Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2009 20:20:51 GMT
The fact I can say I was very impressed is an understatement!
Canterbury to St Pancras in 54 minutes! ;D
Soon as we left Ashford, on a *very* busy train, we blatted it along the HS1 tracks, passing cars 'dawdling' along the M20. No ear popping at North Downs Tunnel, no rattling doors, no electrical humming noises. Over the River Medway at 140mph. Tony the Driver made us fully aware of this fact. Not that I needed reminding. No cups went skidding across the table, the passengers around me busied themselves with laptop work.
While I watied for the mass exodus and rush for the tube at St Pancras, I slowly got off, a strange smile beamed across my face.
The cab is certainly different from anything I have experienced.
Took a few photos, will upload them soon to my Flickr pages.
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Oracle
In memoriam
RIP 2012
Writing is such sweet sorrow: like heck it is!
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Post by Oracle on Sept 18, 2009 21:25:32 GMT
RAIL has suggested that unless the new trains are running late they will nornally go at a 125 mph maximum...bit of a swizz when they were advertised at 140!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2009 17:25:14 GMT
Hmm, interesting... I don't think South Eastern want to be embarrassed by late running on this service. From the experience I gained, the company is literally pulling out all the stops to market it as a 'premier' service, which fits in with the small premium on the ticket prices. I was very impressed anyhow.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2009 18:49:47 GMT
I had a ride on a service from Rochester to St Pancras yesterday morning (Saturday only at the moment) and the train was almost empty, clearly not too many people willing to pay the premium fare for a service that is only a bit faster than the fast Victoria service.
Apparently 125mph is the normal speed so no faster than the HST's!
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Post by 21146 on Nov 29, 2009 19:55:47 GMT
I was surprised to learn that Priv Cards are accepted on these services, albeit with peak hour restrictions which make 9-to-5 commuting impossible.
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roythebus
Pleased to say the restoration of BEA coach MLL738 is as complete as it can be, now restoring MLL721
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Post by roythebus on Dec 2, 2009 9:32:41 GMT
Yeh, had to go to London the other week, midday, and only one super-whizz Javelin at that time. The return from Ashford including all zones was about £26, not bad, only about £4 more than the day return.
The journey was quite impressive, but the advertised "testing" stop at Stratford didn't happen! The return 1630 was a bit of a laugh. the train manager, with a north atlantic accent, announced that passengers for Dover Priory must travel in the front 8 cars, which ain't a problem today seein' as we've only got 6 cars!
The crews are quite proud of their new toys, and seem far happier than we did at Kings Cross when the 313s were introduced with all their failings.
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Post by DrOne on Dec 3, 2009 1:02:43 GMT
Thats great to hear.
Will be interesting to see how the service develops over the years.
Though debatable, there is some logic in changing the timetable to favour the St Pancras service on parts of east Kent. However, I wonder how time will look on the decision to put the Faversham trains onto HS1 rather than keeping them at Victoria, particularly as the benefits may not be as large as other services.
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Post by andypurk on Dec 3, 2009 11:00:59 GMT
Though debatable, there is some logic in changing the timetable to favour the St Pancras service on parts of east Kent. However, I wonder how time will look on the decision to put the Faversham trains onto HS1 rather than keeping them at Victoria, particularly as the benefits may not be as large as other services. Whilst the journey time may not be any quicker than Victoria, St. Pancras will give quicker connections to the city and when the DLR gets to Stratford International, there will be better connections to Docklands as well. |
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Post by norbitonflyer on Dec 3, 2009 11:28:03 GMT
St. Pancras will give quicker connections to the city really? Faversham to Cannon Street (current timetable) 75 minutes Faversham to St Pancras (Javelin) 65 minutes |
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Post by andypurk on Dec 3, 2009 11:46:34 GMT
St. Pancras will give quicker connections to the city really? Faversham to Cannon Street (current timetable) 75 minutes Faversham to St Pancras (Javelin) 65 minutes Yes, the Faversham trains will be 62 mins to St. Pancras and whilst the Cannon Street services will be 74-76, Cannon Street is not necessarily convenient for all of the City, especially the bits around Broadgate. The service is also peak only (last down at 18.44), not so good if someone is working late (or down the pub). Currently if you miss the last service, you have the long trek to Victoria, now you won't lose so much time as St. Pancras is more convenient. |
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Post by norbitonflyer on Dec 3, 2009 15:17:38 GMT
