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GTR orders 27 new Class 387-2s to replace Gatwick Express fleet

Govia Thameslink Railway has confirmed that it has placed a £145.2m order with Bombardier for 27 new four-car trains for its Gatwick Express services, as first reported by RTM last month.

The new trains, which will be built in Derby, are to be four-car Class 387/2 Electrostar EMUs and will replace the fleet of five-car Class 442 EMUs built in the 1980s that have been operating on the route since 2008. They have never been ideal stock to run an airport rail link, and their future is unclear.

GTR says the new trains, due to enter service in 2016, will be “specially designed for the rail-air route with easier boarding, better luggage space, 2+2 seating and wi-fi.”

Charles Horton, CEO of GTR and managing director of Southern, said: “This is great news for our Gatwick passengers, but also for those travelling from Brighton, as in the off-peak some of these trains will be extended to there, while still maintaining the fast connection between Victoria and Gatwick.”

The contract is a follow-on to a previous order for 116 Class 387/1 cars which Southern, a Govia company, placed in July 2013. These were ordered on behalf of the DfT for interim use by on the Thameslink route between Bedford, London and Brighton from December 2014 until 2016, following the delays in confirmation of the deal with Siemens to build the long-term stock for the route: the Class 700 Desiro City fleet.

When RTM talked to Southern’s fleet overhaul and projects manager Iain Nairne, overseeing the procurement, last month, he told RTM: “The build of the trains is well advanced and we’re on target from that perspective. The process now is to start fault-free running and to start introducing the trains into service once that’s been concluded.

“Compared to the [Class] 319 trains that they will replace, they are a significant improvement.”

At that stage, 12 units were fully built, ready to start the fault-free running process at Bletchley, and units 13-16 were on the production line at Derby.

By May 2015 GTR expects “virtually every train” on the Thameslink Bedford to Brighton service will be an Electrostar. The DfT say that this will allow the current Class 319 EMUs to be cascaded onto newly-electrified routes in the north west.

Horton added: “We took over the operation of the Thameslink route in September and already we are introducing new trains which will transform our passengers’ journeys on services between Bedford and Brighton.”

Horton will be hoping performance improves: GTR has had a difficult first few weeks as the new operator of services on Thameslink, with poor punctuality figures.

Rail minister Claire Perry said: “These new British-built trains are great news for passengers and a boost for the economy. They will transform journeys on the Gatwick Express and Thameslink routes and safeguard jobs at Bombardier’s Derby factory.

“As part of our long-term economic plan, over £38bn is being invested in improving our railways over the next five years and it’s great to see companies like GTR investing in the service it provides for its customers.”

(Image: New Class 387 unit 387101, making runs up and down the Old Dalby test track. Copyright Resilient Photography)

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