Which are the best and worst units and stock for Aircon in Heatwave?

[cambsy]

have travelled a bit in this heatwave and past heatwaves, and notice some units etc are better for Aircon than others, so here are my best and worst from what units i have been on in heatwaves or hot weather:

158’s are not good, as Aircon often not work and the windows dont always open, so can be stifling,
Voyagers when working are good, but in some coaches it doesn’t work and others it does, so luck to which coach in for Aircon,
Turbostar are good, and was pleasant in this Heatwave,
Aventras are good for Aircon and comfortable for travelling around London in,
Subsurface stock is pretty good for comfort on hot days travelling around London,
Deep Level Tube, forget it as boilingly hot, but hopefully better with new Piccadilly Line stock,
Mk2’s Aircon don’t think would be pleasant on hot days travelling as been on before wasnt very good,
Mk3 were good but if vstibule door opened a lot could struggle sometimes.

These are some of my experiences on units etc travelled on in Hot weather, and there are others haven’t really experienced yet in Hot weather, what are other peoples experiences and opinions on Aircon in Heatwaves etc?

 

[frankmoh]

All the Aventras I've been on have good AC.

 

[AndrewP]

Azumas are really good

 

[speedy1]

Pendolino, carriage: acceptable

Pendolino, toilet: like a fridge

Azuma, coach K, mostly empty: was fanning myself. Got unlucky I guess

 

[43096]

Class 458, depending if the aircon was working or not. If it is working, they are often absolutely fridge-like. Wonderful!

 

[vuzzeho]

On the Overground, Aventras are very good. Capitalstars, on the other hand? I'd have been cooler asking a friend to blow air on me.

 

[Iskra]

I've found 185's and 380's to be the best on recent travels.

 

[eastwestdivide]

A Southeastern Javelin the other day was so cool it made the hairs on my arm stand on end. And an EM 810 was pretty good end of last week.

 

[Snow1964]

SWR 444s are excellent .

GWR 158, 165, 166 are very poor, patchy at best, a/c often not working, and temperatures frequently vary within different parts of same coach, and different vehicles in same unit. Very noisy with windows open

 

[507 001]

Desiros have always had incredible aircon, sometimes even in winter…

 

[43367]

Mk4’s are horrendous. Given the fact the trains are now two coaches shorter the coaches are now fuller, meaning the Aircon has to work harder, and less coaches to move passesengers to when they are overheating.
Plus if the OLE is lost the aircon is lost immediately, with no openable windows, although there are door barriers but only seem to be used in exceptional circumstance.
Also the catering vehicle has vents for the catering fridges that constantly blow out hot air, so it’s just like having heaters on.

 

[CR165022]

When it works, the air cooling on the 165/0s is incredible

 

[sir_gummerz]

Ive found 700s hold up very well even when full and standing

 

[Rail Quest]

Mk3 were good but if vstibule door opened a lot could struggle sometimes

A few years, I did the LSL Blue Pullman on the hottest day of the year. Air con failed in our carriage and needles to say it was an absolute sweat box. The worst part was we were travelling up a slow branch line so the wind coming from the door end windows was non existent. For that journey, a MK3 was basically the worst possible thing to be in during that heat wave.

 

[dk1]

Class 745 & 755 units are an absolute joy. The driver is in a position to make them even cooler than they already are should the guard or catering staff request it. Could travel on them all day long.

 

[centraltrains]

Could the question be more around how good maintenance upkeep is? 172s are certainly hit and miss, can be like walking into heaven, arriving into a hot home or steeping right onto a scolding beach depending on how many of the AC units in the coach are working

 

[Trainz6013]

Went on the Tyne & Wear Metrocars on what was meant to be their final week of operation, and that was during a heatwave. Needless to say, they don't even have air-con, so you can imagine how warm they were!

