100th SWR Desiro EMU reliveried
THE 100th Desiro EMU to be repainted in South Western Railway (SWR) colours was rolled out of Bournemouth Traincare Depot, where all the units are being externally transformed, in August by SWR, Siemens Mobility and owner Angel Trains. Unit No. 450100 was chosen as the unit to mark the milestone. The fleet of 172 Siemensbuilt trains, the oldest members of which are now approaching 20 years, has travelled over 386 million miles, the same as four return trips to Mars and carried over 173 million passengers.
The first unit was repainted in November 2019. Each four-car unit takes seven days to paint, requires 210 litres of paint and 7500 metres of masking tape, and once the work is finished the train undergoes a deep clean before returning to service. (See also Units, p26.)