The Slade Green train maintenance depot has received a multi-million pound investment, introducing a new wheel lathe, carriage wash, and extended overhead gantry. These upgrades will help Southeastern maintain its current train fleet and support future enhancements of its ‘Metro’ fleet.
The new facilities were showcased on Monday, 16 December, during a visit by Daniel Francis, MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford. The depot, which employs 180 local residents, currently services five different types of trains. This could expand in the future with potential fleet upgrades, promising more reliable, comfortable, and accessible journeys for passengers.
In collaboration with Network Rail, the Southeastern Alliance has installed a new wheel lathe, a carriage wash, and extended overhead gantry and lifting cranes for the Class 707 City Beam trains, supported by Siemens Mobility. The new wheel lathe can service Southeastern's five-vehicle fleet, including the Class 707 City Beam, unlike the old lathe from the early 1990s, which was limited to four vehicles.
Train wheels endure daily wear and tear, especially during the autumn leaf-fall season, leading to small 'flat' spots. The new lathe's two moveable cutting heads can precisely re-profile wheels, measuring each one and calculating the exact amount of metal to remove. This process restores the wheels' roundness, ensuring a smoother ride.
After re-profiling, the lathe measures the train wheels to confirm their quality before the train returns to service. This means trains are back in operation more quickly, providing passengers with a smoother ride and reducing cancellations.
Mark Johnson, Southeastern’s Engineering Director said: “Our railway is getting busier, and at Southeastern we’re seeing record post-pandemic passenger numbers, with over 400k daily entries and exits being recorded at our London terminals.
“This is encouraging news, and we’re working hard to support this growth by improving performance and reducing subsidy.
“We’re very proud of the great work that is done at Slade Green with Siemens and the wider team to keep our trains in the best possible condition for customer service, with recent improvements we’ve made in partnership with Network Rail ensuring that we have the most cost-effective and efficient maintenance regime, helping us also to prepare for any potential new or cascaded fleet in the coming years.”
David Davidson, Network Rail’s Kent Route Director said: “We are building a better, more reliable and sustainable railway, and underpinning that is our ambition is to deliver better performance and reduce our subsidy.
“It’s really important to the Alliance that we invest in our train depots, so that they meet the needs not only of the current train fleet but also the future train fleet. Our Alliance with Southeastern can achieve so much more as a single structure that can focus on things like performance – and that’s embodied in the way we are investing in Slade Green depot.”
Mark Barry, Fleet Operations Director at Siemens Mobility, said: “It was great to show Daniel Francis MP some of the work our team does at Slade Green, working as one team with Southeastern to maintain our next-generation digital fleet of Desiro City Class 707 trains.
"The technical expertise our team offers, combined with cutting-edge Railigent digital remote monitoring technology to prevent technical failures, helps keep our fleet in service for passengers travelling on the network."
Daniel Francis, Labour MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford said: “The Slade Green depot in my constituency is approaching its 125th anniversary next year and it's been great to see the work going on here, the employment opportunities it brings to local people and the maintenance carried out to ensure trains across the network can run every day.”
Image credit: Network Rail
