This is my local route Dylan. HS1 has been a real godsend to us living in East Kent. I agree the 395s are beginning to show their age now. They are in fact set for an upcoming refurbishment. I just hope the seats don't get replaced with the dreaded ironing boards or even the hard Class 800 series seats! Not sure what you mean by the services being infamous for their lack of use. Try travelling early to mid morning on weekdays! Look forward to seeing your reviews of the slower classic services to and from Kent. Also the Ashford to Eastbourne coastway route via the Marsh link and Hastings is a very interesting and scenic line.
Hoboken Terminal, St. Pancras, Milano Centrale, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Grand Central Terminal, and Antwerpen-Centraal are some of my favorite railway stations worldwide. Stratford International just makes me laugh. Even though the name still fits the station because of it being in the Olympic Park, the fact they were that confident Eurostar trains would stop there for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics when it's just too close of a stop to St. Pancras....great logic. The station wasn't even authorized at first by the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996 and an order under the Transport and Works Act 1992 had to be made to allow for its construction! There's a joke that the only international destination you can go to from Stratford International...is Cyprus on the DLR!
What's funniest is when you go down the escalators in stratford you can see all the empty rooms where they'd planned passports and waiting area for international passengers (with corresponding escalators and lifts to platforms which have never been used)
@@Jennyeq The platforms and escalators were used during the Olympics/Paralympics as that's where the free shuttle trains went from into St Pancras, they had to do a lot of work to raise and extend the platforms to work with the Javelin's as they were built to accommodate the Eurostar trains. I think they keep the international suffix now it's obvious the Eurostar will never call there to differentiate it from the Stratford station a few minutes walk away
Personally I just wish that a connection had been made between High Speed 1 and the East Coast Mainline (or the Midland Mainline) because proper Intercity services out of Kent to points north of London could have been a real game changer
@@bfapple I was thinking a game changer for the ability to travel seamlessly from Kent to the rest of the country without the need for cross-London connections, where Kent is largely isolated from most places north of London (at least by rail)
I’ve been travelling from Yorkshire to Kent every month for 15 years. HS1 has made that journey so much easier, rather than crossing London to Victoria 👍🏻
It made such a change to my journey from Folkestone to work in London. Not only are they far faster - just over an hour - they are also generally more reliable. at rush hour they are busy and generally people would be standing which destroys the strange myth that apparterntly no one uses them. One thing though its expensive - I dont commute anymore and hate to think what it would cost now.
Found the Javelin service much the same as reported. Good let down by lack of cleanliness. One thing that did impress me. I travelled with my son and his friend, both 11. The driver gave them a tour of the cab and systems. Operated the front coupler as well. They were most impressed. Especially seeing me in carriage via the cameras.
Not so long ago I boarded one of these, and the sounds are what make it an epic experience for me, leaving Ashford slowly for a bit, then suddenly ramping up to max speed out of nowhere. Goosebumps 😎
The 395's have seats far better than intervity services now that the dreaded ironing board seats have been fitted to the 800 family. so the Javelin is years ahead of them in terms of comfort. I travelled on one when they wer fairly new and was impressed by the speed and acceleration. but i thought the lighting made them look a bit like a branch of Debbenhams.
Yes, the "Ironing Board Expresses" now dominate Thameslink, which provides a parallel (but much slower) route from Gravesend and Medway to St Pancras (amongst other places). It's a pity that they've reduced the service via Gravesend and Medway stations on the Javelin from two an hour to just one though.
Great to see you have finally reviewed a service upon which I had the pleasure of experiencing during my final week in Britain back in October 2018. I can now share the experience with my friends. My trip was a day return from Kenton to the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway and I alighted/rejoined the Javelin at Folkestone Central. I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of this train, although I was luckier with the toilet and managed to score a bay of four seating in the central section of my carriage reasonably aligned with the window. I had a bit of a chuckle when you rotated on your axis after encountering the slumbering fido in the disabled section (obviously you didn't want to upset a guide dog just having a rest). I had another chuckle as you encountered the "Authorised Thug" guarding the exit to Dover Priory Station. He obviously didn't want to be filmed. Thanks for an excellent review and cheers from downunder.🙂
If you think that Southeastern's Javelin trains are looking tired, I'd love to know what you would make of the Networkers used on the routes out of London Bridge! They've been refurbished internally since they were first introduced into service way back in 1992! The smell of the toilets is especially unpleasant. When travelling to/from work I always avoid the carriage with the toilet cubicle in it.
