350 v 321

The 350 in the title is the current Desiro trains, and the 321 the units they replaced.  The 'trainspotter bit' will end with a suggestion that anyone wanting to know about their technical specifications may like to check them out on Wikipedia:

British Rail Class 321
London Midland Desiro 350

What is going to be covered here is how these trains compare for us commuters.

Reliability - New v old?  Untried v untried?  The 321 had their faults (including doors icing up one very cold winter) but in terms of reliability they rarely let us down.  The new Desiro 350s seem to be OK and I think I've only been let down 2-3 times but the London Midland email alert service does seem to report a fair few delays/cancellations because of train failure.

• 350 ****
• 321 ****

Seating - Here it gets complicated because there are two sub-classes for the Desiro 350s.  When the 350/1 (blue seating) trains came in they were a huge leap forward.  Suddenly we had 'front to back' facing seats, armrests and more tables.  There seemed to be a lot more room.  We were happy, but then the 350/2 (green seating) units started to appear.  The 350/1s had a pair of seats either side of the aisle.  The 350/2s had three on one side and two on the other.  The armrests disappeared as did the tables.   To be honest, I think the seating on the 321s was better than on the 350/2s.

• 350 *** (it would be **** if we had the blue seating 350/1s more frequently on the Bletchley services)
• 321 ***

General comfort - The 350s are a lot quieter until the announcements start.  The air-conditioning is fantastic when it works.  The 12th carriage in a three unit train seems to lose the air-con and in the summer this means that the carriage can become unbearably hot as there are no windows to open.

• 350 ****
• 321 ***

Other - The ability to walk through from one end of the train to the other when it is made up on two or three units (8 or 12 carriages) is a real bonus on the 350s.  Joining the train at the last minute at London Euston you can walk through to find a seat, and if you are in a hurry when you get back to Bletchley then it's possible to get to the door that will be nearest the stairs on arrival.  The toilets on the 350s are also better fitted fitted out, and as they store the waste on the train they can be used when in the station.

• 350 *****
• 321 **

Overall - The Desiro 350s are undoubtedly an improvement.  If they could fix the air-conditioning problem, reduce the announcements and then concentrate the earlier, blue-seated versions on the Bletchley services then it would almost be a pleasure commuting into London (I'm not sure I really mean that...)

• 350 ****
• 321 ***.