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Old May 30th 11, 08:44 AM posted to uk.railway,misc.transport.urban-transit,uk.transport.london
1506[_2_] 1506[_2_] is offline
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Default UK Class 378 Capitalstars, two years later

On May 29, 7:21*pm, TheOneKEA wrote:
Now that the Class 378s have fully displaced the 313s and 508s on the
Overground, been mostly lengthened to 4 cars and have been running for
nearly two years, have they produced the expected increases in
patronage, ridership numbers and revenue? I am especially interested
to know if the horrific ridership conditions on the core NLL section
between Willesden and Stratford have been eliminated or mitigated by
all of the new standing room space on the 378s, given the initial
complaints about the lack of seats. I'm also interested to know how
greatly the Southern and Southeastern services in and out of London
Bridge have been affected by the ELL services from Croydon, Crystal
Palace and New Cross, and if the WLL continues to increase in usage
thanks to the new Westfield development. Have the 378s been a total
success, or just successful?


In response: I cannot answer your question. But, I can report on two
journeys I have made this year utilizing the Overground. The first
was early in the year from Highbury & Islington to Kentish Town West.
The second was early in May from Canada Water to Highbury and
Islington. Both trips were on Sundays.

The Overground is clean, tidy and a great improvement on the old NLL
and ELL. The renewed stations are spacious and reasonably well
equipped. The 378s perform well. The seating is not ideal but
functional. The carriage maps appear very crowded since the cover the
entire Overground Network. The service was reasonably frequent. For
a Sunday, the routes seemed very well utilized. Whilst not full to
overcrowding, there were plenty of passengers in Evidence.