I live in north east kent (sadly) and one think 8 can say is if the opportunity rises to take southeastern over a car, HELL YEAH DUDE! ESPECIALLY THE 395 OR 375! 395s are amazing to go to London in, just so convenient, especially along my line which is an 80MPH line on the CML. The 375 have amazing and comfy seats, and the iconic electric humming
The rail company I was working for at the time the highspeed trainset was being tested had the misfortune to cause damage to it, very embarrassing. There was also a concern that these much heavier units would cause damage to the railhead, especially on suburban sections of the network. Lastly, I used the service quite regularly and in the early days there was no speed limit in the section after Ebbsfleet, going into tunnel to St. Pancras. Despite the aerodynamic bullet like shape, air could not escape easily and so a buffetting effect was set up, disconcertingly for passengers.
dylan -your experience and reporting matches my use of the line over the 10 or 11 years since i started living in folkestone west when i am not overseas - they are really good trains - rush hours prices are alot more than your experience/time so it would be good for you to provide a comparison for your subcribers-viewers to gain an idea of the range of ticket prices
Third-rail electrification for mainline trains is a bit weird, and it has plenty of disadvantages, but one very big advantage: it doesn't ruin the view. Catenary wires aren't exactly pretty.
Third rail south of the Thames was a decision made a hundred years ago by the newly formed Southern Railway because it was only expected to be used for suburban services in the London area. 40 years later and it had spread throughout southern England from Kent to Hampshire and Dorset.
@@dariengoodwin This reminds me of the original Eurostar trains, that also ran on third rail in southern England. Sometimes the train drivers would forget to raise the collection shoe when going into the Channel Tunnel, and cause damage on the other side. So the French placed a concrete block that would simply knock off the shoe.
@@PeteS_1994 Costs a lot of money as it involves extra infrastructure work such as raising bridges to fit the wires. The UK atm even struggles to electrify its mainline let alone converting lines that are already electrified.
@@PeteS_1994 We still have many older trains in operation that run on DC current and built for 3rd rail only. Newer trains that have AC equipment can run on either system and so in the future once all the old trains are gone, there is the potential for conversion of sections of line if justified. But since you can't just shut down busy commuter lines for months on end the work would be expensive and disruptive.
I would love, love to visit Britain. Mainly, because I just love to hear black Britains to talk. It fascinates me. I could listen to them all day. Peace.
The interior is actually a First Class interior with standard ticket pricing like you would get from London Victoria to Ramsgate via Faversham for example on 375s
I think the reason Stratford International was named that is because there is International buses to Paris (& maybe more) ,DLR to City Airport and of course Regional trains.
nah, they have extra platforms which were intended for international trains, but Eurostar didn't want to stop there... so we end up with this situation...
nope, its because eurostar was planned to stop there but eventually didnt because of lack of border facilities and demand, and because it is 'too close to st pancras', would also be weird to ride eurostar on contactless
Living in east kent these are my trains of choice to get to London. Unless I were going somewhere next door to Victoria I'd take one of these into St.Pancras and tube across the city, easy to get anywhere from St.Pancras. Only downside for all services to London (standard and high speed) is the cost. Tickets can be cheap off peak and fixed time, but any kind of flexibility needed and the cost ramps up fast. Even worse in peak times.
I love this train station !! I was there last summer ! I shopped at M & S grocery store & ate my dinner at Le Pain Quotidien ! It 's a big place !! Very nice one ! 👍 💜🥁🐉🎤🎶💞
Great work Dylan, I do enjoy yopur videos; very matter of fact and informative. I hadn't realised until watchign this, that the Javelins are actually more comfrotable than the 800s that I experience on a regular basis on GWR. Maybe the 395s will be upgraded in due course?
I agree with you Dylan. I think Southeastern should build extra time at end points to have cleaners come through from end to end for a quick wipe down. The Japanese are famous for this and never miss a beat. 😉👍🏻
@@Bungle2010 They do, the is the reason for all private companies to exist, 'maximization of shareholder wealth' what do private rail companies exist for?
140 probably would be too much for the HST in service. The prototype Class 41 hit it, and a couple of shortened sets got it too, but if they ran at 140 regularly they probably would have been out of service years ago. Class 91s can do it, though, having been designed for it from the start.
What should be done is to institute a trolley buffet on third rail sections (it is too dangerous to do it at high speed). This will help to get passenger numbers up.
You must be joking about lack of use. Fair enough, the middle of the day m-f going out of London and back in afternoon is bound to be quieter, but even then I have never seen a train as quiet as yours, but even so, it's still reasonably busy. I find that peaks, evenings and weekends (with the flow) are so busy it's often not possible to get a seat, the slower traditional trains are often emptier.
These really are great trains! Just before covid happened I travelled on them once to and from Margate. However, when they leave HS1 they suddenly feel really really slow. But I have to say it was fun to see the third rail infra. A quirky anachronism!
Where my family in Ireland live it’s near the M3 Parkway Station to Dublin Docklands (change at Broombridge for LUAS Red Line Trams) and at Clonsilla for Dublin Connolly - Irish Rail want to extend this line to Navan but there seems to be issues with this
Incidentally what do you guys think of the proposed HS2? Personally i think that if Britain was continent-sized it'd make good sense to shave hours off long trips, but as Britain is just a relatively small-sized island, only minutes would be shaved off, so HS2 is therefore not worth the cost and infrastructure disruption along the route, or am i missing something?
The primary purpose was to reduce congestion on the existing lines, rather than reduce journey times, although that's what the government tried to sell it to us on.
