A first review at the Class 321!

Good day or evening. I thought I should do a post on one of these trains on the Great Eastern Main Line since they are becoming endangered.

Sitting comfortably?


Then I shall begin!

British Rail Class 321

Built in: York 

Constructed between: 1988-1991

Entered public service in: 1988

Stock replaced: Class 305, Class 308, Class 309, Class 312, Class 317

Manufacturer: British Rail Engineering Limited 

Maximum speed: 100mph

Lines served: Greater Anglia (at the time of publish) and Northern

Last refurbishment: 30 units for Greater Anglia were part of the Renatus project 

Total built: 117 originally - 12 got converted to Class 320s

Formed of: 4 cars

Type: Fast, non-stopping train

The design

Back then, slam door trains were trendy like the latest product, as you would see them on long distance journeys. Not anymore. You would have be to lucky to catch one on a running day, or more specifically, a rarely used bit of track. In this case, British Rail (the designers) decided to incorporate a new train that would meet needs of passengers. The end result was the Class 321. Companies were fairly happy with the model, so British Rail developed Class 320 and Class 322 as a result. One by one they started building 117 of them - essentially like building estate houses.

Let me put this in a scenario. If you're trying to build multiple houses on one road then you would need to think about these:

• Type of material
• Length of each house
• How many rooms there would be 
• Electrical and plumbing (that's always "fun")
• Additional features of your choice

I could go on but between you and me, I ain't no constructor or designer so lets just stick with transport. Possibly an easier example could have been- that's for another day. 

Impressions...

Admittedly, the train did look a bit weird at first sight. After a while of seeing them going past to this present day, I started to like the train - so much that I wanted to ride it. It's funny how there are still some running around in the Great Northern livery (Purple and pink) - those were the days.... Annoyingly, it wasn't one of those TFL Rail services that stop at every single station, so I have had little chance of riding this train. Another problem is the colour. White. I mean don't get me wrong, the train does look good even so - but White? Once its dirty then it will need a trip to the "train-wash," making it clean as football boots do when you have played a game. Otherwise, that is how it starts to look old and stuff..

First Ride...

On the 2nd of February, TFL Rail had a part closure between Liverpool Street and Ilford due to Crossrail works. With this in mind I came up with an idea; take a TFL Rail to Romford then Greater Anglia to Stratford. Going by what Citymapper said, I decided to go through and see whether it actually was quicker.

Upon arrival at Romford, I needed to switch platforms. On Sundays, there is a 30mins Greater Anglia service that runs to Shenfield calling at Stratford, Romford, Harold Wood, Brentwood and Shenfield. Waiting was a bit of a burden so I played a game on my phone to pass up the time.

25 mins later...

A train arrives! 

Class 321 is here at Stratford with one more stop to go. What a ride!

To get a Class 321 was great. But in the Renatus livery was even better!! Stepping in felt like being in showroom. Bright lights, slick interior, just feels so modern. Probably similar to how some of Tesla  car models are. Seats are actually comfy (good job Eversholt!) with other features including: onboard wifi, charging sockets, toilets, storage for bicycles (maximum of 2) and air conditioning. Riding this train, was superb and I enjoyed the non-stop experience, especially with the Vossloh Kiepe motor sounds. A link about the Renatus project can be clicked here. Annoucements do work in their own time. Such a shame these will be going soon though...

Interior

I just noticed, that I got one of the last trains to be completely revamped. How lucky! On acceleration, I would say it sounds similar to a Class 458. Anyway, this was a nice treat as the stock will be slowly no more on the GEML. Might want to ride the older Class 321s first when I get a chance...

Train Rating: 8/10

Thanks for reading this blog!

Happy riding! :)


Here's London Connected opinion on the Class 321:
https://thewestlondonbusblog.blogspot.com/2017/10/project-renatus.html