European Railroad Discussion > My utilitarian conveyance

Every day. I catch the train from London Bridge to Three Bridges in Sussex, some 30 miles south of London. These days I mostly travel on First Capital Connect services, and usually in their 25 year old class 319 EMUs. The 319s are one of a number of classes, accounting for 1000 plus vehicles built within the bodyshell of BR's Mk 3 carriage design. Whilst undoubtedly robust they are also extremely utilitarian, with few modern comforts. I took these pictures whilst in the Motor Pantograph Standard of one of the two units which formed this morning's 7:42 departure from London Bridge, as we sped towards Gatwick Airport.

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None of the prisoners are in shackles -- is this minimum security confinement? :-)

~ BZ

C'mon...it appears to be clean and well-lit; the guards (photo #1) are rather nice-looking....

HRGXguy,
It's way better than the ex-NYNH&H 1920's coaches we rode in Penn Central commuter service into Boston in the early 1970s...although they did give us holes in the floor to watch the sleepers (crossties) go by underneath us....

Well the shackles are metaphorical as we're on our way to work.

Yes it is clean but far too bright, those diffusers give off a harsh glare. The seats are rather mean and narrow, sitting next to anyone even slightly on the heavy side is difficult for both parties and the seats always seem rather low. There's no air conditioning and the sliding doors rattle in their pockets when another train passes. Compared to the modern 377s, which both Southern and First Capital Connect use they are decidedly ropey. The 319s are due to be cascaded elsewhere as and when the new Thameslink stock comes on line.

I'm beginning to wonder quite what is going to happen with the 319s. Plan A was to refurbish them and then send some to Manchester/Liverpool which is being electrified as I write and the rest were also due for a refurb and then move to run trains out of Paddington to Oxford and Newbury. But the failure to order Thameslink (and,for that matter Crossrail) units suggests that either the refurbishment won't happen (or at least it wiil be spread over a long period because they are in use) or we'll get an electrified railway with diesel trains.

I don't use them frequently but I travelled from Gatwick to Brighton on one recently and I was pleasently surprised. My most frequent rides are FGW HSTs, 165/6, 150 and 158 and the 319s are of the same era and are comparable. We all want new trains and we need some new trains but given the life span of trains it's difficult to justify.

...and it's devoid of graffiti.
...Lorenzo

Were the photos north or south of East Croydon? I ask because I'm sure there was a time when contr-peak trains out of London Bridge were little more the empty stock - now, with East Croydon in particular there are a good few passengers heading out of London in the morning rush. I've noticed it on trains to Southampton from Waterloo as well.

South of East Croydon, the Brighton mainline serves a number of employment hotspots; Croydon, Gatwick and Crawley so trains are never really empty at peak hours these days.

I think the space on the train is quite amazing! But my commutes in the 1990s were city bound and stuffed to the gills. The Guilford via Cobham (42) trains must be even older and less friendly. But there were always amusing events to enliven the day!

Notch16 Wrote:
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> None of the prisoners are in shackles -- is this
> minimum security confinement? :-)
>
> ~ BZ

I can't decide whether that guy in photo 2 is MI5 or KGB. Too nice looking for CIA... ;-)

rdsexton Wrote:
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> I can't decide whether that guy in photo 2 is MI5
> or KGB. Too nice looking for CIA... ;-)

Probably SPECTRE on his way to the airport.

Do these units have the "American interurban" style air compressors? When I visited London in 1993, some of the "slam door" stock was still in service, and with their big DC motors and Westinghouse air compressors, they sounded a lot like the Pacific Electric cars of fond memory to Southern Californians. Hearing all the sounds of a Southern Electric train made me think I had gone to traction-fans' heaven.

Big DC motors, yes but with electronic control. The 442 units in Gatwick Express service have very big DC traction motors (400 hp) and prominent compressors, but their traction equipment is genuinely old, dating back to the mid 1960s.