01.09.17
Thameslink replaces last of 30-year-old Class 319 fleet
Thameslink has reached a major milestone this week after replacing the last of its Class 319 fleet with the new Siemens-built Class 700s.
GTR, which operates Thameslink between Bedford, Brighton, Wimbledon, Sutton and Sevenoaks, said that on Sunday 27 August units 319217 and 319435 were coupled together as an eight-car service to make the final southbound journey.
The Class 319 train was introduced in 1988 when the cross-London Thameslink route was reopened to passenger traffic. Gerry McFadden, engineering director at GTR, who spoke to RTM recently about the fleet transformation, said: “The older 319s have served us well and with the help of our staff and rail enthusiasts, we gave them a fitting send off on Sunday.
“Our new Class 700 trains are a vital part of the government-sponsored Thameslink Programme which will help deliver greater capacity as we modernise the railway to meet the massive growth in passenger numbers.”
GTR added that the Class 319 has now been hauled away from Bedford Cauldwell Walk depot where work now begins to convert the site into a stabling and servicing facility for 12-carriage Class 700s.
“Now the 319s have gone it allows us to transform our depot at Bedford from a maintenance facility for four-carriage units into a stabling and servicing facility for 12-carriage Class 700s. This will allow us to introduce even more longer Class 700 trains to the Bedford to Brighton route,” said McFadden.
“Bedford Depot started life in 2004 as a maintenance depot for minor servicing of the Class 319 units when there was a six-month blockade of the Thameslink route. At its peak, it became the maintenance depot for 86 Class 319 units and 32 Class 377 units, far exceeding what was envisaged, and it is a credit to the staff that worked there that they delivered so much from such a modest facility.”
In September, Thameslink’s remaining more modern Class 377 trains will be withdrawn, creating a Class 700-only fleet on the Thameslink route.
More Class 700 trains will be delivered to run on the Great Northern route starting on services between Peterborough and King’s Cross this autumn. From May next year these trains and others from Cambridge will join the Thameslink route at St Pancras to give passengers seamless journeys to central London stations such as Farringdon and Blackfriars.
