Old Oak Common

LONDON’S newest train depot was officially opened on May 10, at Old Oak Common.

Built by Taylor Woodrow, the facility will be used to stable and maintain up to 42 of the 70 TfL Rail Class 345s that will be employed on the cross-London Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) from December.

Before that, TfL Rail will use the depot for ‘345s’ that are due to enter traffic between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington from May 20. TfL Rail will take over operating Paddington-Heathrow from that date, although complications with the signalling means that initially the new-build ‘345s’ will run shuttles to Hayes & Harlington.

Howard Smith, Operations Director for TfL Rail and the Elizabeth Line, said: “It’s great to see the progress that has been made at Old Oak Common since work began four years ago. Old Oak Common will be vital in helping us to maintain our 70 brand new trains over the years to come.”

Eighty staff are based at the depot, including eight apprentices. This will rise to 110 in the summer, including a further eight apprentices.

The depot is built on the site of the former Great Western Railway and EWS facility. This closed in 2009 following compulsory purchase for the Crossrail project, with demolition carried out from 2011.

The depot has 33 stabling sidings and nine roads for heavy maintenance, as well as a train wash facility. Bombardier, which built the ‘345s’, will operate the depot as part of a 32-year deal signed in 2014 to design and maintain the fleet.

TfL said the manufacturer has installed its latest Automatic Vehicle Inspection System (AVIS), which increases reliability by scanning and analysing trains as they enter the depot. This reduces overall maintenance time.

Andy Derbyshire, Head of UK Projects, Bombardier Transportation, said: “Our Britishdesigned and built trains are transforming journeys between Liverpool Street and Shenfield, and are soon to do the same for journeys between Paddington and Hayes & Harlington. We are now really building momentum towards the launch of the Elizabeth Line in December.”

FOR LONDON. TRANSPORT An overview of Old Oak Common depot’s throat. On the immediate right is the doomed Great Western Railway depot that will be closed to enable an HS2 station to be built. A Heathrow Connect Class 360/2 is running on the Great Western Main Line, and beyond that is Hitachi’s North Pole depot.

TRANSPORT FOR LONDON. Inside Bombardier’s Old Oak Common depot, with two Class 345s stabled in the nine-road maintenance shed. Seventy electric multiple units are on order, with space at the depot to stable and maintain 42 of them.