387/1 commssioning and 387/2 order placed?

Bombardier delivered three new Class 387/1 this week in addition to two arriving at the Bletchley Depot for AC commissioning.

So far the following unit have been delivered;

387105 – 26/09/2014
387106 – 03/10/2014
387107 – 15/10/2014
387102 – 16/10/2014
387104 – 17/10/2014

Initial testing will see up to 12 car testing at speeds up 110mph on the WCML before moving on to DC commissioning a week later on Kent routes (same as the 377/6 & 377/7 fleets).

The first 8 car until should be in service on Thameslink by the year end with units quickly filtering into service after successful commissioning.

Thanks very much to @13milepost to the pictures of the 387/1 deliveries.

So far units up to 387112 have been seen. The order for 27x 4 car 387 units (possibly class 387/2) is rumored to have been placed now with no official word as yet but first image of a 387 in GatEx livery has emerged. The delay in ordering has been put down to Treasury bot signing off on the cost.

Official announcement is likely coming early next week.

387 testing begins

The first Class 387, unit 387101 is now on test at Old Dalby. The unit was transferred from Bombardier on the 15th August by for type testing prior to moving South for commissioning work.

See here for a photo of the unit being dragged.

387101 at the Asfordby test centre, part of the Old Dalby test track. Many thanks to Carl for allowing me to use this photo.

For commissioning work, it seems Bombardier has chosen Stokes Associates and will be basing the commissioning run at Bletchley depot for AC testing. This is likely in connection with 100mph+ testing as the Class 387 are the first Electrostars to have a top speed of 110mph.

Commissioning will happen in the Autumn time with the first units possible in service later this year under the new Govia Thameslink Railway franchise that starts on the 14th september, with all 29 units in passenger service in time for the May 2015 timetable change. As the units were order by Southern on behalf of the DfT they are being built with the standard Southern green doors. A full press launch is expect to occur later this year.

Class 387/1 techincal details

The first technical details of the new Class 387 fleet have been revealed. The 29 dual voltage 110mph capable units are formed in four car units and include some of the recent upgrades to the Electrostar model such as forward facing and pantograph cameras, plug sockets at each seat pairing as well as real time CIS and CCTV equipment. The trains will also have six powered axels per train.

The units will be wifi ready, 2+2 seating only, and in the ‘transitional branding’ (likely the interim TSGN livery) with ‘metro-density ready’ grab rail. AC and DC regenerative braking, driver advisory system (DAS) and the now standard selective door and unit opening systems (SDO). The key parts of the 387 fleet are expected to have a 35 year life span.

The units will be formed as such:

DMOS A
60 seats (7 tables)
22 seats in area that passive provision for First Class (area by the right door)

MOSL
62 seats (6 tables)
1 standard toilet

PTOSL
44 seats (7 tables)
2 wheelchair spaces
1 Wheelchair accessible toilet

DMOS B
60 seats (6 tables)

All 29 units are planned to be ready for passenger service before Southern merges with the new TSGN franchise. Here is the current provisional acceptance (entry into service) of the class 387/1 fleet;

Southern will continue to work with Bombardier on the build support (reviews of the design) right the way up to September this year (likely in relation to the start date of TSGN the same month). The arrival of the 387/1 fleet also means Southern drivers requiring to learn the Atlantic Lines for which Southern is required to recruit more drivers which is already on going and will continue on until August.

The requirement of Bombardier to get the fleet to operate at 40,000 MTIN with financial penalties if the fleet does not achieve this. Currently the Bombardier ‘built’ 357 and 375 (/8 & /9 subclasses only) achieve this. Bombardier is aiming high with its latest version of the Electrostar fleet, but with the Thameslink Core requirements needing high levels of reliability. Of Bombardier’ dual voltage fleets the 377/5 fleet has a MTIN of 21,322 (meaning the new fleet will have to be about twice as reliable), the 378/2 achieves 13,813 MTIN. The 377/2 fleet is mixed in with the rest of the 377 and achieves 33,492. Bombardier AC only 379, which the 387 body shell is based on, achieves 37,544. Time will tell if they can achieve this.

Crossrail trains deal completed

Transport for London has signed the deal for Crossrail fleet of 65 nine car Class 345 trains with Bombardier after both parties observed the standard 10 day standing still period. The deal is worth £1.3bn and lasts until 2026. Of this money, £300m is for the building of the depot alongside £1bn for the fleet. TfL can extend the deal with Bombardier for maintenance period until 2046.

The deal will see all 585 carriages built at Bombardier Litchurch Lane plant that is currently building S Stock for TfL and 377/7 and 387’s for Southern. The deal will support (or be ‘created’ according to TfL) 760 UK manufacturing jobs (from the current Derby workforce) along with 80 apprenticeships when Bombardier builds the trains with 244 jobs and 16 apprenticeships building the depots. A total of 80 permanent created in the long term with the maintenance of the fleet.

The Crossrail fleet will help generate an extra 10% rail capacity across London giving relief to Central, District and Circle Lines while making new connections across London such as linking Abbey Wood to Canary Wharf directly for the first time. The new nine car 200m long (meaning a more average 23m long versus 20m for most UK EMU commuter units) are based on Bombardier’s second attempt of its Aventra platform that was redesigned after the failure of the company to get the Thameslink contract. There is also a clause allowing TfL to order a further 18 trains (162 carriages).

The introduction of the fleet will be as follows;

May 2017 – Liverpool Street (current platforms) to Shenfield
May 2018 – Heathrow to Paddington (current platforms) replacing Heathrow Connect service
December 2018 – Paddington Crossrail to Abbey Wood
May 2019 – Shenfield to Whitechapel/Paddington
December 2019 – Full Crossrail open with trains to Maidenhead from Paddington

The planned service is still yet to be written but the Class 345 fleet will be expected to run the following;

Great Western Services
4tph Heathrow Airport to London
4tph Maidenhead to London
2tph West Drayton to London

Crossrail Core
24tph in each direction with 12tph terminating at Paddington

Great Eastern
12tph London to Shenfield

Abbey Wood via Canary Wharf
12tph London to Abbey Wood

While TfL has stated its still working with Bombardier on the final design of the train, the announcement did include a picture of the Class 345 train as shown above with three doors per carriage similar to LUL trains allowing greater people to enter and exit the trains quicker. With the ability to carry up to 1,500 per train (compare that to a total of 1,754 people on a 240m 12 car Class 700). The trains will also feature walk through carriages like the Class 378 & 700 with intelligent air conditioning like the Class 700’s.

Derby’s work load is now healthy for the next few years with the following orders already been place;

8x Class 377/7 (40 carriages) – now being delivered
29x Class 387/1 (116 carriages) – first is due in May
57x Class 378 carriages to lengthen all 378 trains to five cars – First extended train in service later this year
1,395 S stock carriages with the 1,000th completed in December with final train completed in 2015.

Of course there are still yet more possible orders for Bombardier and its Derby work force with both a mix of extensions to existing orders and new orders to bid. Here’s a quick list of what’s on offer;

387/1 35 trains/140 carriages – Extension to initial Thameslink order
345 18 trains/162 carriages – Extension to Crossrail order
30 trains/120 carriages – New build WAML trains TfL have announced
8 Trains/32 carriages – New electric units for Gospel Oak to Barking
59 trains/177 carriages – New trains for Liverpool’s Merseyrail