…and more new-build ‘387s’ for GWR rather than cascaded trains

Twenty-nine brand new Class 387 electric multiple units will be delivered to Great Western Railway this year, joining a fleet of eight four-car ‘387s’ that were ordered last March ( RAIL 770).

And an order for more trains is due to be placed imminently, according to sources, although as this issue of RAIL went to press the deal had not been confirmed. This contract for the new trains will mean that the planned cascade of 29 four-car Class 387/1s from Govia Thameslink Railway to GWR will now not take place.

The new order follows discussions with the Department for Transport, and means that GWR can now go ahead with introducing electric services, initially between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington.

These will begin in September, having originally been planned to start last month. This did not take place as there were no available ‘387/1s’ to cascade from GTR, because not enough Class 700s were available to introduce on the Thameslink network.

Initially, the first GWR ‘387s’ to enter traffic will be the eight trains being built by Bombardier at Derby Litchurch Lane (of which the first are nearly ready).

They will be followed by 14 four-car ‘387s’ that will come from Porterbrook’s speculative order of 20 Class 387s (the rest will go to c2c).

Then, a further 15 Class 387s will be built by Bombardier for GWR. All the trains will be owned by Porterbrook

It is understood that the ‘387/1s’ delivered to GTR in 2014-2015 will now remain with the operator, to be used on routes that can exploit their 110mph capabilities. The 29 four-car dual-voltage EMUs had been ordered as an interim measure to enable Class 319s to move to Northern from Thameslink.

The future of the Class 365s remains unclear. Owned by Eversholt Rail, half of the 40-strong fleet was due to move to GWR from next year. But according to sources, RAIL understands that deal could now not happen.