SWR acquires Pacers for suburban commuter routes

[Liam]

South Western Railway have acquired a fleet of Pacers from Northern for use on rush hour commuter services into London Waterloo. Their main repertoire will be routes between Waterloo and Windsor & Eton Riverside, Shepperton, Dorking, Guildford via Surbiton and the Staines circuit. 

 

Andy Mellors, managing director of SWR, said, “The Pacer is an iconic train, which has contributed massively to the success of railways in parts of the country. We are delighted that we can add Surrey and south west London to those parts of the country, and can be sure that our passengers will now have a more enjoyable commute.”

[Oldddudders]

Is this dated today, by any chance?

[Darius43]

1 hour ago, SVRlad said:

South Western Railway have acquired a fleet of Pacers from Northern for use on rush hour commuter services into London Waterloo. Their main repertoire will be routes between Waterloo and Windsor & Eton Riverside, Shepperton, Dorking, Guildford via Surbiton and the Staines circuit. 

 

Andy Mellors, managing director of SWR, said, “The Pacer is an iconic train, which has contributed massively to the success of railways in parts of the country. We are delighted that we can add Surrey and south west London to those parts of the country, and can be sure that our passengers will now have a more enjoyable commute.”

 

Not true.  Southern have acquired them to replace the 313s on the Coastway services.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

[woodenhead]

Isle of Wight services surely - if there is any gauge restriction in the tunnel a couple of nods will sort it out.

[Wickham Green]

Either of those .......... all the pacers ever built would barely touch he fleet requirement for Waterloo and Windsor & Eton Riverside, Shepperton, Dorking, Guildford via Surbiton and the Staines circuit. 

 

( Interesting thought - careful, now - with most SW platforms extended for ten ( normal length ) cars, how many pacers would it take to fill one ? .......... how many pacers can work in multiple anyway ? )

[D9020 Nimbus]

3 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Is this dated today, by any chance?

It was—but before or after 12:00?

[Wickham Green]

17 hours ago, Mersey507003 said:

They probably would have been better units if they had been fitted with 2 x 2 axle bogies per coach ( 4 bogies per unit ) instead of 2 x 2 axle chassis.

 

If I had suggestion for SWR it would be fit bogies to the units and I  would hazard a guess and day that with 4 x 2 axle bogies, if all axles were driven, thus giving 8 axle drive, their acceleration would be a lot better and probably the ride would be a lot smoother aswell.

They'd have struggled to find room for bogies at the outer ends - but articulating inner ends on a single bogie might have been possible.

[Southernman46]

SWR saved their April Fools Day joke for todays alleged service ........................ not amused - and I've been involved in more than a few fatalities and today was quite frankly an example of how not to do it and as usual the dear old WOE line passengers suffered the greatest indignities ................... SWR simply aren't interested in West of Basingstoke

Edited April 2, 2019 by Southernman46

[lmsforever]

At this rate the quad art set from North Norfolk will be back in service.

[Pandora]

On 01/04/2019 at 17:00, Mersey507003 said:

They probably would have been better units if they had been fitted with 2 x 2 axle bogies per coach ( 4 bogies per unit ) instead of 2 x 2 axle chassis.

 

If I had suggestion for SWR it would be fit bogies to the units and I  would hazard a guess and day that with 4 x 2 axle bogies, if all axles were driven, thus giving 8 axle drive, their acceleration would be a lot better and probably the ride would be a lot smoother aswell.

Or retain the two axles but interconnect their suspension in the manner of a Citroen DS or BX  or of those Alex Moulton hyrolastic / hydragas BMC cars,  that would stop the pitching  and create a level ride

[Oldddudders]

16 minutes ago, Pandora said:

Or retain the two axles but interconnect their suspension in the manner of a Citroen DS or BX  or of those Alex Moulton hyrolastic / hydragas BMC cars,  that would stop the pitching  and create a level ride

The ride is definitely track-condition related. I have found these units relatively comfortable on multiple trips between Exeter St D and Torquay, admittedly calling at all halts and lampposts, but with scope for some decent speeds in between. And, to the paying customer, any train is better than no train.  

[charliepetty]

All this is totally incorrect, but I do know there is a large order being discussed for 8 Car Parry People movers.     Charlie

 

PPS Our next RTR model.

Edited April 3, 2019 by charliepetty

[keefer]

Pacers are what they are because there was no money for anything better (or more complex) - it was a choice of them or nothing at the time

[Wickham Green]

22 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

........ to the paying customer, any train is better than no train.  

......... and the worse it is the more they can enjoy whingeing.

[Pandora]

On 03/04/2019 at 15:28, Oldddudders said:

The ride is definitely track-condition related. I have found these units relatively comfortable on multiple trips between Exeter St D and Torquay, admittedly calling at all halts and lampposts, but with scope for some decent speeds in between. And, to the paying customer, any train is better than no train.  

The ride is  comfortable when  I travel in a seat  dead centre between the two axles, quietly contemplating the see-saw action at the vestibule ends of the units