Rollercoaster rides - Has ride quality declined?

[Ianmel1969]

Is it just me or has travelling by train become a bit more of a rollercoaster ride?

Today's unpleasant ride was between Chichester and Southborne. Passengers looking at each other with alarm at the severity of the rocking of the carriages.

By no means the only area for uncomfortable rides. The Pompey to Waterloo line has been bad of late.

Be interested to know what is the cause. Poor rails or poor suspension on trains?

 

[gazthomas]

That's certainly my experience with class 197s in North Wales. They're incredibly rough riding, especially on jointed track. Though this doesn't explain your experience in the south

 

[PrincesWinsdor]

That's certainly my experience with class 197s in North Wales. They're incredibly rough riding, especially on jointed track. Though this doesn't explain your experience in the south

Just being curious, I've heard that some railway tracks on lesser used lines only get replaced per 50 years. Maybe that's the reason?

 

[m0ffy]

I tapped on this expecting some rollercoaster-related S L I G H T R A T T L E content.

I know alarmingly rough ride has been previously reported on 350s near Bletchley, but I’ve noticed a much smoother ride following the derailment and repair works there.

 

[bramling]

Is it just me or has travelling by train become a bit more of a rollercoaster ride?

Today's unpleasant ride was between Chichester and Southborne. Passengers looking at each other with alarm at the severity of the rocking of the carriages.

By no means the only area for uncomfortable rides. The Pompey to Waterloo line has been bad of late.

Be interested to know what is the cause. Poor rails or poor suspension on trains?

Might be partly the prolonged dry spell over the summer followed by a fairly sharp wet spell. This is likely to be causing some issues with the underlying formation in places.

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

Travelling along the single line between Farnham and Alton is always a bit of a "rollercoaster-like experience" - a sickening swaying motion and violent lurching constant for pretty much the entire journey.

Having said that, the last time I worked a train down there it wasn't quite so bad - still poor but a noticeable improvement. Unsure if they've done something to the track or my unit just had particularly good suspension.

 

[Trainman40083]

Might be partly the prolonged dry spell over the summer followed by a fairly sharp wet spell. This is likely to be causing some issues with the underlying formation in places.

I'm sure that has been given as the cause.

 

[Bald Rick]

Might be partly the prolonged dry spell over the summer followed by a fairly sharp wet spell. This is likely to be causing some issues with the underlying formation in places.

It is entirely because of this.

For obvious reasons, rectification work is prioritised for the busiest / higher speed lines.

 

[Starmill]

I remember making a journey in late summer about ten years ago over the same stretch, and it was certainly very lively then. There's also some dodgy ground between Ford and Christs Hospital.

 

[Recessio]

There's a section of track that has such a violent jump between Newhaven and Lewes that I actually wrote in to the TOC thinking it must have been a track fault. Apparently it's "within tolerance" . Given I once saw even the OBS go absolutely flying during a particularly bad jolt, I'd hate to see how bad "out of tolerance" is!

 

[tram21]

Travelling along the single line between Farnham and Alton is always a bit of a "rollercoaster-like experience" - a sickening swaying motion and violent lurching constant for pretty much the entire journey.

Maybe that's their aim, so that all the people who arrive at Alton looking for Alton Towers aren't disappointed!

 

[AM9]

Some rolling stock handles poor track better than others. In my experience, Electrostars have generally exhibited violent lateral lurches whereas most of the CAF designs have jittery vertical ocscillations on less than good track. The Desiros (especially the City types with their SF7000 bogies) seem very sure footed as are the Flexx bogies fitted to some Bombardier stock.

 

[bramling]

There's a section of track that has such a violent jump between Newhaven and Lewes that I actually wrote in to the TOC thinking it must have been a track fault. Apparently it's "within tolerance" . Given I once saw even the OBS go absolutely flying during a particularly bad jolt, I'd hate to see how bad "out of tolerance" is!

It probably won’t be helping that Electrostars seem to accentuate these things. Whilst their overall ride isn’t bad, they’ve always had a tendency to jolt sideways in a quite distinctive way.

When the 387s arrived on GN it was quite noticeable how jolts which were fairly nondescript in 365s became quite violent.

 

[geoffk]

I always thought that crossing Chat Moss in a 319 was a bit like crossing the Channel in a bathtub, but I suppose Chat Moss is always going to be in a class of its own. The Northern 195s often felt rough-riding, especially when sitting over a bogie. Are all the CAF units like that? I've only had a short trip on a 197 and none on a 196. Northern Ireland Railways have an all-CAF fleet and they have gone back for more.

 

[ValentaFan1974]

Between Bristol Parkway and Cheltenham Spa is rough to say the least… it’s been getting worse over the last year, especially on the up. The down was relatively ok until about 2-3 months ago and it’s started to get rough as well.

 

[AM9]

I always thought that crossing Chat Moss in a 319 was a bit like crossing the Channel in a bathtub, but I suppose Chat Moss is always going to be in a class of its own. The Northern 195s often felt rough-riding, especially when sitting over a bogie. Are all the CAF units like that? I've only had a short trip on a 197 and none on a 196. Northern Ireland Railways have an all-CAF fleet and they have gone back for more.

