British Rail Class 701

The British Rail Class 701 Aventra is a class of electric multiple unit being built for South Western Railway (SWR) by Bombardier Transportation and later Alstom at Derby Litchurch Lane Works. They will enter service on the Reading, Windsor and South West London suburban lines.[3][4]

British Rail Class 701 Aventra
South Western Railway Class 701 unit 701005 at Egham in August 2020
In serviceTBC
Manufacturer
Built atDerby Litchurch Lane Works
Family nameAventra
Replaced
Constructed2019 – present
Number under construction71
Number built19
Formation
  • 10 cars per 701/0 unit
  • 5 cars per 701/5 unit
Fleet numbers
  • 701001–701060
  • 701501–701530
Capacity
  • 701/0: 556 seats
  • plus 746 standees
  • 701/5: 274 seats
  • plus 361 standees[1]
Operator(s)South Western Railway
Depot(s)
Line(s) served
Specifications
Doors
  • Double-leaf sliding plug
  • (2 per side per car)
Maximum speed100 mph (160 km/h)
Acceleration0.7 m/s2 (1.6 mph/s)[1]
Deceleration0.9 m/s2 (2.0 mph/s)
Electric system(s)750 V DC third rail
Current collector(s)Contact shoe
Braking system(s)Air, regenerative/rheostatic[1]
Safety system(s)
Multiple workingWithin class, but not currently authorised[2]
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge

Built on the Bombardier Aventra platform,[5] SWR will brand them as Arterio.[6]

History
An unbranded 701/5 at Velim railway test circuit in March 2020

In March 2017, SWR was awarded the South Western franchise with a commitment to introduce 750 new carriages.[7][8][9] In June 2017, SWR awarded a contract to Bombardier Transportation for 90 Aventra DC EMUs, with 60 ten-car and 30 five-car trains to be introduced from 2019 at a cost of £895m.[10][11] There was an option to purchase a further five ten-car units if required by October 2020.[12] The units will be maintained at Wimbledon depot and the future Feltham depot which will open in 2021.

These new trains will eventually replace all of SWR's suburban fleet, which comprises classes 455, 456 and 707,[13][10] increasing peak capacity on suburban routes into London Waterloo by 46%.[14] Once the units enter service, the rollout of all trains in the fleet is expected to take two years.[3]

Initially classified as Class 705 (5-car) and Class 711 (10-car), the units were subsequently given the number Class 701 with 701/0 for the 10-car sets and 701/5 for the 5 car sets.[1]

After a brief production halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[15] the first unit was delivered to SWR's Eastleigh depot on 10 June 2020,[16] with test runs first taking place in August 2020. As of June 2021, 19 sets have been delivered.[16]

Features

The Class 701 features regenerative braking, wide gangways between coaches, wide doors for ease and efficiency of boarding and alighting, 2+2 standard class seating arrangement, Wi-Fi and at-seat USB charging points, as well as real-time passenger information screens, air conditioning, cycle racks and accessible toilets for disabled passengers. SWR will also provide a complimentary entertainment service called SWR|Stream which will be available when connected to the onboard WiFi.[10]

Each five-car train has 274 seats with room for 361 standing passengers, while a 10-car set will seat 556 passengers with space for 746 standing.[14] The trains also feature external door camera and monitors within the cab to enable them for Driver Controlled Operation.[17]

Operation

The first Class 701, ten-car unit 701002, was delivered from Derby Litchurch Lane Works to Eastleigh Works on 10 June 2020, for testing, in order to progress to certification from the Office of Rail & Road before planned passenger introduction later in the year. As of September 2020, seven ten-car units have been moved to SWR facilities in Eastleigh and Wimbledon for initial testing.[18]

In January 2022 SWR announced that continued delays to the Class 701 introduction had "created a challenging situation" on their suburban network, and that they were still waiting for Alstom (who acquired Bombardier Transportation in January 2021) to "supply a train that performs to specification". This caused SWR to extend the lease on their remaining twelve Class 707 units until August 2022, which in turn will delay their planned transfer to Southeastern.[19]

Fleet details
Class Operator No. built Year built Cars per set Unit nos. Formation
701/0 South Western Railway 60 2019–2021 10 701001–701060 DM-(P)M-TLW-M-EM-EM-M-TLW-(P)M-DM[2]
701/5 30 5 701501–701530 DM-M-TLW-(P)M-DM[2]
South Western Railway Class 701/5

References
  1. "SWR Unveils '701'". Modern Railways. 24 December 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  2. Fletcher, Steve (1 October 2020). "THE RAILWAYS (INTEROPERABILITY) REGULATIONS 2011, AS AMENDED - AUTHORISATION OF CLASS 701/0 AND 701/5" (PDF). Letter to Paul Carter (Bombardier Transportation UK Ltd). Office of Rail and Road. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  3. "Our new fleet to transform suburban travel". South Western Railway. Archived from the original on 4 November 2019.
  4. "South Western Railway's £895 million Aventra unveiled - but entry delayed to 2020". Rail. Archived from the original on 27 November 2019.
  5. Clinnick, Richard (6 September 2017). "Class 707s enter traffic with South Western Railway". Rail. Bauer Media. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  6. "New £1bn fleet of South Western Railway trains delayed". BBC News. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  7. "First, MTR beat Stagecoach to win South West Trains". Rail News. 27 March 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  8. "RMT slams 'crazy' First MTR decision to drop new £200m SWT trains". Rail Technology Magazine. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  9. Clifton, Paul (30 March 2017). "New trains 'dumped' by South Western franchise winner". BBC News. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  10. "Bombardier to supply 750 EMU cars for South Western franchise". Railway Gazette. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  11. "First, MTR unveil new trains for South Western". Rail News. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  12. "Option enables SWR to expand Class 701 fleet". Railway Gazette International. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  13. Clinnick, Richard (20 June 2017). "Bombardier wins South Western Aventra contract". Rail Magazine. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  14. "South Western Railway receives first class 701 Bombardier Aventra EMU". International Railway Journal. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  15. "Bombardier to resume some operations in UK". The Mighty 790 KFGO | KFGO. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  16. "SWR Class 701 Deliveries". Rail Record. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  17. "Independent performance review | South Western Railway". www.southwesternrailway.com. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  18. "SWR Class 701 Deliveries". Rail Record. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  19. "SWR retains 12 Class 707 trains in boost to fleet availability". South Western Railway. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.