Southern 377's

[DescendingSadly]

Hi all,

As i'm not from the south, can anyone tell me how Southern services are usually formed? I.E. do they usually run as 8 cars? or 4? does this change at peak times? I appreciate they will swap and change all the time but if you could give me a general picture that would be great, thank you.

 

[anthony263]

Cetain routes such as the Brighton - Portsmouth Hbr service can normally be operated by a single 3 or 4 carriage class 377.

The Milton Keynes - Croydon service is worked by a single 4 carriage class 377 although once the platforms at Imperial Wharf & Sheperds Bush are extended to accomodate 8 carriage trains and Southern have enough class 377's it is planned for the service to be worked by pairs of 4 carriage class 377's. This will be especially good during the peaks as people are being left behind because trains are so overcrowded.

Apart from that the majority of Southern services I have seen tend to be pairs of class 377's although I have services operated by 3 class 377's working in multiple

 

[DescendingSadly]

Thanks Anthony, in particular I am interested in the Brighton Mainline, I should have said this. Sorry.

 

[TEW]

It depends on the service. 4, 8 and 12 carriage formations are all common on weekdays and at weekends the 3-carriage units work London-Brighton services as well so you end up with 9 carriage formations.

 

[causton]

Some of the services that turn off the Brighton Mainline are formed of 8 cars that divide, for example one 8-car train runs to Horsham which then divides into a Southampton train and a Bognor Regis train, and another 8-car train runs from Victoria to Haywards Heath (I think?) where one 4-car set runs to Littlehampton via Hove and another runs to Eastbourne via Plumpton

 

[Vicpaul]

We rarely run 3 car 77s. Normally 4 8 or 12 car units attached detached as and when

 

[Zoidberg]

Some of the services that turn off the Brighton Mainline are formed of 8 cars that divide,

... another 8-car train runs from Victoria to Haywards Heath (I think?) where one 4-car set runs to Littlehampton via Hove and another runs to Eastbourne via Plumpton

That's my (two years old) experience.

 

[GatwickDepress]

Either an 8 or 12-car (only peak times?) London Victoria - Hastings service splits at Haywards Heath for the Littlehampton service. On the way up to London Victoria from Hastings the Haywards Heath - Eastbourne service is connected to it, I believe.

 

[RichJF]

On the slow mainline services, Southern definitely run 4 x 3 car 377's on one London Bridge - Horsham service.

During the Christmas/New Year period, I recall some services from Bognor/Southampton joining and being formed of 10 coaches with 1 x 4 car 377 + 2 x 3 car 377's.

Hope that helps a little?

 

[CROMPTON 33]

all of the 377/3's have been transferd to SU from BI so we don't see them down this way now. some of the hastings to vic ,start as 4 car then pick up a 4 car set at eastbourne then a 4 car set at haywards heath. making a 12 car to vic.

 

[tsr]

3-coach 377s can sometimes be seen "on their own" during quieter off-peak periods, such as on some mid-evening Redhill-Reigate shuttles.

3 or 4 coaches would indeed not be sufficient in terms of capacity for the vast majority of peak services (in the busiest directions), and passengers will probably be left behind at station calls within 20 miles or so of a London terminal if such short formations occur.

Of particular interest is the 1732 departure from London Bridge to Horsham, Tonbridge and Reigate. As mentioned in another thread, this service splits into three portions for each of the destinations at Redhill. The train will generally continue to Horsham in its complete form in the event of any major disruption or amended timetables (e.g. during bad weather, such as the recent snow/ice). It is theoretically possible for this train to be formed of a 4-coach unit for Horsham and 3-coach units for both Tonbridge & Reigate.

 

[TEW]

all of the 377/3's have been transferd to SU from BI so we don't see them down this way now. some of the hastings to vic ,start as 4 car then pick up a 4 car set at eastbourne then a 4 car set at haywards heath. making a 12 car to vic.

377/3s still have a lot of weekend work to Brighton though, this is just on the London-Brighton services though and not Coastway work anymore. There's 3 9-carriage sets on London-Brighton services all day on Saturdays, one of which is strengthened to 12-carriages in the morning and evening and 2 9-carriage sets on London-Brighton services all day on a Sunday.

 

[sarahj]

I must have dreamed then that 3 car 377 I took from Brighton to Littlehampton at 17.45 yesterday, then onto portsmouth,

BML is a mixture of 4 car, 8 car and 12 car 377's and 5 or 10 car 442's. Out side of rush hour a 8 car is the norm.

Services are
BML Express 2xph Vic,CLJ,ECR,Btn
1x semi per hour. Vic,CLJ,ECR,GTW,Burgess hill, Hassocks, BTN

Some sundays we do run 3x3 cars (9) on the Brighton expresses (vic,clj,ecr,gtw,btn).

Inside there is a mixture of seats. Some are 2+2 for all 4. Some are 2+2/HD/HD/2+2 and some are H/D all the way through.

Splits are
1ph Vic-HHE then HHE-Lit and HHE to Ore
1ph Vic-HHE then HHE-Lit and HHE to EBN

There are also splits that leave the BML at Three Bridges, head to Horsham then split with front either going to portsmouth or southampton and rear a stopper to Bognor. these go via Redhill.

There are also the Horsham stoppers

Vic or LBG, (NCG or Norwood),ECR, Purley,Couldsdon South, Merstham,Redhill,Earlswood,Salfords,Horley,GTW,Three Bridges,Crawley,Ifield,Littlehaven,Horsham. Normally 4 car


H/D high density seating. 3+2. Little side tables

 

[RobShipway]

So I suspect that when the 5 car 377/6 come on stream that these will either work as two 377/6 coupled together who be coupled up to the 377/1, 377/2 or 377/4's?

This would also mean that the 377/3's replace the class 456's that are going off to SWT? Which I suppose means that you will still have the class 313's doing the Coastway routes for a few years yet or until Southern gets back the 377/2's and 377/5's from FCC?

 

[pendolino]

We can (and do) run 3,4,6,8,9,10 and 12 car 377s regularly and I have worked 7 and 11 cars on occasion.

12 cars can be formed of 3x4 cars or 4x3 cars; the difference in power between the two formations is surprisingly noticeable.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

We rarely run 3 car 77s. Normally 4 8 or 12 car units attached detached as and when

3 cars are quite common on weekend London Bridge to Tattenham services. I know this as I have had to deal with the TPWS problem at London Bridge more times than I care to remember.

 

[Class377/5]

So I suspect that when the 5 car 377/6 come on stream that these will either work as two 377/6 coupled together who be coupled up to the 377/1, 377/2 or 377/4's?

This would also mean that the 377/3's replace the class 456's that are going off to SWT? Which I suppose means that you will still have the class 313's doing the Coastway routes for a few years yet or until Southern gets back the 377/2's and 377/5's from FCC?

Plan is the 377/6 run in pairs with /6 in peak and alone off peak. They aren't planning to use them jointly with any other 377 sub class, however they will be able to if the need arises.

The 377/6 order was in part to cover for the 456 departures.

313's are going to be around for awhile yet. However Southern won't get the 377/2 or 377/5 back before its disappears and becomes part of Thameslink. The 319's are going to go first before any Electrostar are released.

 

[RobShipway]

Plan is the 377/6 run in pairs with /6 in peak and alone off peak. They aren't planning to use them jointly with any other 377 sub class, however they will be able to if the need arises.

The 377/6 order was in part to cover for the 456 departures.

313's are going to be around for awhile yet. However Southern won't get the 377/2 or 377/5 back before its disappears and becomes part of Thameslink. The 319's are going to go first before any Electrostar are released.

Okay, thank you for the info.