The 331s and 397s also get very jittery at the slightest excuse from the track. Chat moss is always going to be a bit bouncy, - just like the Fen line from Ely to Kings Lynn. One might question why the Electrostars were deployed on that line, - although I've never done that stretch in a 700, they would probably fare better.

 

[fgwrich]

Some rolling stock handles poor track better than others. In my experience, Electrostars have generally exhibited violent lateral lurches whereas most of the CAF designs have jittery vertical ocscillations on less than good track. The Desiros (especially the City types with their SF7000 bogies) seem very sure footed as are the Flexx bogies fitted to some Bombardier stock.

The Flexx Eco bogies still, in my opinion, are some of the worst riding on the network. And are even worse when you have a vehicle with a wheelflat. I took two 345s along the western end of the GWML last week and the banging and rattling coming from underneath them was like the constant demolition of a wardrobe (although not having any sound deadening carpet doesn’t help). However the skateboard bogies under the Hitachi stock are worse.

Controversially, the Caley Sleeper Mk5s I took back from Fort William weren’t as bad as I remember them from before, and certainly didn’t produce the worst ride quality I’ve had in a while.

 

[Horizon22]

In many parts of England, particularly around the SE it is noticeable with TSRs all over the place. It’s called “soil moisture deficit” from which you can find out more information.

 

[Moonshot]

It's definitely more noticeable on the network up North.....there is probably a lot of truth in some posters highlighting ground condition. Obviously not one that the industry has any control over

 

[irish_rail]

The B and H is horrendous at present, especially the Up. Most trains losing 5 to 10 minutes due to the countless speed restrictions that have sprung up in past couple of months.

 

[The exile]

It is entirely because of this.

For obvious reasons, rectification work is prioritised for the busiest / higher speed lines.

And of course (referring to the comments re Alton) it is always possible that the weather related changes to the trackbed might occasionally actually improve the ride.

 

[saismee]

The roughest rides I've had have been on a 387 on the Fen Line. It almost felt like we had hit a speed bump and it sort of hurt. It wasn't a sideways motion, but a bump in the direction of travel.

Other than that, the 720s seem to hunt really bad in some places and I think the open gangways make it much more obvious. IIRC it was worst between Stratford and Shenfield, likely over the TSR.

 

[43096]

Some rolling stock handles poor track better than others. In my experience, Electrostars have generally exhibited violent lateral lurches whereas most of the CAF designs have jittery vertical ocscillations on less than good track. The Desiros (especially the City types with their SF7000 bogies) seem very sure footed as are the Flexx bogies fitted to some Bombardier stock.

I would dispute that the with the Bombardier Flexx bogies. Other than the 22x fleets, those bogies on the Aventras give a very poor, jittery, harsh ride. They’re not good enough.

 

[Krokodil]

That's certainly my experience with class 197s in North Wales. They're incredibly rough riding, especially on jointed track. Though this doesn't explain your experience in the south

Whenever I take a trip down the Marches the ride quality seems so much worse than on the North Wales Coast. I miss the Mk3s!

 

[erikvd28]

It could always be worse like this Malaxa ride in Romania (the railcar is over 80 years old)

 

[lordbusiness]

I travel on the GEML most days and yes, from experience, it has.
There's a particular nasty side to side kink going through Marks Tey on the Up Main, I watched a chap nearly end up in someone's lap a few weeks ago*. I now subconsciously brace going through there to avoid whiplash!

*I did report it as a rough ride to Control but was told the following day that NR had been out and looked at it and it was ok!

 

[Krokodil]

*I did report it as a rough ride to Control but was told the following day that NR had been out and looked at it and it was ok!

Is that the equivalent of fleet going "no fault found on depot" to something that needs to be experienced in service?

 

[Horizon22]

I did report it as a rough ride to Control but was told the following day that NR had been out and looked at it and it was ok!

I think there’s a difference between being “OK” and “a known issue whereby nothing can be done immediately but there are mitigations in place”. P-way are almost certainly more busy up and down the country doing more regular cab rides. The key point is whether the ride is deteriorating or is just poor. For the latter this can be within tolerances even if it doesn’t feel too pleasant.

 

[Starmill]

I find the Northern Ireland Railway units ride smoothly usually. However the Irish guage is likely easier to achieve that on?

 

[AM9]

I would dispute that the with the Bombardier Flexx bogies. Other than the 22x fleets, those bogies on the Aventras give a very poor, jittery, harsh ride. They’re not good enough.

My reference to Flexx bogies was really aimed at the 222s which handle the roughish MML around Mill Hill as well as the SF7000s under the class 700 on the same track at 100mph and below. My travel to date on Aventras has only been on 345s which seemed OK from Paddington to Abbey Wood and Shenfield (that being a stretch of the GEML that I am also familiar with. I've never been fast enough on 710s, 720s or 730s to sample their riding.