Rollercoaster rides - Has ride quality declined?

[dk1]

Compared to a class 101 on the East Suffolk Line or a Pacer racing along between Scarborough and Hull, everything seems smooth as a millpond these days. Even an HST across the Berks & Hants could give one extremely lively ride.

 

[apbj]

Yes, Berks & Hants sends the teacups flying.

 

[dk1]

Yes, Berks & Hants sends the teacups flying.

Standing in the door area of an HST at 100+ was always guaranteed to throw you about and test that vestibule.

 

[saismee]

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

The same size bump/valley in the track would cause less tilt on a wider gauge, so presumably yes. I believe this is why the Shinkansen was built to standard gauge (as opposed to Japan's narrow gauge), as it would ride better at high speeds.

 

[brad465]

What solutions are available to make railways more resilient to very dry foundations, short of building on a concrete base and/or strong pilings that are obviously too expensive and disruptive to roll out widely?

 

[Krokodil]

The same size bump/valley in the track would cause less tilt on a wider gauge, so presumably yes. I believe this is why the Shinkansen was built to standard gauge (as opposed to Japan's narrow gauge), as it would ride better at high speeds.

Brunel was right!

 

[Bald Rick]

What solutions are available to make railways more resilient to very dry foundations, short of building on a concrete base and/or strong pilings that are obviously too expensive and disruptive to roll out widely?

Rebuild all the embankments and formation with crushed rock. Obviously expensive and disruptive as well.

One of the reasons HS2 is so expensive is that it has very tight tolerances for formation movement, and is thus going to be built on rock solid formation (literally) where it isn’t on concrete.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

Brunel was right!

Although ironically Brunel skimped on his earthworks foundations, using oak piles which have not stood the test of time and in many places resulted in embankment stability issues.

 

[duffield]

I don't often travel on the lower part of the ECML, but last Saturday I travelled from Grantham to Kings Cross on an 801 and somewhere around halfway there was a 5-10 minute period where the ride quality was bad enough that holding my coffee cup in place on the table wasn't enough, I had to pick it up and hold it tightly in both hands. It wasn't scary-bad but it seemed very poor for such a major line. Don't think I've ever noticed anything quite as bad on the MML.

 

[father_jack]

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.

Really bad northbound just before Ashchurch.

 

[Lewis66655]

It’s horrible between Clapham junction and Surbiton, going through Wimbledon feels like you’re on a rollercoaster

 

[Uncle Buck]

I travelled from Bath to Paddington last Thursday (18th September) and on the return journey the train rattled and made such a noise that I briefly became rather alarmed, given the high speed at which it was travelling. It felt almost like the railway equivalent of a very worn-out car with a completely broken suspension. Is that unusual for the GWML between Didcot and Chippenham- I am Scottish and have never had cause to travel this route before, I was just staying in Bath? Is this a track issue or a rolling stock issue. The trains are not very old?

 

[Siimo]

I thought this thread was going to be about actual rollercoasters...
There is a section of the WCML only a few minutes out of KGX that seems particularly bad on Azumas, not only physically bumping and swaying but vibrating and thumping rapidly too. It's straight track on a high-speed railway so seems an unexpected place for this.
The wildest ride was the unrefurbished Island Line on the 1938 tube trains, even at the jogging speed which was all they could manage it was properly bouncy.

 

[Krokodil]

There is a section of the WCML only a few minutes out of KGX that seems particularly bad on Azumas

If you're travelling on the WCML out of Kings Cross then I'm not surprised that you've had a bumpy ride! There's a reversal or two involved

 

[Siimo]

If you're travelling on the WCML out of Kings Cross then I'm not surprised that you've had a bumpy ride! There's a reversal or two involved

It's not my fault whoever designed the modern keyboard put the W and E keys next to each other...

 

[milooo]

Towards Thetford coming from Ely there is a quite bad bump...

 

[voyagerdude220]

I travelled from Bath to Paddington last Thursday (18th September) and on the return journey the train rattled and made such a noise that I briefly became rather alarmed, given the high speed at which it was travelling. It felt almost like the railway equivalent of a very worn-out car with a completely broken suspension. Is that unusual for the GWML between Didcot and Chippenham- I am Scottish and have never had cause to travel this route before, I was just staying in Bath? Is this a track issue or a rolling stock issue. The trains are not very old?