Off topic/On topic point: Train sim world 3 has this exact route from St. Pan to Ashford and I always chalked the last section being missing because it was “too long to fit” but it’s minuscule compared to the rest of the branch so why’d they shave it off in the sim. Nice video though.
Its conveinient be a life saver when running late to work in London but the reliability in rush hour can be problematic as can be effected by other regional trains and the reverse
There is a bus link from Dover Priory to the Port and the same from Calais Port to Calais Frétun. These are dedicated connections and therefore a realistic alternative to Eurostar.
Its not strange that this is a regional service. They use the same lines which where upgraded for Eurostar , as far as Ashford, the service is not a fast service from Ashford to Folkestone and Dover.
Over this last year I have become quite familiar with SE’s HS service particularly the Ramsgate branch. It is a really clever bit of railway and I really like the Javelin trains. I think you may have been unlucky with the cleanliness of your service. I have been on them while they have actively been cleaning them while the service is running. Also, the Ramsgate branch, having more stops, can get full to capacity the nearer London it gets even up to late morning. Full marks to SE for utilising HS1 in this way and it’s so exciting traveling at 140 mph!!
im afraid in many cases you have to blame the public who seem to think they have people who will clean up after them. services are cleaned each day. but it only takes one bad morning or even one service to make it look dirty. they cant sfford cleaning every service. if its age related issues. well that comes with older trains. they will be refurbiished soon so dont fret. try doing a report after they have been given the once over
Nice review - you're right, it's strange having this racehores of a train also covering local services like Broadstairs to Herne Bay, but people in East Kent like them; they certainly connect the area to London brilliantly. East Kent would make a good pilot for Swiss-style integrated rail and buses, but neither SE Trains or Stagecoach seem able to talk to one another. Deal and Sandich are both lovely, if you're travelling this way again!
Hi Dylan. I too have traveled on the hs1 and found the ride quality to be exceptional although when i traveled the windows were quite dirty. Yesterday I had the opportunity to travel from Chester to Irvine. The first part of the journey from Chester to Warrington bank quay was comfortable but exceptionally slow. The second part of the journey from Warrington was much better with the ride quality yet again being exceptional but the seats were I consider quite hard. Not good for long journeys.
I left my phone in one of the taxi when I was there last in February so I didn't get to look around this magnificent st. Pancras station because I was waiting for the taxi coming back on the rank , which didn't happen , before my train arrived so I am going to go back again one day " and have a look only this time I won't be getting a taxi anywhere😅
10:45 1.5Mbps isn't too bad as far as train wi-fi goes. Remember, everyone will try and use it to conserve data, and the train wi-fi systems get their own input feed from one or more SIM cards, so you're basically splitting one or two 4G connections through an entire train of users. Other train operators are well known for providing slower speeds than this!
Eurostar's short-sightedness is breath-taking. Not restoring Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International services to Paris and Brussels has alienated their former customers in the the Southeast. 2025 restored services? They might as well tear down the stations. Great video with fair comments.
Yes - it's a shame - travelling from Ashford, I need to ride all the way up to london just to ride all the way back again! instead it's the same time (and much cheaper) just to take the bus to France
@@neilrmartin1984 Yes - I know - checks now too costly to justify eurostar stopping :( ... but at least in England the health service is doing great with that extra £350m a week for the NHS - and the bananas are all nice and bendy again!
Eurostar nearly went bust in the COVID period, the British goverernment refused to help them so they are repaying by not starting the intermediate stations until later - a decision also influenced by the longer time for passenges to go through immigration at the terminals thus preventing Eurostar from running full trains. It's about time other operators started competing services.
We want these trains on the Manchester Victoria to Holyhead Route, which if for SailRail for the ferries to Dublin, needs to be direct - I’m so tired of coming from Manchester Metrolink trams onto platforms 13 & 14 at Manchester Piccadilly and having to change trains at Chester, Crewe and Lladnuo in the 20 years I’ve lived here and every time I go home to family in Ireland - and they should reopen Dun Laoire to make use of the DART trains into Dublin Pearse, Tara St & Connolly, rather than have ferries sail further up the Liffey at high tide nor extending the LUAS all the way to the Irish Ferries/Stena terminals, if not operating from Liverpool old port - both Liverpool (not Birkenhead) and Dublin Ports have been extended to take cruise ships, so there are no valid excuses for failure to do so with ferries and in fact, the Dublin Swift Fast Ferry could go further up along the River Liffey at high tide if converted to foot passenger only
totally agree with you on southeastern not looking after their trains - the city beam class 707s have only been service for just over 18 months and the floors are absolutely filthy, looks like they haven't been properly cleaned since they entered service on the metro lines!! at least it looks like the 395s look like they've been cared after more, just wish that same courtesy would extend to the heavily used trains on the metro services...
It’s amazing how fast those trains are. I needed to get to Stratford quickly, and I showed my parents the southeastern high speed, and they were surprised and amazed.
