27.03.17
Southern completes Class 377 modifications for extreme winter weather
Southern’s Class 377 fleet has been given a major upgrade to make it more resilient to frost and snowy weather this winter.
Engineers have finished work upgrading the 1.5-tonne line inductors that sit beneath the 377s, which smooth out spikes from the electric third rail current to protect the sensitive electrical equipment on the underside of the carriage.
The modification involved removing 518 line inductors from 182 of Southern’s Electrostar trains and replacing them with new units made by Bombardier in Crewe that had been fitted with shields to stop snow getting into circuitry on the trains.
The project took 30 months for Southern’s team working at its Selhurst Repair Shop to complete.
Despite the country experiencing better weather since heavy snow hit the rail network in 2013, Southern claims that the work will deliver a 50% reduction in inductor failures due to the modification.
Justin Lanigan, heavy repair manager at Southern’s Selhurst Repair Shop, said: “This was a huge campaign and credit must go to the team who completed this work and to other Southern colleagues who provided the units and berthing space to get this done.”
His colleague, engineering director Gerry McFadden added: “The Class 377 Electrostar fleet is our core EMU on Southern and modifications were made to the vast majority of those trains in time for the cold weather this winter. Now the programme is complete, we’re finding much better rates of reliability.”
This modification follows the operator completing a £9m refurbishment of its Class 377 fleet, which saw Southern’s 182 trains consisting of 700 carriages being given a new lease of life with an interior and exterior upgrade.
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