Manufacturer Siemens Family name Desiro Number under construction 30 units to be built | Built at Krefeld, Germany Constructed 2016–17 | |
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In service Due to enter service in 2017–2018 | ||
The Class 707 is an electric multiple unit being built by Siemens for South West Trains. A total of 150 vehicles will be built, formed into 30 five-car units, and are being built to provide initially for 18,000 additional peak-time passengers into London Waterloo, with a further 6,000 additional passengers capable of being accommodated on completion of associated infrastructure improvements.
Contents
History
In September 2014 South West Trains announced plans to procure a total of 30 five-car trains as a means of expanding the fleet used to operate services out of London Waterloo. As a result of significant infrastructure improvements to allow the operation of 10-car trains across large parts of the SWT network, the operator procured significant amounts of additional rolling stock to allow for this. SWT's fleet is largely made up of Desiro units built by Siemens, and the Class 707 will be a follow on of this, as the second product purchased for use on the British network from the Desiro City range (following the purchase of the Class 700 for Thameslink).
Construction of the first vehicles began in October 2015, with the first unit completed in March 2016. Testing is due to be undertaken at Siemens' Wildenrath facility from May 2016, entry into passenger service planned for June 2017, with all 30 planned units to be delivered by the end of 2017.
Operation
The Class 707 units are intended primarily for services between London Waterloo and Windsor & Eton Riverside, allowing the Class 458 trains used on those services to be cascaded back to operations to Reading, which will then allow the Class 450s to move elsewhere. The intention is to run these services as ten-car trains with pairs of Class 707s.
The Class 707 units are planned to be based at SWT's Wimbledon Traincare depot.