Announcements were being made in the train about the heat, saying that if it is too hot, to get off at the next station and wait for the next train, because that will have air-con

So in answer to the question in the title of this thread the Metrocars are awful in this heat, but I can't say I've had a bad experience with the new 555s, all the ones I've been on have been relatively cool inside

 

[CyrusWuff]

When it works, the air cooling on the 165/0s is incredible

Seconded. I remember travelling on one from Marylebone to High Wycombe in Summer 2006 (so not long after the refurb where they were retrofitted with air cooling) and it was that effective that other passengers were doing their jackets up!

Conversely the 168s have always been fairly meh. It's not poor, but 165s are generally better in my experience...when they work.

 

[Aaron1]

On the hottest day of this year so far I was travelling from Lincoln to Nottingham, at 1pm ish, on the Lincoln-Crewe train which I believe are 158s? No air con, no openable windows, the temperatures inside that train carriage was insane, sweat was literally pouring off people like they literally just stepped out of the shower.

I dread to see what the temperature was in the carriage but it was a relief to be stepping off the train into the cool air, which is bizarre thing to say on the hottest day of the year!

 

[pokemonsuper9]

have travelled a bit in this heatwave and past heatwaves, and notice some units etc are better for Aircon than others, so here are my best and worst from what units i have been on in heatwaves or hot weather:

158’s are not good, as Aircon often not work and the windows dont always open, so can be stifling,
Voyagers when working are good, but in some coaches it doesn’t work and others it does, so luck to which coach in for Aircon,
Turbostar are good, and was pleasant in this Heatwave,
Aventras are good for Aircon and comfortable for travelling around London in,
Subsurface stock is pretty good for comfort on hot days travelling around London,
Deep Level Tube, forget it as boilingly hot, but hopefully better with new Piccadilly Line stock,
Mk2’s Aircon don’t think would be pleasant on hot days travelling as been on before wasnt very good,
Mk3 were good but if vstibule door opened a lot could struggle sometimes.

These are some of my experiences on units etc travelled on in Hot weather, and there are others haven’t really experienced yet in Hot weather, what are other peoples experiences and opinions on Aircon in Heatwaves etc?

165s and 166s were very hit and miss, either they'd be nice and cold with the air con working and windows shut, or very warm with a failure and windows open -
GWR started cancelling services with non-functional air con en-mass by Friday.

SWR 159s might as well have not had it, I only found a couple carriages across all the trains I used on Thursday to have working air con.

GWR 80x however were very good - the only disappointing part is when it was so busy I had to stand in the vestibule, which has no air con (but fortunately was right next to where a set of water bottles was in the luggage rack).


I've seen a couple Pendolinos running around with their side displays saying "Carriage (N) Overheating", presumably the air con failed in there.

150s are as expected given their only cooling tool is windows.
I've had a couple Northern 158s with working cooling though so that's something.

 

[martin2345uk]

GA 720s are not great, you can definitely feel the aircon but it's very weak on every unit I've travelled on in the heat

 

[Royston Vasey]

Extensive travels last week so I will tier them:

Very good: GWR 166, Avanti 390, TL 700, WMT 730, LNWR 730, WMT 196
Average: XC 170, XC 221, GN 387, SE 465
Awful: SWR 159, Avanti 390 (standing in vestibule), Victoria Line
Hazardous to human health: TfW 158

The 387 had been switched off during layover at Kings Cross and warmed up quite rapidly.

Certain coaches on the double 158 were hotter than the Victoria Line. Even the carriage interior wall was uncomfortably hot to the touch.

 

[Wolfie]

Desiros have always had incredible aircon, sometimes even in winter…

Beat me to it!

 

[DiddyKongRacin]

Class 185s have been very good (if not even a little overtuned!), 397s/802s don't seem so bad either,.
Class 331s (Northern) & 195s are good too, but regular cases of the AC not working in a specific carriage.
Class 800/801s Azumas seem to be average, was on the warmer side when I did Doncaster > Newcastle.
Class 777s for Merseyrail I reckon is the best I've had and were a welcome reprieve when it was a scorcher last Saturday.

Rest of the northern network is pretty horrifying (150/156/323s mainly)