Cannon Street is not necessarily convenient for all of the City, especially the bits around Broadgate. It's more convenient than several-hundred-yards-the-wrong-side-of-the-Euston-Road. The National Rail journey planner indicates the fastest times between Faversham and Liverpool Street (for Broadgate) are via London Bridge or via Herne Hill and Farringdon, nit via St Pancras. If you force it to go via HS1 it says the fastest route is by changing at Stratford Unintentional and taking the "replacement" bus to Stratford NR, but there's only a few minutes in it. Currently if you miss the last service [from Cannon Street], you have the long trek to Victoria, .... or the not-so-long trip to London Bridge, with a change at Chatham |
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Post by andypurk on Dec 3, 2009 17:46:04 GMT
Cannon Street is not necessarily convenient for all of the City, especially the bits around Broadgate. It's more convenient than several-hundred-yards-the-wrong-side-of-the-Euston-Road. The time taken to walk (or get the bus) from Cannon Street will be considerably longer than the time taken to get to the Northern line via the new northern ticket office and travel to Moorgate. I suggest you look at the timings after the timetable change, then it only gives via Stratford (time 1h28 - 1h33) and no sign of via London Bridge / Herne Hill (current off-peak times 1h44 - 2h04) unless forced. Time via St. Pancras is 1h34 (including 26 mins King's Cross - Liverpool St on Circle/Met). Even during peaktime, the direct trains to London Bridge for the Northern line only save a few minutes. |
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Post by DrOne on Dec 4, 2009 11:24:07 GMT
LOL @ Stratford Unintentional!
I guess the point is that rail termini may be more or less suitable for the city/west end/canary wharf depending on where you are going. The new southeastern timetable tries to tidy up the services and terminals.
Access to Canary Wharf for that area would be achieved anyway with the planned peak services to St Pancras so I don't see why the off-peak half-hourly Faversham-Victoria service was moved. I thought Favershams fit nicely on the Victoria route giving a better parallel local service to the Dover & Ramsgate fasts than the hourly Gillingham.
btw, will any mainline routes run from Cannon St in the new timetable?
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Post by plasmid on Dec 4, 2009 13:23:25 GMT
I've only ever been on Virgin's tilting Pendolino's.
How does the Javelin compare to them?
The only thing I could think that I would miss would be the way that the Pendolino's tilt, nothing like it in my opinion!
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Post by norbitonflyer on Dec 4, 2009 19:11:03 GMT
btw, will any mainline routes run from Cannon St in the new timetable? If I've read it correctly, there will be six to/from the Medway Towns route, four via Tonbridge and Ashford, and twelve to Hastings. All of them peak hour services except a couple of contra-peak services on the Hastings line. |
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Post by 21146 on Dec 4, 2009 23:28:47 GMT
Now that it's possible to travel between Stratford and St.Pancras via HS1 I'd like to try it out next week. Trouble is, the only way to get to Stratford International is via shuttle bus, which you can't board without a valid Southeastern ticket. BUT the LU ticket office and machines at Stratford Regional don't sell HS1 tickets, so it means queuing up at the grotty NatEx portacabin appended to the main station building. I wonder how clued-up they are on HS1 fares, or of priv ticket availability at off-peak times? Presumably Southeastern prefer to accept tickets bought on-line but for some fares they have to be bought as "walk ups". At Stratford this means the money's going to NatEx as there's no way of getting to the Southeastern ticket office - if there is one!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2009 23:35:16 GMT
Aye, there are just two Ticket machines at St Pancras on the South Eastern High Speed mezzamine level, both of these are behind and to the right as you come up the escalators. Don't try using the machines next to the ticket office on the main 'food court' level because the option for High Speed Upgrade is not available.
The only suggestion I can give, 21146, is to go to the booking office at St Pancras and buy your Stratford Unimaginatively placed - St Pancras tickets in advance, if such is available to be and can be, purchased.
I've now used the service three times. Very handy for 'flying' visits to Kent, and well worth the couple of quid extra.
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Post by 21146 on Dec 6, 2009 5:57:36 GMT
Of course PT Cards cannot be used until Dec 13, so it'll be £5 for a 6 minute journey!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2009 13:47:06 GMT
A full service starts today with trains now calling at Stratford Int., there seems to be a lot of pro's and cons about it all with winners and losers. There has been uproar from Maidstone area commuters about the removal of their direct service to London Bridge and Cannon Street and the fact that the Victoria service takes about an hour. Stations like Sole Street and Farningham Road now only get one train per hour off peak although Medway Valley line trains are extended to Tonbridge (at least off peak) and Tunbridge Wells now gets FOUR trains an hour to and from London.