In regards to the upkeep being on the grotty side, apparently Southeastern have announced a mid-life refurbishment of the 395s which will take place over the next couple of years starting from March 2023 (so the first is already being done up and should be out soon). However there has been controversy as they've mentioned that they will be rejigging the seating layout and replacing the seats themselves entirely rather than just re-covering them. So obvs everyone is rather worried that they could be replaced with the less than comfortable Fainsa seats as seen on the majority of 80x class trains in the rest of the country. I'm sure we'll find out in the next few weeks what they're like.
@@Bungle2010 I might well be wrong and I hope I am. But my interpretation from several articles that I've read about the refurbishment is that they're going for entirely new seats.
Dylan, i'm not sure but i think you made a slight mistake on this one as you crossed the times while in london tunnel 1, then remained on the south side of the river through Kent, the county of Essex is on the north side of the river. High speed 1 only serve's the Kent side.
Sorry Julian , but you are the one making the mistake. HS1 emerges from London Tunnel 2 in Essex and runs roughly parallel to the C2C line. It passes the QE2 bridge on the north side in Essex then almost immediately dives into a tunnel under the Thames to emerge just before Ebbsfleet station. I use this line pretty often. Before the opening of the line to St Pancras, Eurostars left from Waterloo and travelled via Bromley on the normal lines, connecting to HS1 via Fawkham Junction and joining it just east of what is now Ebbsfleet. At that time they did not enter Essex.
HS1 runs under the A13 in Essex then dives into a tunnel to cross the Thames emerging at Ebbsfleet. Some services branch off and go to the Medway towns, the split is just before the station so Ebbsfleet has different platforms according to whether the sevice is to Strood or Ashford.
May I ask how you returned to London? High speed or regional to other London Terminus stations? I really like the more regonial trains as better seats for disabled passengers. Great video though. You chose a lovely day for the journey!
This is my local route Dylan. HS1 has been a real godsend to us living in East Kent. I agree the 395s are beginning to show their age now. They are in fact set for an upcoming refurbishment. I just hope the seats don't get replaced with the dreaded ironing boards or even the hard Class 800 series seats! Not sure what you mean by the services being infamous for their lack of use. Try travelling early to mid morning on weekdays! Look forward to seeing your reviews of the slower classic services to and from Kent. Also the Ashford to Eastbourne coastway route via the Marsh link and Hastings is a very interesting and scenic line.
Hoboken Terminal, St. Pancras, Milano Centrale, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Grand Central Terminal, and Antwerpen-Centraal are some of my favorite railway stations worldwide. Stratford International just makes me laugh. Even though the name still fits the station because of it being in the Olympic Park, the fact they were that confident Eurostar trains would stop there for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics when it's just too close of a stop to St. Pancras....great logic. The station wasn't even authorized at first by the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996 and an order under the Transport and Works Act 1992 had to be made to allow for its construction! There's a joke that the only international destination you can go to from Stratford International...is Cyprus on the DLR!
What's funniest is when you go down the escalators in stratford you can see all the empty rooms where they'd planned passports and waiting area for international passengers (with corresponding escalators and lifts to platforms which have never been used)
Mr Kim, how does this railway compare to yours in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the one and true Korea?
@@Jennyeq The platforms and escalators were used during the Olympics/Paralympics as that's where the free shuttle trains went from into St Pancras, they had to do a lot of work to raise and extend the platforms to work with the Javelin's as they were built to accommodate the Eurostar trains.
I think they keep the international suffix now it's obvious the Eurostar will never call there to differentiate it from the Stratford station a few minutes walk away
Pyongyang Station has the best looking station building in the world.
Also the Juche-class EMU is the best express train ever built.
Personally I just wish that a connection had been made between High Speed 1 and the East Coast Mainline (or the Midland Mainline) because proper Intercity services out of Kent to points north of London could have been a real game changer
The connections are there. Need to reverse at St Pancras though.
A game changer for what? I doubt there's very many passengers on the East Coast that want to specifically travel onward to Kent.
Me too
@@bfapple I was thinking a game changer for the ability to travel seamlessly from Kent to the rest of the country without the need for cross-London connections, where Kent is largely isolated from most places north of London (at least by rail)
Don’t get me started…. And it was part of the original dream before the usual British compromises and reductions of good ideas crept in.
I’ve been travelling from Yorkshire to Kent every month for 15 years. HS1 has made that journey so much easier, rather than crossing London to Victoria 👍🏻
It made such a change to my journey from Folkestone to work in London. Not only are they far faster - just over an hour - they are also generally more reliable. at rush hour they are busy and generally people would be standing which destroys the strange myth that apparterntly no one uses them. One thing though its expensive - I dont commute anymore and hate to think what it would cost now.
I am getting more interested recently in Train Travel/Reviews on youtube.
Yours like many others is well narrated, and edited. Keep your review coming
Found the Javelin service much the same as reported. Good let down by lack of cleanliness. One thing that did impress me. I travelled with my son and his friend, both 11. The driver gave them a tour of the cab and systems. Operated the front coupler as well. They were most impressed. Especially seeing me in carriage via the cameras.