Whilst I don't have knowledge of that area of the network, it seems to me that many people have reported similar ride quality issues with 80x fleet, not just the GWR versions, around the UK.

 

[dk1]

Towards Thetford coming from Ely there is a quite bad bump...

That’s to be expected at this time of year due to the nature of the under track conditions. A 40mph ESR will eventually get imposed once it gets bad enough.

 

[fgwrich]

Yes, Berks & Hants sends the teacups flying.

The stretch of line between Mortimer and Southcote junction has always been bad and is usually subject to a TSR. It wouldn’t surprise me if this stretch of line is constructed with embankments made of leftover Ash from Reading sheds.

 

[_toommm_]

There's still quite a bump at Mirfield going towards Huddersfield - surprisingly much more noticeable on a 185 versus an 802, it sent my drink flying. The bump at Morley going towards Leeds has luckily gone.

 

[RailWonderer]

Swindon - Didcot and much of the GEML south of Cochester is terrible at the moment, though the latter is slightly better on 745s. We had the hottest summer on record which I think is to blame for the shifting soil but the lighter inferior bogies on newer trains isn't helping either. TSRs on the GE are making journeys a bit longer now, which I hope aren't going to be a recurring longer term thing given the state of finances at the moment.

 

[sharpener]

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.

Yes, Berks & Hants sends the teacups flying.

Didn't experience any particular problems with the ride a week ago but we certainly lost a lot of time for no obvious reason.

 

[irish_rail]

Didn't experience any particular problems with the ride a week ago but we certainly lost a lot of time for no obvious reason.

There are numerous speed restrictions which is probably why the abysmal ride was less noticeable. This coupled with the fact almost all 80x currently have engines isolated translates to guaranteed loss of time by Reading. I've even heard calls for an emergency timetable on the B and H due to this, though doubt that will come to much.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

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.

I would also suggest that as well as riding with the driver, the PW staff should be riding further back in the trains; while the visual check of the affected area from the cab is clearly of great importance the physical effects of any bad track will logically be felt less right at the front?

 

[bramling]

There are numerous speed restrictions which is probably why the abysmal ride was less noticeable. This coupled with the fact almost all 80x currently have engines isolated translates to guaranteed loss of time by Reading. I've even heard calls for an emergency timetable on the B and H due to this, though doubt that will come to much.

Out of interest, how have we reached a situation where almost all of the 80x have engines isolated? That’s pretty appalling for a nearly new fleet.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Sep 2025 ==

I would also suggest that as well as riding with the driver, the PW staff should be riding further back in the trains; while the visual check of the affected area from the cab is clearly of great importance the physical effects of any bad track will logically be felt less right at the front?

It really depends, but generally it holds true that issues are felt more the further to the vehicle end you are located, plus at the cab you don’t have the extra stability provided by the adjacent vehicle.

But generally p-way will know what to spot, so providing the correct location is checked then there shouldn’t be an issue with doing a visual check from a cab.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

It really depends, but generally it holds true that issues are felt more the further to the vehicle end you are located, plus at the cab you don’t have the extra stability provided by the adjacent vehicle.

It will to some extent, but the actions of adjacent vehicles further back in the train moving against each other can make it a lot rougher further back than at the leading cab.

 

[Krokodil]

It really depends, but generally it holds true that issues are felt more the further to the vehicle end you are located, plus at the cab you don’t have the extra stability provided by the adjacent vehicle.

I find that from the back cab there are kicks I feel that aren't felt by the driver in the front.

 

[The Planner]

Out of interest, how have we reached a situation where almost all of the 80x have engines isolated? That’s pretty appalling for a nearly new fleet.

Money. Saves fuel using eco modes.

 

[irish_rail]

Out of interest, how have we reached a situation where almost all of the 80x have engines isolated? That’s pretty appalling for a nearly new fleet.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Sep 2025 ==

Problems with fuel filters apparently.

 

[GuyGibsonVC]

As someone mentioned, there is a lot of Soil Moisture Deficit around. Also known as desiccation, it is throwing track geometry off as the ground shrinks.

This has become a real issue over the past decade as the effect of the drier climate compounds to cause issues. Obviously, this year was very dry, too.

This means more rough rides, more tamping, and more speed restrictions.

Add in some deferred renewals due to ‘efficiencies’ and this is what you get.