Bus Deviation: London's Latest Trains

This post attempts to act as an interlude from the London bus scene, mainly because I don't have the time to cover the most recent contract changes, and sadly my "Random" series posts take an awfully long time to put together and at the moment having that luxury is simply impossible. So, I've tried to include my other transport-related interest here for a change and if you're into the railway network too, you might be able to correct me occasionally as my knowledge is limited in places! This post will specifically document the latest train types that have entered service on London-based routes, namely the TFL Rail/Crossrail Class 345s and the South Western Railway Class 707s.

A TFL Rail Class 345 arrives at Liverpool Street.

Chronologically, the first new train type to appear was the Class 345 "Aventra" model, the latest product manufactured by Bombardier, who were successful with their previous Electrostar train. These trains will eventually make up the entire allocation for Crossrail (or the "Elizabeth Line", something I refuse to call the service), spanning all the way from Reading-Shenfield/Abbey Wood via a mixture of existing main lines and some new tunnels in Central London. At the moment, the new trains are being tested on the TFL Rail service between Liverpool Street and Shenfield, which will be advertised as Crossrail from December 2018. The first one entered service in June 2017 (a little later than expected) and appearances have been intermittent since then, although they seem to be entering service at a rapid rate from now. Unfortunately these trains have suffered from a large number of reliability issues, with at least two breaking down each week, but hopefully these natural teething issues will be rectified before the glorified new train service begins.

At the moment the Aventras are running as 7-car formations, although they will run as 9-carriage trains once Crossrail is fully open, the reason for this temporary shortening is that the terminus at Liverpool Street can't accommodate these longer trains at the moment. You can walk through the train from one end to another and they are complete with a purple and grey interior colour scheme, which consists of mostly longitudinal seating, but there are a few (more comfortable) transverse examples located in the middle of the carriage, providing a bit of variety. The wide passages also improve overcrowding, providing a much better environment for standees. Interestingly, these trains have a minimalistic announcement system, where Emma Hignett simply states the key information rather than forming sentences with it (for example, "Next Station...Stratford"), which I think is quite effective, although other enthusiasts aren't happy with this system and prefer to have more announcements that flow better, which is understandable.

On Tuesday 29th August, I managed to ride one of these trains for the first time, on a semi-fast service from Romford-London Liverpool Street in the evening peak, before heading back out to Ilford. Personally, I find that these trains are the best new models available for suburban commuter routes. The interior colour scheme is sleek and reassuring, the seats are bearable (something of a rarity with new trains), the acceleration is superb and whilst the engine noise is quiet, there isn't complete silence which is always a bonus in my eyes. They are also some of the nicest trains out there in terms of their exterior paintwork and are miles better than the grim Class 315 trains that still make up the majority of the allocation on TFL Rail. As the Crossrail service will run through my local area and I will undoubtedly be using it on a regular basis, the high quality of these trains is a great relief and I certainly look forward to travelling on them in the future. 

Generally, they only tend to run on weekdays, with weekend appearances being sporadic and ever-changing. Although some trains may run unofficially, these trips are likely to be operated by a new Crossrail train, although there is no guarantee that a Class 315 won't turn up, so don't blame me if you're left disappointed! Each series of diagrams represents a different train.