Very interesting Dylan thank you, as usual I am a wiser person after watching one of your videos !
Not so long ago I boarded one of these, and the sounds are what make it an epic experience for me, leaving Ashford slowly for a bit, then suddenly ramping up to max speed out of nowhere. Goosebumps 😎
The 395's have seats far better than intervity services now that the dreaded ironing board seats have been fitted to the 800 family. so the Javelin is years ahead of them in terms of comfort. I travelled on one when they wer fairly new and was impressed by the speed and acceleration. but i thought the lighting made them look a bit like a branch of Debbenhams.
Yes, the "Ironing Board Expresses" now dominate Thameslink, which provides a parallel (but much slower) route from Gravesend and Medway to St Pancras (amongst other places). It's a pity that they've reduced the service via Gravesend and Medway stations on the Javelin from two an hour to just one though.
Great to see you have finally reviewed a service upon which I had the pleasure of experiencing during my final week in Britain back in October 2018. I can now share the experience with my friends. My trip was a day return from Kenton to the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway and I alighted/rejoined the Javelin at Folkestone Central.
I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of this train, although I was luckier with the toilet and managed to score a bay of four seating in the central section of my carriage reasonably aligned with the window. I had a bit of a chuckle when you rotated on your axis after encountering the slumbering fido in the disabled section (obviously you didn't want to upset a guide dog just having a rest). I had another chuckle as you encountered the "Authorised Thug" guarding the exit to Dover Priory Station. He obviously didn't want to be filmed. Thanks for an excellent review and cheers from downunder.🙂
Reminds me of the north end electrification on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. Good amount of Acela services, and regional services
If you think that Southeastern's Javelin trains are looking tired, I'd love to know what you would make of the Networkers used on the routes out of London Bridge! They've been refurbished internally since they were first introduced into service way back in 1992! The smell of the toilets is especially unpleasant. When travelling to/from work I always avoid the carriage with the toilet cubicle in it.
The only thing that they have replaced are the seat covers😂💀
I live in north east kent (sadly) and one think 8 can say is if the opportunity rises to take southeastern over a car, HELL YEAH DUDE! ESPECIALLY THE 395 OR 375! 395s are amazing to go to London in, just so convenient, especially along my line which is an 80MPH line on the CML. The 375 have amazing and comfy seats, and the iconic electric humming
That announcement chime at 5:27 sounds almost identical to the one on the Stockholm T-Bana
Happy days when I could get from Gravesend to St Panc and The Proms in under an hour, enjoy the performance and get home again same evening.
Thx Dylan for this one; like many of Yr other vids, it's on my bucket list 👍🏿
The jingle used by these trains always reminds me of the Stockholm T-bana!
The rail company I was working for at the time the highspeed trainset was being tested had the misfortune to cause damage to it, very embarrassing. There was also a concern that these much heavier units would cause damage to the railhead, especially on suburban sections of the network. Lastly, I used the service quite regularly and in the early days there was no speed limit in the section after Ebbsfleet, going into tunnel to St. Pancras. Despite the aerodynamic bullet like shape, air could not escape easily and so a buffetting effect was set up, disconcertingly for passengers.
dylan -your experience and reporting matches my use of the line over the 10 or 11 years since i started living in folkestone west when i am not overseas - they are really good trains - rush hours prices are alot more than your experience/time so it would be good for you to provide a comparison for your subcribers-viewers to gain an idea of the range of ticket prices
We need these doing Transpennine & Cross-Country services.
Third-rail electrification for mainline trains is a bit weird, and it has plenty of disadvantages, but one very big advantage: it doesn't ruin the view. Catenary wires aren't exactly pretty.
Third rail south of the Thames was a decision made a hundred years ago by the newly formed Southern Railway because it was only expected to be used for suburban services in the London area. 40 years later and it had spread throughout southern England from Kent to Hampshire and Dorset.
@@dariengoodwin This reminds me of the original Eurostar trains, that also ran on third rail in southern England. Sometimes the train drivers would forget to raise the collection shoe when going into the Channel Tunnel, and cause damage on the other side. So the French placed a concrete block that would simply knock off the shoe.
@@dariengoodwin Why don't they convert the lines to overhead wiring?
@@PeteS_1994 Costs a lot of money as it involves extra infrastructure work such as raising bridges to fit the wires. The UK atm even struggles to electrify its mainline let alone converting lines that are already electrified.
@@PeteS_1994 We still have many older trains in operation that run on DC current and built for 3rd rail only. Newer trains that have AC equipment can run on either system and so in the future once all the old trains are gone, there is the potential for conversion of sections of line if justified. But since you can't just shut down busy commuter lines for months on end the work would be expensive and disruptive.
I would love, love to visit Britain. Mainly, because I just love to hear black Britains to talk. It fascinates me. I could listen to them all day. Peace.
The interior is actually a First Class interior with standard ticket pricing like you would get from London Victoria to Ramsgate via Faversham for example on 375s
Wow! You are on track with this thing Dylan!
