‘CityBeam’ unit named after MP
CLASS 707 ‘CityBeam’ EMU No. 707005 was named after the late MP James Brokenshire on January 31, at a small event attended by his friends, family and colleagues, including Rail Minister Wendy Morton.
Although he never smoked Mr Brokenshire was one of the 15% of lung cancer patients nevertheless diagnosed each year.
The MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup campaigned tirelessly to improve local rail services throughout his career and was instrumental in the Siemens Class 707 trains moving to Southeastern. The five-car EMUs were first introduced by Southeastern in autumn 2021, running on the
Hayes line and routes through
Bexley and Sidcup, after transfer from their previous operator South Western Railway.
All 30 units were due to have moved to Southeastern by this spring, but last month (see February issue) Rail Express revealed that, due to delays with the introduction of SWR’s new Class 701 ‘Arterio’ units, 12 remaining Class 707s will remain running on services out of Waterloo until later this year.