Has a 323 ever made it to London?

[londonmidland]

323 has definitely worked in passenger service at Euston, seen the photo on here. Was in London Midland days.

Are you sure you aren’t getting confused with the 321s?

 

[Geeves]

Certainly in the Central Trains days the 323s did get around, Liverpool was common after the 310s went and before the 350s took over. Ive definitely seen a 323 as far south as Bletchley from a passing train.

Was there a Central Trains service to Preston at one point?

 

[Darandio]

Certainly in the Central Trains days the 323s did get around, Liverpool was common after the 310s went and before the 350s took over. Ive definitely seen a 323 as far south as Bletchley from a passing train.

Was there a Central Trains service to Preston at one point?

They were maintained at Bletchley for a time.

 

[warwickshire]

Y

Certainly in the Central Trains days the 323s did get around, Liverpool was common after the 310s went and before the 350s took over. Ive definitely seen a 323 as far south as Bletchley from a passing train.

Was there a Central Trains service to Preston at one point?

Yes from crewe but a class 350 in the very early days off a brand new Central trains crewe Depot at at crewe. Ran in the late afternoon. Early evening.

 

[Geeves]

In service at Northampton aswell

 

[LowLevel]

Certainly in the Central Trains days the 323s did get around, Liverpool was common after the 310s went and before the 350s took over. Ive definitely seen a 323 as far south as Bletchley from a passing train.

Was there a Central Trains service to Preston at one point?

There was one train to Preston per day leaving Birmingham at 1651 for a short while. I used it fairly frequently and as far as I know it was always a 350/1.

 

[Bletchleyite]

In service at Northampton aswell

Yes, I think during the time when London-Northampton was Silverlink and Northampton-Brum was a separate hourly Central Trains service that 323s did work that from time to time, though I never saw one myself.

 

[LRV3004]

Not as far as I know or recall and a quick search reveals no such photo, just a post from yourself from last year saying such a thing might possibly have happened.

I know both a 323 and a 170 have made it in service to Liverpool (the latter on a charter I think) in the last few years but I don't ever recall seeing a 323 at Euston.

They're not route cleared and they have specific requirements for doing so regarding electrical interference with signalling equipment and the actual loading gauge of the units themselves which is I believe somewhat unusual - they're not just "go anywhere" trains.

170s were very regular at Liverpool Lime Street in the early 2000s during the days of Central Trains as they worked the Liverpool to Norwich services.

 

[Bletchleyite]

170s were very regular at Liverpool Lime Street in the early 2000s during the days of Central Trains as they worked the Liverpool to Norwich services.

They also operated Liverpool to Birmingham services before they were joined across New St and became Liverpool to Stansted. When they were re-split they became 350s.

 

[43 302]

Is Coventry the furthest south they reularly work in the current timetable?

 

[Ianno87]

Is Coventry the furthest south they reularly work in the current timetable?

By "south", you mean "closest to London"?

Redditch and Bromsgrove are further south, to be excessively pedantic

 

[Bletchleyite]

By "south", you mean "closest to London"?

Redditch and Bromsgrove are further south, to be excessively pedantic

Yes, on the WCML they don't routinely work south of Cov.

 

[43 302]

By "south", you mean "closest to London"?

Redditch and Bromsgrove are further south, to be excessively pedantic

I shoud have added furthest south with electricity and running water

Yes, on the WCML they don't routinely work south of Cov.

Thanks.

 

[LowLevel]

170s were very regular at Liverpool Lime Street in the early 2000s during the days of Central Trains as they worked the Liverpool to Norwich services.

That's why I said "in the last few years", IE once it became unusual

They were regular visitors to Lime St from Birmingham until 2005 and from Nottingham/Norwich until 2007.

The 350s were like a breath of fresh air - the Birmingham - Liverpool service had an awful reputation for being unreliable and very crowded with 2 and 3 car 170s so to go to a 4 car 350 was brilliant.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That's why I said "in the last few years", IE once it became unusual

They were regular visitors to Lime St from Birmingham until 2005 and from Nottingham/Norwich until 2007.

The 350s were like a breath of fresh air - the Birmingham - Liverpool service had an awful reputation for being unreliable and very crowded with 2 and 3 car 170s so to go to a 4 car 350 was brilliant.

And no doubt in part because of the 350s, popularity has increased to the point that a longer unit (Aventra) will be needed. The 350s really were a triumph for the railway.

 

[A0]

Yes, I think during the time when London-Northampton was Silverlink and Northampton-Brum was a separate hourly Central Trains service that 323s did work that from time to time, though I never saw one myself.

It was more than 'time to time' - it was a fairly regular occurrence.

I think 323s were also used when the 321s were subject to an emergency stop for a few days some years back due to either frame or bogie problems ?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 Mar 2021 ==

And no doubt in part because of the 350s, popularity has increased to the point that a longer unit (Aventra) will be needed. The 350s really were a triumph for the railway.

I don't think you can pin it all on the units - they arrived towards the end of the WCML modernisation which then led to an enhanced timetable in several areas. No doubt they are good units and have proved to be reliable, but the service improvements were probably more important overall.