1:37 If only NYC could have done the same for the original Penn Station (1910-1963). 😢
They were filming Slow horses the apple TV show when you passing through the station Dylan
I think the reason Stratford International was named that is because there is International buses to Paris (& maybe more) ,DLR to City Airport and of course Regional trains.
nah, they have extra platforms which were intended for international trains, but Eurostar didn't want to stop there... so we end up with this situation...
@@roboko6618 Ah,Ok!
nope, its because eurostar was planned to stop there but eventually didnt because of lack of border facilities and demand, and because it is 'too close to st pancras', would also be weird to ride eurostar on contactless
also since when could you get a bus to paris?
Living in east kent these are my trains of choice to get to London. Unless I were going somewhere next door to Victoria I'd take one of these into St.Pancras and tube across the city, easy to get anywhere from St.Pancras. Only downside for all services to London (standard and high speed) is the cost. Tickets can be cheap off peak and fixed time, but any kind of flexibility needed and the cost ramps up fast. Even worse in peak times.
I love this train station !! I was there last summer ! I shopped at M & S grocery store & ate my dinner at Le Pain Quotidien ! It 's a big place !! Very nice one ! 👍 💜🥁🐉🎤🎶💞
Great work Dylan, I do enjoy yopur videos; very matter of fact and informative. I hadn't realised until watchign this, that the Javelins are actually more comfrotable than the 800s that I experience on a regular basis on GWR. Maybe the 395s will be upgraded in due course?
i live in folkestone, so getting on this train is regular for me
Great trip report
I agree with you Dylan. I think Southeastern should build extra time at end points to have cleaners come through from end to end for a quick wipe down. The Japanese are famous for this and never miss a beat. 😉👍🏻
That would involve some form of investment from the operator, never going to happen. Won't actually make them any money so won't spend the cash.
@@ThexMJT … yep. It’s all about the $$. Everything else be damned 🙄
@@ThexMJT They dont exist to make money.
@@Bungle2010 They do, the is the reason for all private companies to exist, 'maximization of shareholder wealth' what do private rail companies exist for?
Which would mean cutting the number of trains in the timetable, even more than they have been……..
Can’t wait to see some class 357s
Southeastern are planning on refurbishing these trains fortunately, there are even photos released of how theyll look
"the equally inspiring London Tunnel II" That's golden writing, that is.
Watching from South Yorkshire where our trains are nice if they have seats that aren't ruined...
Is that the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell at 9:35 on the right?!
The HST units although known as 125 mph could reach 140 mph and did during test runs but were limited to 125 mph.
140 probably would be too much for the HST in service. The prototype Class 41 hit it, and a couple of shortened sets got it too, but if they ran at 140 regularly they probably would have been out of service years ago.
Class 91s can do it, though, having been designed for it from the start.
What should be done is to institute a trolley buffet on third rail sections (it is too dangerous to do it at high speed). This will help to get passenger numbers up.
It's not dangerous to do it at high speed
Too dangerous? What? 🤔
And SE removed the trolley services from all their trains years ago.
I do like the Class 395 Javelins and they are very fast and smooth.
From Folkestone to London a return ticket costs >£80, whilst it becomes £26 after 10:00 with Network railcard.
What railcard were you using?
Not Dylan but I know the answer, it was a 16-25 railcard, which gives 1/3 off
Nice video and vlog (if you'd call it that), really useful and interesting!! 😁👍
Thanks 😁
Great video Dylan 👍
The sound these A-trains make when departing is so unique.
This is where piano buskers get bare famous with solos yk
I forget the name of the series they were filming for, but it's the one currently starring Gary Oldman.
You must be joking about lack of use. Fair enough, the middle of the day m-f going out of London and back in afternoon is bound to be quieter, but even then I have never seen a train as quiet as yours, but even so, it's still reasonably busy. I find that peaks, evenings and weekends (with the flow) are so busy it's often not possible to get a seat, the slower traditional trains are often emptier.
These really are great trains! Just before covid happened I travelled on them once to and from Margate. However, when they leave HS1 they suddenly feel really really slow. But I have to say it was fun to see the third rail infra. A quirky anachronism!
Where my family in Ireland live it’s near the M3 Parkway Station to Dublin Docklands (change at Broombridge for LUAS Red Line Trams) and at Clonsilla for Dublin Connolly - Irish Rail want to extend this line to Navan but there seems to be issues with this
Yes, train is convenient in trip☺️ Hope the rail tickets bought in a cheap price can use🥺
Incidentally what do you guys think of the proposed HS2?
Personally i think that if Britain was continent-sized it'd make good sense to shave hours off long trips, but as Britain is just a relatively small-sized island, only minutes would be shaved off, so HS2 is therefore not worth the cost and infrastructure disruption along the route, or am i missing something?
The primary purpose was to reduce congestion on the existing lines, rather than reduce journey times, although that's what the government tried to sell it to us on.
I've heard this line is maintened by HITACHI Rail Company. why the window has so many dart spots dispite Hitachi Rail??
