I agree, the livery needs brightening up but also if I may ask, shouldn't the cab fronts be all yellow to comply with safety requirements as on all current EMU stock regardless of what region it operates.
Sure the 777s have bright lights but I have always thpught that EMU stock should have an all yellow cab front.
I would also say that they look like a 3rd rail version of trams instead of trains. To me, trains are individual coaches with 2 bogies and connecting doors with gangways.
When the units were being designed and there was a lot of conversation about what they would look like, my thought was they could have been built as a lowered 6 car version of london underground 'S' Stock.
They could have been built to the same height as the 777s with the slide out step giving more capacity per unit than the 4 coach 777s will offer.
The feature allowing passengers to see the track ahead or behind depending on which end you are at is a very nice idea.
I rode on a 2 coach class 101 dmu from hooton to chester pre 1993 and the driver had the leather blinds rolled up and I was like wow what a good view because it allowed me to see what drivers see everyday.
1 particularly nasty feature of the 777s I think a lot of people will not be too keen on ( myself included ) is that a good number of seats where they are not in groups of 4 like on the current stock are fixed facing the rear only and could lead to a great deal of passenger illness due to riding backwards.
What do you think everybody
New rules allow the front ends of trains not to have a yellow front as long as there is high intensity lighting on the front of the units , there is now a few different classes running around without yellow fronts.
Articulated bogies are less likely to derail at speed , should be able to traverse pointwork better because of there reduced coach lengths .
Riding backwards is actually known to be the safest way of travelling if the train was incur heavy braking you will just be pushed back into the seat , rather than collide with the seat in front , but each to there own.
One thing to note with the unidirectional seating is there well be less feet on seats .
(30/07/2020 15:46)313201 Wrote: [ -> ]I agree, the livery needs brightening up but also if I may ask, shouldn't the cab fronts be all yellow to comply with safety requirements as on all current EMU stock regardless of what region it operates.
Sure the 777s have bright lights but I have always thpught that EMU stock should have an all yellow cab front.
I would also say that they look like a 3rd rail version of trams instead of trains. To me, trains are individual coaches with 2 bogies and connecting doors with gangways.
When the units were being designed and there was a lot of conversation about what they would look like, my thought was they could have been built as a lowered 6 car version of london underground 'S' Stock.
They could have been built to the same height as the 777s with the slide out step giving more capacity per unit than the 4 coach 777s will offer.
The feature allowing passengers to see the track ahead or behind depending on which end you are at is a very nice idea.
I rode on a 2 coach class 101 dmu from hooton to chester pre 1993 and the driver had the leather blinds rolled up and I was like wow what a good view because it allowed me to see what drivers see everyday.
1 particularly nasty feature of the 777s I think a lot of people will not be too keen on ( myself included ) is that a good number of seats where they are not in groups of 4 like on the current stock are fixed facing the rear only and could lead to a great deal of passenger illness due to riding backwards.
What do you think everybody
I believe that the yellow cab is not needed anymore if the train has strong LED lights. Crossrails 345s as well as all of TPEs new fleet don't have yellow fronts.
My overall opinion on the 777s is that it's good for passengers to have the view to see the track ahead but I do fear that quite a few drivers will use the window frosting thing. It must be quite daunting sat there knowing someone is sat behind you watching every move.
The door layout is bonkers to say the least. It looks as if someone was told 'shut your eyes and point somewhere at the body' and wherever the person pointed, a door got put in.
The seats seemed VERY uncomfortable on the prototype. I do support some of the layout though. It needs some more group seats as a lot of families do use Merseyrail however I can certainly see the benefit of the airline style seating as not everyone wants to sit with 3 others. Also, it can be common for it to be 1 person per set of 4 seats with excess passengers standing due to the unwritten british law of not sitting next to anyone you don't know. I think this style seating might help reduce the amount of people standing up at the doors when it's not needed.
I think it was a bit of a silly move to not have gangways or not make the trains the length of a 6 car train. MR run quite a few services coupled up. The lack of gangway will reduce revenue protection opportunities and could risk customer safety with there being no available staff in one portion of the train. If the train was the length of a current 6 car train, it wouldn't be as bad and wouldn't need any services to be formed of 2 trains.
Either one is much better than the current situation on the 777s.
Finally, I dislike how the internal displays are on one side of the train. That makes is much harder to see the display normally. I always prefer internal screens to be in the middle on the ceiling as then you are more likely to see it and they are easier to read.
