Goblin Electrification info

It's a pity the 315s are electric, because there's an awful lot of DMU rubbish up north they're ten times better than!

was told by a driver there are rumours they're off to India.

The 321s will get the multifunction upgrade.

Maybe so, but at least the DMUs have toilets. Up North they expect these things.

It's not hard to be better than a pacer, however I suspect replacing a pacer with stock without toilets will not end well at all!

I don't think so. All electric traction systems, even those with AC supply and AC motors, feature DC somewhere in the chain,because the motors need variable frequency to control the speed, so you first need to remove the fixed 50Hz supply frequency to avoid it interfering with the chopper/thyristor/gate turn off frequencies

And I'm pretty sure any emu as old as the 315s would have DC motors anyway, whatever the power supply. So you could remove the pantograph, transformer and rectifier and plug in a diesel generator instead

Moreover, as the 313/4/5 units, like the D stock, have aluminium bodies they won't rust away but, like Routemaster buses (the original ones) and Land Rovers, they'll last forever.

But I doubt there is sufficient market for dieselised 315s as well as D stock.

LOROL is a thing of the past, isn't it?
I've certainly seen platform staff assisting with despatch at Leytonstone HRd in the past.

Indeed, its Arriva Rail London now.

I wonder if Blackhorse Road LO platforms come under the National Rail rules? Lifts and unstaffed stations are not incompatible under those arrangements it seems.

I suspect it might be down to whether or not the lifts are classed as part of the station covered by the Fire Precautions (Sub Surface Railway Stations) Regs, a lot of DLR stations have lifts but most of them don't require staffing as they're not "Section 12s"

Yes they do as they are 100% NR property although, they are leased to RfL and they are nominally staffed by LU and LU probably hold the safety case - dogs breakfast in other words.

I would not go that far. However if nothing is done around platform depths and there is a big surge in patronage once 4 car trains start running then I can foresee problems at the height of the peak. There is simply not the space to hold a lot of people waiting to board while large numbers alight. It may not be an "instant" thing given patronage takes time to build but it will certainly warrant attention. I'm also interested to see quite how people use the lifts and in what numbers. If you suddenly get several sets of people with buggies or luggage waiting for them they could easily block the platforms and footbridge. That is not sensible.

You could (and yes the 315 does have DC traction motors - the Networker EMUS were the first to feature AC traction motors), but is it worth it? With respect to the national rail network, leasing companies will only invest if they can see a decent enough return in the project. The D stock proposal used the fact the bodies and bogies were still in good condition plus the ability to reuse most of the former traction system intact. Similarly the concept of adding a diesel engine to the 319s is aided by their dual voltage background thus minimising the expense needed in messing about with the traction system.

With an AC unit the simple fact is you need to spend more on new bits to make them into bi-modes / diesels than you do for an ex DC unit. The overall condition / age of the 315s suggests this does not represent good value for money for the owner. True there is talk of making some of the 321s into bi-modes when they are released from Anglia duties by the stock ordered under the new franchise, but in this case not only is the basic train bodyshell in a much better condition, but a new traction package is proposed anyway so adding in the option of a diesel engine is cost effective.

Ultimately what really screws the 315s is the double whamy of delay to the electrification programme and the forthcoming total fleet replacement under the new Anglia franchise. With a glut of newer EMUs becoming available, conversion of the 315s (or even just a through overhaul as a 25KV unit) is not economically viable.

What about air pollution?

Whether the motors are ac or dc is irrelevant.

You can't get rid of the rectifiers on a 315 because being a phase angle thyristor controlled traction system, the rectifiers control the motors.  If you were doing it you'd either have to chuck the whole traction system away and replace it (expensive) or you'd have to generate around 900V ac single phase from your diesel set and find a way to feed it into the front of the thyristor packs.  Not impossible but nothing like as easy as pumping dc into the shoe gear supply bus on a 319.

The 319 is getting 2 diesel packs (one of each driving trailer) as you need two to get any kind of decent performance out of a 4 car set.  The problem with 315s is that there is no room for 2.  It has two motor coaches and one of the trailers carries the transformer/rectifier.  That leaves one trailer car for the diesel sets and you won't get two sets on one car.