UK arrival of 700016 increases the number of Govia Thameslink ‘700s’ to 28

Ahead of a planned increase in the number of Class 700s in traffic with Govia Thameslink Railway, there are now 28 of the electric multiple units in the UK (from an order of 115).

The latest to arrive was car 700016, which arrived on September 14 and was delivered to Three Bridges depot. It follows 700019 (delivered on September 7), 700015 (August 29) and 700018 (August 24).

The Class 700s are built by Siemens in Krefeld, Germany, and following testing at the Wildenrath test facility are brought to the UK for further testing and commissioning before entering traffic.

Currently GTR has seven duties for the 12-car Class 700/1s, and plans to introduce the eight-car ‘700/0s’ from October ( RAIL 809).

There are now 13 Class 700/0s and 15 Class 700/1s in the UK. That makes 284 vehicles, the equivalent of 71 four-car EMUs that they are replacing. In the UK are 700002-008/010/014016/018/019, 700101-700115.

GTR introduced the first Class 700 into traffic on June 20 ( RAIL 804), running between London Bridge and Brighton. Since then their operations have expanded, and they now operate on the Thameslink ‘Core’ route between Bedford and Brighton. Only 12-car trains are currently used.

The Department for Transport bought the trains in 2012 and deliveries are expected to be completed by the end of 2018.

Their introduction enables GTR to withdraw its Class 319 fleet and cascade the ‘387/1s’ from its TL network to its Great Northern route (six have already moved).

The future of the 23 Class 377/5s also used by GTR on its TL route is unclear, but it is expected that they will move to its Southern operations.