St. Pancras. Home of the best Wetherspoons in England
Off topic/On topic point: Train sim world 3 has this exact route from St. Pan to Ashford and I always chalked the last section being missing because it was “too long to fit” but it’s minuscule compared to the rest of the branch so why’d they shave it off in the sim.
Nice video though.
One thing we don't hear much about from train experts is the noise level in the train
Its conveinient be a life saver when running late to work in London but the reliability in rush hour can be problematic as can be effected by other regional trains and the reverse
Nice sunny day for a train ride. Three cheers for Sir John Betjeman for saving St. Pancras!
St. Pancras: Railway cathedral.
Hmm, I wonder what the fastest point-to-point service calculating average speed over distance is?
Britain needs more true high speed rail.
There is a bus link from Dover Priory to the Port and the same from Calais Port to Calais Frétun. These are dedicated connections and therefore a realistic alternative to Eurostar.
Its not strange that this is a regional service. They use the same lines which where upgraded for Eurostar , as far as Ashford, the service is not a fast service from Ashford to Folkestone and Dover.
As someone who lives in Kent its a great place but wait until you meet the people 😂
I wish we have high speed train in Australia.
Over this last year I have become quite familiar with SE’s HS service particularly the Ramsgate branch. It is a really clever bit of railway and I really like the Javelin trains. I think you may have been unlucky with the cleanliness of your service. I have been on them while they have actively been cleaning them while the service is running. Also, the Ramsgate branch, having more stops, can get full to capacity the nearer London it gets even up to late morning. Full marks to SE for utilising HS1 in this way and it’s so exciting traveling at 140 mph!!
I managed to last until 2:56 before his voice got to me.
I think the excitement of traveling HS in the UK was certainly pushing Dylan’s voice up a few pitches 😂 I did notice too.
Don’t worry Dylan the 395s are due to be refurbished between this year and next
You've did this many years ago. 0:47 Nice whistleing. Did you get a ham sandwich 🥪 😂
But what does Mrs Travel Reports think of the service ??
I didn't like it 🤣 nothing wrong with the train, just felt too tilt-y
**Elizabeth line train walks in**
Pity the GWR class 800's are not like this!
How can it only cost 14.80 for a single ? I paid 28.70 for a single from Brighton to Guildford a few weeks ago. Your train was much nicer too!
Yesssssssssssszzssss
Loving this!
im afraid in many cases you have to blame the public who seem to think they have people who will clean up after them. services are cleaned each day. but it only takes one bad morning or even one service to make it look dirty. they cant sfford cleaning every service. if its age related issues. well that comes with older trains. they will be refurbiished soon so dont fret. try doing a report after they have been given the once over
Nice review - you're right, it's strange having this racehores of a train also covering local services like Broadstairs to Herne Bay, but people in East Kent like them; they certainly connect the area to London brilliantly. East Kent would make a good pilot for Swiss-style integrated rail and buses, but neither SE Trains or Stagecoach seem able to talk to one another.
Deal and Sandich are both lovely, if you're travelling this way again!
What Camera do you use?
Gopro Hero 9
"creatively named London tunnel 1"
💀
Sadly southeastern let them self down with inside and outside presentation but on the plus side they generally run a good service
Still upset that there will be no connection to HS2 from HS1...
Still upset at how horrible HS2 is.
@@therathergoodengineer9285 I'm upset how much it's been cut back.
Yes, a link from Paris to Birmingham by-passing London at 186mph all the way would be sensible, even 140mph would be useful.
@@imsbvs Just a link at 100mph around London from Paris to Birmingham or Manchester would be nice!
@@imsbvs Very. It hurts seeing how badly Stratford Intl was shafted by HS2.
god help us, airline seats yet again, thank goodness there are still mk1s about,
No there aren’t. It’s what people want.
Hi Dylan. I too have traveled on the hs1 and found the ride quality to be exceptional although when i traveled the windows were quite dirty.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to travel from Chester to Irvine. The first part of the journey from Chester to Warrington bank quay was comfortable but exceptionally slow. The second part of the journey from Warrington was much better with the ride quality yet again being exceptional but the seats were I consider quite hard. Not good for long journeys.
This train isn’t all that big. It can fit comfortably in some metros
I left my phone in one of the taxi when I was there last in February so I didn't get to look around this magnificent st. Pancras station because I was waiting for the taxi coming back on the rank , which didn't happen , before my train arrived
so I am going to go back again one day " and have a look
only this time I won't be getting a taxi anywhere😅
Great video! I’m watching my this whilst driving the class 395 on TSW3 lol!
10:45 1.5Mbps isn't too bad as far as train wi-fi goes. Remember, everyone will try and use it to conserve data, and the train wi-fi systems get their own input feed from one or more SIM cards, so you're basically splitting one or two 4G connections through an entire train of users.
Other train operators are well known for providing slower speeds than this!
Eurostar's short-sightedness is breath-taking. Not restoring Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International services to Paris and Brussels has alienated their former customers in the the Southeast. 2025 restored services? They might as well tear down the stations. Great video with fair comments.
