TfL’s Class 315 electric multiple unit scrapping begins

The first of Transport for London’s Class 315 electrical multiple units has been sent for scrap.

Four-car 315850 was taken from storage at Knorr-Bremse Rail Services’ Wolverton Works to CF Booth’s scrapyard at Rotherham on October 20.

It dates from 1981, and was owned by Eversholt Rail. TfL Rail is replacing its ‘315’ fleet with Class 315 Aventras, and 315850 is one of eight so far withdrawn from service. More Class 315s will be scrapped in the coming weeks, although no more have been sent off-lease due to the number of ‘345s’ in service not being increased in recent months.

Stored ‘315s’ currently at Wolverton are: 315832/835/840/ 854/860/861.

TfL Rail has 36 Class 315s in traffic between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield that operate in pairs. Introduced in 1980-1981, these are due to be sent off-lease as more ‘345s are delivered, and as Crossrail opens and the Metro services operated by the ‘315s’ are diverted through the centre of London.

Delays caused by the reliability of the ‘345s’ and the opening of the tunnel mean that more ‘315s’ are likely to be in traffic longer than envisaged.

London Overground also has 17 Class 315s in traffic that are to be replaced by Bombardier-built Class 710s, although delays with that new fleet mean that the planned replacement by the end of 2018 will not happen. LO will retain one set for the Upminster branch.