The Quality Of The Ride On The Lizzie Line
This morning I went from Moorgate station to Paddington station on the Lizzie Line.
I was in a virtually empty car and I could gauge a good estimate of ride quality.
In my opinion, the gold standard in the UK for some time has been the British Rail Mark 3 coach.
- But Mark 3 coaches don’t always run on modern slab track, which must give a smoother ride.
- Each track under London also has its own tunnel, so there is no buffeting, when you pass a train going in the opposite direction.
- Acceleration is also very smooth, due to the high proportion of powered axles.
I am getting very close to naming the Class 345 train, as the new gold standard.
The Anonymous Widower 
345’s are very jittery on the GE though as with all modern stock the suspension is rock solid to control body sway. This suspension setup is perfect with slab track and you could probably simplify the suspension if the stock was capitive to this part of the route only
Comment by Nicholas Lewis | August 3, 2022 |
I feel that the ride is about 8/10 in the central tunnel, perhaps 6/10 in the West and 5/10 in the East. I was on a Class 802 for four hours today and you certainly notice when it passes another train going the other way. You don’t notice that in the Central Tunnel.
Perhaps relaying the West and East branches with slab track would increase ridership?
Comment by AnonW | August 3, 2022 |