Yes - it's a shame - travelling from Ashford, I need to ride all the way up to london just to ride all the way back again! instead it's the same time (and much cheaper) just to take the bus to France
It's Brexit
@@neilrmartin1984 Yes - I know - checks now too costly to justify eurostar stopping :(
... but at least in England the health service is doing great with that extra £350m a week for the NHS - and the bananas are all nice and bendy again!
Eurostar nearly went bust in the COVID period, the British goverernment refused to help them so they are repaying by not starting the intermediate stations until later - a decision also influenced by the longer time for passenges to go through immigration at the terminals thus preventing Eurostar from running full trains. It's about time other operators started competing services.
@@imsbvs Alienating your customer base is never a good idea. I fully agree about other operators. Getlink is no doubt looking into that.
no way bro got to llyn by the sea
Who wouldn’t recommend these trains? Nice video!
We want these trains on the Manchester Victoria to Holyhead Route, which if for SailRail for the ferries to Dublin, needs to be direct - I’m so tired of coming from Manchester Metrolink trams onto platforms 13 & 14 at Manchester Piccadilly and having to change trains at Chester, Crewe and Lladnuo in the 20 years I’ve lived here and every time I go home to family in Ireland - and they should reopen Dun Laoire to make use of the DART trains into Dublin Pearse, Tara St & Connolly, rather than have ferries sail further up the Liffey at high tide nor extending the LUAS all the way to the Irish Ferries/Stena terminals, if not operating from Liverpool old port - both Liverpool (not Birkenhead) and Dublin Ports have been extended to take cruise ships, so there are no valid excuses for failure to do so with ferries and in fact, the Dublin Swift Fast Ferry could go further up along the River Liffey at high tide if converted to foot passenger only
totally agree with you on southeastern not looking after their trains - the city beam class 707s have only been service for just over 18 months and the floors are absolutely filthy, looks like they haven't been properly cleaned since they entered service on the metro lines!! at least it looks like the 395s look like they've been cared after more, just wish that same courtesy would extend to the heavily used trains on the metro services...
I feel bad for uk their train is so slow 😢 and i hope ur train is faster like my country (Japan) sorry for my English is so bad
Apart from HS1 running on a dedicated high speed line similar to your shinkansen our trains that run on normal lines are a lot faster than yours!
@@B-A-L Alfa x Shinkansen (400km/h) was faster than hs2 (360km/h) mate
Folkstone is pronounced "fokestun" Otherwise excellent review as usual.
It’s amazing how fast those trains are. I needed to get to Stratford quickly, and I showed my parents the southeastern high speed, and they were surprised and amazed.
In regards to the upkeep being on the grotty side, apparently Southeastern have announced a mid-life refurbishment of the 395s which will take place over the next couple of years starting from March 2023 (so the first is already being done up and should be out soon).
However there has been controversy as they've mentioned that they will be rejigging the seating layout and replacing the seats themselves entirely rather than just re-covering them.
So obvs everyone is rather worried that they could be replaced with the less than comfortable Fainsa seats as seen on the majority of 80x class trains in the rest of the country.
I'm sure we'll find out in the next few weeks what they're like.
Seat recovering would be the best option imo. Nothing wrong with the actual seat shells etc and are by far the best installed on any AT300s imo.
Are you sure? The seats in the renders look exactly the same.
@@Bungle2010 I might well be wrong and I hope I am. But my interpretation from several articles that I've read about the refurbishment is that they're going for entirely new seats.
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Dylan, i'm not sure but i think you made a slight mistake on this one as you crossed the times while in london tunnel 1, then remained on the south side of the river through Kent, the county of Essex is on the north side of the river. High speed 1 only serve's the Kent side.
Sorry Julian , but you are the one making the mistake. HS1 emerges from London Tunnel 2 in Essex and runs roughly parallel to the C2C line. It passes the QE2 bridge on the north side in Essex then almost immediately dives into a tunnel under the Thames to emerge just before Ebbsfleet station. I use this line pretty often. Before the opening of the line to St Pancras, Eurostars left from Waterloo and travelled via Bromley on the normal lines, connecting to HS1 via Fawkham Junction and joining it just east of what is now Ebbsfleet. At that time they did not enter Essex.
HS1 runs under the A13 in Essex then dives into a tunnel to cross the Thames emerging at Ebbsfleet. Some services branch off and go to the Medway towns, the split is just before the station so Ebbsfleet has different platforms according to whether the sevice is to Strood or Ashford.
Apparently these lines cost billions, so why couldn't they build the new stations with bricks? They look 100% better.
May I ask how you returned to London? High speed or regional to other London Terminus stations? I really like the more regonial trains as better seats for disabled passengers. Great video though. You chose a lovely day for the journey!
Regional train to Waterloo East.
@@DylansTravelReports brilliant I look forward to the video..
Why Indonesia build her 300Km train only spent Us 730 million dollars? And only takes 8 yrs to build？Is it a magic?