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Post by 21146 on Dec 14, 2009 19:16:03 GMT
Done it both ways between Stratford and St.Pancras now. £1.25p priv single!
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Post by pgb on Dec 15, 2009 9:46:07 GMT
Of course PT Cards cannot be used until Dec 13, so it'll be £5 for a 6 minute journey! They certainly could be alright. On the 4th December went for a spin to Ebbsfleet and back for £4, on the 5th went to Ashford for lunch for £7 all on Priv. I'm not sure where RAIL got their idea for 125mph max considering my GPS quite happily clocked one at 141.9mph around the Rainham area. One unit we had though (012 I think) had really bad vibration from the second coach from the front for some reason. All that went for the day out were extremely impressed with the service. If there's a group of you going, it may be worth checking out the Groupsave fares for three or four people. The rest of our group got to Ashford for £12.50 each. Looking forward to heading towards Folkestone when the RHDR start operating for the season. First train out of Charing x is 06:30 arrives 08:19, first one out of St. Pancras is 07:10 and arrives 08:09. Now that's progress (admittedly it doesn't stop at every lamppost though!) |
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Post by 21146 on Dec 15, 2009 10:47:59 GMT
You're right pjb, I misread the ATOC guidance leaflet. Unfortunately I could only have bought a PT ticket from a staffed office at StPI anyway and with only one out of about eight positions open in the EMT ticket office I would have missed my train by waiting.
Now can anyone answer this one? Tickets at Stratford are sold from SET people at the north end of platform 11. How do you get this far without already having a ticket? Presumably the only other option is buying one (eventually) from the NXEA office by the bus station?
More importantly, arriving passengers have their tickets kept by the gates in the International station (which has no international trains of course), but have to exit via Regional. So how do you get out without a ticket, either to rebook or reach street level?
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Post by pgb on Dec 15, 2009 11:25:18 GMT
You're right pjb, I misread the ATOC guidance leaflet. Unfortunately I could only have bought a PT ticket from a staffed office at StPI anyway and with only one out of about eight positions staffed in the EMT ticket office I would have missed my train waiting. There's a trick to that one. The EMT booking office always has a huge queue. If you walk round the corner, you'll find the FCC ticket office which normally has nobody there at all. |
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Post by happybunny on Dec 15, 2009 11:41:45 GMT
Is there a buffet or trolly or anything? What about 1st? Do they sell AP tickets for these services to say Dover yet ?
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Post by 21146 on Dec 15, 2009 14:59:00 GMT
There is no buffet, trolley, or 1st Class!
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DWS
every second count's
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Post by DWS on Dec 15, 2009 15:47:08 GMT
Done it both ways between Stratford and St.Pancras now. £1.25p priv single! So where did you get your priv ticket from, and what bus stop at Stratford does the bus to International Station use ? |
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Post by 21146 on Dec 15, 2009 16:08:48 GMT
Right - priv ticket from one of two SET staff (or agency staff) with portable ticket machines at the north end of Stratford Regional platform 11. You then walk through a gate to where the shuttle bus arrives/departs. This bus stop is nowhere near the bus station and is effectively within the Olympic Park/Westfield building site.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2009 17:02:41 GMT
I'm not sure where RAIL got their idea for 125mph max considering my GPS quite happily clocked one at 141.9mph around the Rainham area. AIUI the timetable is based on 125mph, although the trains can do 140mph in normal service. It therefore allows a bit of breathing space for late-running trains to get back on time, especially those that join HS1 at Ashford. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2009 19:23:51 GMT
Today, the PA at Stratford Regional was announcing Southeastern services, before cutting out, e.g. "Platform x for the 12:36 Southeastern" <cuts out rest of announcement>. Is this a fault with the PA, or has the PA at Stratford Regional started announcing services from Stratford International?
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mrfs42
71E25683904T 172E6538094T
Big Hair Day
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Post by mrfs42 on Jan 1, 2010 20:04:09 GMT
In case folks are interested, I put up a few pics of our trip on HS1 going to the Christmas meet - inc some of our GPS recording the speed. The best one is the first GPS pic, where it shows a speed limit of 70 but we're going at nearly double that! ;D dunsty.fotopic.net/c1798641.html |
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