2W03 0512 Shenfield to London Liverpool Street

2W06 0610 London Liverpool Street to Shenfield

2W21 0704 Shenfield to London Liverpool Street

2W26 0750 London Liverpool Street to Shenfield

2W43 0842 Shenfield to London Liverpool Street

2W30 1636 London Liverpool Street to Shenfield

2W47 1724 Shenfield to London Liverpool Street

2C74 1810 London Liverpool Street to Gidea Park

2C19 0729 Gidea Park to London Liverpool Street

2C14 0807 London Liverpool Street to Gidea Park

2C37 0849 Gidea Park to London Liverpool Street

2W46 0930 London Liverpool Street to Shenfield

2W63 1024 Shenfield to London Liverpool Street

2W68 1120 London Liverpool Street to Shenfield

2W85 1214 Shenfield to London Liverpool Street

2W90 1310 London Liverpool Street to Shenfield

2W07 1404 Shenfield to London Liverpool Street

2W12 1500 London Liverpool Street to Shenfield

2W29 1554 Shenfield to London Liverpool Street

2C56 1650 London Liverpool Street to Gidea Park

2C57 1732 Gidea Park to London Liverpool Street

2W52 1807 London Liverpool Street to Shenfield

2W65 1854 Shenfield to London Liverpool Street

2W78 1952 London Liverpool Street to Shenfield

2W87 2044 Shenfield to London Liverpool Street

2W00 2140 London Liverpool Street to Shenfield

2C25 0758 Gidea Park to London Liverpool Street

2C20 0837 London Liverpool Street to Gidea Park

2C43 0917 Gidea Park to London Liverpool Street

2W52 1000 London Liverpool Street to Shenfield

2W69 1054 Shenfield to London Liverpool Street

2W74 1150 London Liverpool Street to Shenfield

2W91 1244 Shenfield to London Liverpool Street

2W96 1340 London Liverpool Street to Shenfield

2W13 1434 Shenfield to London Liverpool Street

2W18 1530 London Liverpool Street to Shenfield

2W35 1624 Shenfield to London Liverpool Street

2W38 1717 London Liverpool Street to Shenfield

2W55 1804 Shenfield to London Liverpool Street

2C80 1850 London Liverpool Street to Gidea Park

A South Western Railway Class 707 stands at the elusive Platform 20 at Waterloo.

The second batch of new trains started appearing from August 2017. These are the Siemens Desiro City Class 707 trains, which are being used on the South Western Railway network to boost capacity for three years, until even newer Aventra trains arrive to replace them. Their entrance into service was heavily delayed; the original date was June 2017, although the first one didn't appear until the middle of August. Even then, it was only pushed into service so the old franchise operator (South West Trains) could claim that the first passenger service was run under them - no more appeared for another week or so. Then, the first diagrams finally emerged for some Windsor-London services and now there are four Class 707 trains booked to run every weekday. In terms of reliability, issues haven't been as noticeable as the Crossrail units, although there have been a few cancellations recently, mainly due to door issues on the 707s.

These trains are only partially walkthrough - as two trains are attached together you can only actually walk in your respective five car portion, unless you physically get off the train at the station and run between the units. They are painted in the red "suburban" South West Trains livery and are currently being used on a wide variety of London-based services, although the Hounslow and Windsor ones seem to be the most popular. The trains also feature an automated announcement system, which is rather amusing at times due to the noticeably large gaps between words/phrases. The Passenger Information screens are also quite effective, not only showing the next station, calling points and destination, but the status of London Underground and the rest of the South Western network are revealed sproadically, usually when there is a fairly large distance between stations. I managed to ride one of them on Tuesday 24th October, specifically on the 1815 London Waterloo via Hounslow circular service.

The interior of a Class 707 train.

The train departed from the hidden platform 20 at London Waterloo, it's part of the old Eurostar terminal but isn't really accessible as you have to walk some distance down another platform in order to reach it. Nevertheless, the train departed on time and I think that they're decent units overall. The interior colour scheme is bright and welcoming, the screens/announcements are informative and the seats are quite comfortable despite their rigid nature. It's a shame that they're only a temporary move as I always like having variety on my local train line, but if the new Class 701 Aventra trains are like the Crossrail units then at least I'll be gaining some satisfactory replacements.

Like the 345s, appearances on weekends are rare and often unadvertised - recently they've been helping out on the Twickenham Rugby shuttles. However, weekday diagrams are as follows:

2U07 0558 London Waterloo-Windsor & Eton Riverside

2U14 0721 Windsor & Eton Riverside-London Waterloo

Repeat every 2.5 hours until

2U67 2058 London Waterloo-Windsor & Eton Riverside

2U74 2221 Windsor & Eton Riverside-London Waterloo

9D10 0558 Guildford-London Waterloo via Epsom

9F09 0720 London Waterloo-Woking

9F96 0817 Woking-London Waterloo

2V47 1637 London Waterloo-London Waterloo via Brentford and Richmond

2R53 1815 London Waterloo-London Waterloo via Richmond and Brentford

2H92 0700 Shepperton-London Waterloo via Richmond

2R13 0815 London Waterloo-London Waterloo via Richmond and Brentford

2V39 1437 London Waterloo-London Waterloo via Brentford and Richmond

2R45 1615 London Waterloo-London Waterloo via Richmond and Brentford

2S55 1752 London Waterloo-Weybridge

2S64 1937 Weybridge-London Waterloo

 2R07 0645 Waterloo - Waterloo 0809

2S17 0822 Waterloo - Weybridge 0939

2S26 1003 Weybridge - Waterloo 1127

2V27 1137 Waterloo - Waterloo 1302

2R33 1315 Waterloo - Waterloo 1441

2S43 1452 Waterloo - Weybridge 1607

2S52 1633 Weybridge - Waterloo 1757

2V53 1807 Waterloo - Waterloo 1932

2R59 1945 Waterloo - Waterloo 2111

2S69 2122 Waterloo - Weybridge 2237

2S78 2303 Weybridge - Staines 2332

Thanks for reading and stay safe!