Britain's FASTEST* Train is also one of its BEST! Southeastern's Javelins!
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- Опубликовано: 4 май 2023
- This week, we take a ride on Britain's (sort of) fastest train, travelling from London to Dover via HS1 and the Kent Coast!
Date of Travel: May 2023
Class of Travel: Standard Class (2nd Class)
Rolling Stock: Class 395 Javelin
Type of Service: Express Passenger
Operator: SE Trains Ltd
Train Number: 1L30
Origin: London St Pancras International, United Kingdom (England)
Destination: Dover Priory, Kent, United Kingdom (England)
Cost of ticket: £14.80 ($18.60, €16.95)
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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.
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.
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 👍🏻
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 😎
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
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.🙂
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.
Very interesting Dylan thank you, as usual I am a wiser person after watching one of your videos !
Wow! You are on track with this thing Dylan!
Thx Dylan for this one; like many of Yr other vids, it's on my bucket list 👍🏿
Great trip report
Reminds me of the north end electrification on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. Good amount of Acela services, and regional services
The jingle used by these trains always reminds me of the Stockholm T-bana!
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.
Great video Dylan 👍
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
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
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😂💀
Nice video and vlog (if you'd call it that), really useful and interesting!! 😁👍
Thanks 😁
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 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?
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.
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.
Can’t wait to see some class 357s
We need these doing Transpennine & Cross-Country services.
i live in folkestone, so getting on this train is regular for me
They were filming Slow horses the apple TV show when you passing through the station Dylan
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 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 ! 👍 💜🥁🐉🎤🎶💞
There are discounts on train tickets recently, you can come back and have a look!
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.
1:37 If only NYC could have done the same for the original Penn Station (1910-1963). 😢
"the equally inspiring London Tunnel II" That's golden writing, that is.
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!!
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.
Watching from South Yorkshire where our trains are nice if they have seats that aren't ruined...
The sound these A-trains make when departing is so unique.
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.
Is that the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell at 9:35 on the right?!
St. Pancras. Home of the best Wetherspoons in England
This is where piano buskers get bare famous with solos yk
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……..
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?
Southeastern are planning on refurbishing these trains fortunately, there are even photos released of how theyll look
Sounds good, let's see what the ticket price is after using the discount coupon.
Great video! I’m watching my this whilst driving the class 395 on TSW3 lol!
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.
Loving this!
Hmm, I wonder what the fastest point-to-point service calculating average speed over distance is?
Yesssssssssssszzssss
I forget the name of the series they were filming for, but it's the one currently starring Gary Oldman.
As someone who lives in Kent its a great place but wait until you meet the people 😂
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🥺
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
I do like the Class 395 Javelins and they are very fast and smooth.
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.
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.
One thing we don't hear much about from train experts is the noise level in the train
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!
I wish we have high speed train in Australia.
St. Pancras: Railway cathedral.
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
❤
What Camera do you use?
Gopro Hero 9
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.
Nice sunny day for a train ride. Three cheers for Sir John Betjeman for saving St. Pancras!
Yes
Don’t worry Dylan the 395s are due to be refurbished between this year and next
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.
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😅
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.
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.
Britain needs more true high speed rail.
**Elizabeth line train walks in**
Pity the GWR class 800's are not like this!
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.
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
Yay!
"creatively named London tunnel 1"
💀
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...
You've did this many years ago. 0:47 Nice whistleing. Did you get a ham sandwich 🥪 😂
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!
This train isn’t all that big. It can fit comfortably in some metros
Face reveal at 10:24
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
Who wouldn’t recommend these trains? Nice video!
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
Yes then that snarl up starting at Higham tunnels and ending on Rochester bridge... bet they wished they kept that old hogback bridge now (watched that as a lad transformed from rusty railway bridge to concrete road bridge)
Folkstone is pronounced "fokestun" Otherwise excellent review as usual.
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..
Sadly southeastern let them self down with inside and outside presentation but on the plus side they generally run a good service
What was the actual date of traveling? Because I was on 1 may at 5 PM leaving St. Pancras with the Eurostar. So, maybe I saw your train!!
2nd
@@DylansTravelReports Oh okay, that’s a bit sad, however, nice video!
no way bro got to llyn by the sea
w
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.
What website did you use to get that price?
Just been on National Rail and been quoted £39.20 without Railcard
Booked in advance?
Booked direct with Southeastern
I now live in the USA, so I doubt I will ever use the Javelins - but I did three years at the University of Kent at Canterbury right around 1980, and ye gods, that old slam-door rolling stock they used in those days! Add to that the big wait at Faversham while they coupled or uncoupled the two halves of the train, one going to/from Dover via Canterbury and the other to/from Margate and Ramsgate, It used to be two hours into Victoria, while Euston to Liverpool took less than three hours, for roughly three times the distance.
The services through Faversham do still split / join.
@@imsbvs Well, hopefully the overall journey is a bit quicker!
Damn 2025?! Ebsfleet is my local station and I used to travel to Paris frequently from there. Eurostar are missing a trick not having stops at Stratford, Ebsfleet or Ashford.
Stratford no, the other two yes
Since we left the EU, passport and immigration checks have become more complicated. At St. Pancras, Eurostar departures are now limited by the lack of space for the additional border staff needed to process passengers, and at Ebbsfleet and at Ashford there is very little space. If border procedures become more streamlined, that will help the case for calls at one or other to be reinstated.
Stratford has never had Eurostar service because Stratford International doesn't have a customs or security checks.
@@aidenstanley7305 seems a massive oversight not to ‘future proof’ the station as it was purpose built from scratch! There is plenty of space to built an immigration hall tbf
Great trip. I think it's great trying to make a trip from London to Paris indirectly via Dover - Calais Ferry. I'm curious, how far Dover Priory station to Dover Port?
I think it requires a short bus ride.
@@DylansTravelReports ahh I see. Not far but takes time if by foot.
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Good train, better toilets than you have in walmart