock I've had to save people from being squeezed by 22xs, 185s and 158s.

I know I have deffinately had that problem on a pendolino.

 

[Skimble19]

If you're short you risk getting trapped inbetween the doors on a 365!

 

[djh1986]

Pendolino interior doors are lethal! Amazed nobody has been injured in them, particularly someone quite frail.

 

[Juniper Driver]

My last train failure (@ Branksome in Jan 2007) was some sort of door interlock problem...These units gave me plenty of problems over fifteen years of driving them (1992-2007) but they helped me learn a lot about driving trains and I still have a soft spot for them.