As for livery, I think right now it looks bland but it might be a lot better when Merseyrail throw their logos on. I think I will save my judgement for seeing one complete as if the current Merseyrail trains are anything to go by, there will be a lot of vinyls on.
The doors in coach 1 and 4 where placed in the position to ensure that all doors on an 8 car unit actally was going to fit on the platform , with maybe one exception Green Lane on the Wirral Line .
How many 8 car formations are there going to be that is the question everybody is going to ask , Southport services probably and the services already booked for double sets of 507/8 now.
I would prefer a livery with the Merseyrail branding or whatever the LCR decide to brand the service , im not a fan of the present livery with all the stuff thats on the present units exterior , and no , i dont want a unit with one colour on one side and another colour on the other side.
I think in terms of the current stock, the blue & grey or the yellow and white with grey and black stripes under the windows was best.
Not sure if either of the liveries would suit the 777s.
I also think with regard to the 777s that a lot of tall people will end up standing because leg room on the new stock if the mock up was anything to go by leaves a lot to be desired.
(31/07/2020 03:43)iMarkeh Wrote: [ -> ]I believe that the yellow cab is not needed anymore if the train has strong LED lights. Crossrails 345s as well as all of TPEs new fleet don't have yellow fronts.
My overall opinion on the 777s is that it's good for passengers to have the view to see the track ahead but I do fear that quite a few drivers will use the window frosting thing. It must be quite daunting sat there knowing someone is sat behind you watching every move.
The door layout is bonkers to say the least. It looks as if someone was told 'shut your eyes and point somewhere at the body' and wherever the person pointed, a door got put in.
The seats seemed VERY uncomfortable on the prototype. I do support some of the layout though. It needs some more group seats as a lot of families do use Merseyrail however I can certainly see the benefit of the airline style seating as not everyone wants to sit with 3 others. Also, it can be common for it to be 1 person per set of 4 seats with excess passengers standing due to the unwritten british law of not sitting next to anyone you don't know. I think this style seating might help reduce the amount of people standing up at the doors when it's not needed.
I think it was a bit of a silly move to not have gangways or not make the trains the length of a 6 car train. MR run quite a few services coupled up. The lack of gangway will reduce revenue protection opportunities and could risk customer safety with there being no available staff in one portion of the train. If the train was the length of a current 6 car train, it wouldn't be as bad and wouldn't need any services to be formed of 2 trains.
Either one is much better than the current situation on the 777s.
Finally, I dislike how the internal displays are on one side of the train. That makes is much harder to see the display normally. I always prefer internal screens to be in the middle on the ceiling as then you are more likely to see it and they are easier to read.
As for livery, I think right now it looks bland but it might be a lot better when Merseyrail throw their logos on. I think I will save my judgement for seeing one complete as if the current Merseyrail trains are anything to go by, there will be a lot of vinyls on.
The window facing forward will be automatically frosted when the cab is energised.
(31/07/2020 18:11)ls1911 Wrote: [ -> ]The window facing forward will be automatically frosted when the cab is energised.
Aww, that's a shame. That ruins all the fun.
On a slightly different note.
Just been looking at social media, it seems it’s not been the best day on the Southport-Hunts Cross line today. Many passengers complaining amount the sheer amount of passengers (many teenagers) packed onto the trains, heading to the Sefton coast, social distancing not possible and many without face coverings.
Sadly, Merseyrail also had to deal with 2 unit faults on this line and quite a few services running around 15 mins late due to passenger loadings and congestion at Liverpool Central. Services being further delayed on this line due to the late running Southport train missing its slot on platform 2 at central and therefore being blocked by the Ormskirk train on the platform (which has a 6 min turnaround time at the moment).
A number of passengers have asked why there were not more controls in place to limit the number of passengers on each service.
(31/07/2020 18:11)ls1911 Wrote: [ -> ]The window facing forward will be automatically frosted when the cab is energised.
I was led to believe on the mock up that it was down to the driver whether the window is frosted or not, but that may have changed on the production trains.
(30/07/2020 15:46)313201 Wrote: [ -> ]1 particularly nasty feature of the 777s I think a lot of people will not be too keen on ( myself included ) is that a good number of seats where they are not in groups of 4 like on the current stock are fixed facing the rear only and could lead to a great deal of passenger illness due to riding backwards.
What do you think everybody
If you think about it ( with the possible exception of the Glasgow Underground) overall exactly 50% of seats face backwards.