I Finally Ride In A Refurbished Class 319 Train
I took these pictures of one of the Class 319 trains, that are being refurbished to run the new Northern Electric services between Liverpool, Manchester and the other towns covered by the North West Electrification.
In my view the limited updating has been done well. The awful colour scheme shown in these pictures, when the trains ran between Brighton and Bedford has gone and the seats were certainly more comfortable than I remember them.
There was a bit of a problem on the information system, but the conductor said it was getting better.
A passenger I spoke to, said that she’d used the refurbished trains a few times and the biggest difference was all the extra seats and that they were so much more comfortable.
Compared to the typical diesel units they are replacing the Class 319 are four instead of two carriages and have a 100 mph top speed instead of 75 mph, so as more trains enter service and more lines are electrified, things will only get better.
Two things stick in my mind after this short trip to Wavertree Technology Park station and back in a Class 150 Sprinter.
Class 319 trains are a version of the iconic Mark 3 coach, as is the Class 150 train, I used for the return. But the ride quality and NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) comparison between the two trains was like that between say a brand new BMW and a five-year-old one that has done a hundred thousand miles. Somebody had got their spanners out and checked and tightened everything on the Class 319. The question of what a proper service and similar refurbishment would do for a Class 150, has to be asked.
This was probably the first time that I’ve sat in a newly-refurbished train just a few days after it entered service. The train was crowded and you could see fellow passengers with smiles on their faces, looking round the carriage. They were obviously riding a newly refurbished Class 319 for the first time.
I think if these Class 319 trains, were a person, they’d be Bruce Forsyth. Perhaps a bit long in the tooth, but still a very good reliable mover, that scrubs up well, with a face that is practical but not beautiful by any means.
Yet again Mark 3 coaches in one of their umpteen variants seem to be digging the UK rail industry out of a hole.
The Anonymous Widower 
[…] yesterday’s trip on a Class 319 in Liverpool, where the delight and surprise at the updated train was obvious, I ask if updated transport like […]
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[…] Many of the successful classes of both diesel and electric multiple units are based on the Mark 3 coach design, as was the Class 319 that I rodeyesterday. […]
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[…] I find it rather ironic, that an electric train based on a design started under Wilson’s Prime Ministership, which was designed for the mountains of the South East, has such an important role in the exorcising of his sins as regards to railway electrification across the Pennines. It probably shows that engineers know a lot more about providing good infrastructure than politicians. But although Class 319 trains may be ugly buggers, underneath and behind that extremely tough steel bodywork, lies all the suspension and power systems to create a comfortable, fast and reliable train, that rides with all the smoothness and finesse of a top of the range car. The one I rode on in Liverpool recently had certainly scrubbed up well. […]
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[…] It is interesting to note, that South West Trains converted their Class 455 trains from 2+3 to 2+2 seating, as happened to many of the Class 317s in North London. However, Southern have kept the cramped 3+2 seating, as have Northern with their Class 319 trains. […]
Pingback by The South London Workhorse « The Anonymous Widower | July 24, 2015 |
[…] Class 319s are not the most attractive of trains and advertising doesn’t help. The good news is that are reliable 100 mph trains and with a refurbishment, they’ll last a few more years yet, as Northern Rail have shown. […]
Pingback by The Class 319 Trains Keep Rolling On « The Anonymous Widower | October 6, 2015 |
[…] is also positive and just as I found in the city, when they introduced the Class 319s electric to Manchester Victoria, Merseysiders seem to be looking forward to better […]
Pingback by Reaction In The North To Rail Franchise Awards « The Anonymous Widower | December 10, 2015 |