At present. That may or may not change of course. Either way, thanks for letting us knowJust chiming in here on the Hadfield run - alongside the ROSCO, Northern is supporting exploratory work which is taking place to determine whether Class 350 trains would be suitable for deployment on routes in the north of England. At present there is no commitment from Northern to operate Class 350 trains in the future.
Hope this helps to clear things up.
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/class-331-at-stoke-on-trent.246365/page-2#post-6175912 shows 309 624 which is similar length I think just fitting. This unit is now preserved as a 3-car set. 4-car AM10/class 310 similar length, 4-car AM4/304 were slightly shorter, they both used the bay for years.
Good point!
There was recent talk of consolidating two services to remove a third, thus saving money, and freeing up LNR trains and crew for West Coast Mainline work.
Yes, news wise the exactly the same talks, and news of future usage for 3502s doing its rounds in Warwickshire of where I live close to Long Marston, also of where a Porterbrook manager works at and has ex links with Northern and West Midlands, and 3502 expertise knowledge, of possible connections from the recent talks.
I'd like to think that could come to something, as that seems like a genuinely sensible proposition to lend some utility to the current Stafford - Stoke - Crewe stub of a service that's been left over from assorted timetable revisions.
319s could also fit in the bay at Stoke, but 319s only barely fit in the bay at Stoke.
That happened back in January of this year.
The 350/2s regularly call at stations where only the doors on the first 4 coaches open (Rugeley TV for example), the PIS onboard shows coach numbers and can make annoucements for people to move forward to the front 4 coaches - having the corridor connection between units make that relatively straightforward
Your welcome.
Thats that problem solved.
Unit deselect works on trains that aren't busy at stations where not many people are getting off.
I think it would probably be best if proper SDO could be installed. Using only 4 of 8 when 6 fit would be disapointing
I am suprised at how many just fit 7 carriages.
When was the last time that trains longer than 140m operated to these stations? That might give the answer.
I think plenty of them were extended to fit 6 car 331 (144m), which means they fit 6 car 323 (140m).
Is Google Maps distance measurer accurate for doing this
While it doesn't show limitations like signals earlier than the end of the platform, I know Salford Crescent doesn't have anything special (and fits 6 car 331s with room to spare) so it's good enough for that.
Salford Crescent P1 is 158m, P2 is 153m. I think you're correct in suggesting a few of those figures are wrong unfortunately, the sectional appendix is probably your best bet: https://sacuksprodnrdigital0001.blob.core.windows.net/sectional-appendix/Sectional Appendix full PDFs June 2025/London North Western (North) Sectional Appendix June 2025.pdf
I agree installing proper SDO would be best, why lock the doors on a full unit out of service when 6 or 7 of the cars can fit on platforms.
They sure would be with Northern, going from 6 car to 8 car trains in the North West would be a huge upgrade.
Not like for like 6 and 8 car trains though. 6 x 24m is 144m. 8 x 20m is 160m. So an upgrade, but not really a huge one.
Bad idea. Timekeeping at the Liverpool end is far from perfect, but it was even worse when there were Crewe/Manchester?Liverpool services.
I also can't see Porterbrook paying for all the work needed to remove or add coaches to the 350/2s, and thats if adding/removing coaches is even possible.
Based on what happened at LNWR when first class was removed from the rest of the 350s don't hold your breath on the seats being changed.
Northern kept the former first class seating in the 319/769 and class 170 fleets despite a refurbishment
