In service 1999 - present | Number built 480 trainsets | |
Manufacturer Bombardier Transportation, Derby
(formerly ADtranz) Replaced Class 421
Class 423
Class 319
Class 456
Class 313
Class 508
Class 365
Class 466
Class 411
Class 465
Class 310
Class 317
Class 312
Class 442
Class 165
Class 166
Class 321 Formation 3, 4 or 5 cars per trainset Capacity Varies depending on number of carriages and seating configuration, see individual articles for details | ||
Electrostar is the name given to a series of related electric multiple-unit (EMU) passenger trains manufactured by Bombardier Transportation (formerly ADtranz) at their Litchurch Lane Works in Derby, England. Since the privatisation of British Rail, it has become the most common new EMU type in Britain, where different variants referred to as Class 357, Class 375, Class 376, Class 377, Class 378, Class 379 and Class 387, are most common on the high-volume suburban commuter routes in South, North and East London, and mainline services south to Surrey, Sussex, Kent & South Essex coasts and north to Cambridge and Stansted Airport . It shares the same bodyshell and core structure as the Turbostar, which is in turn the most common post-privatisation diesel multiple unit (DMU) family, and both evolved from the Class 168 Clubman design by ADtranz.
Contents
- c2c
- Southeastern
- Southern
- Main lines
- Outer suburban
- Suburban
- London Overground
- Thameslink
- Gautrain South Africa
- Abellio Greater Anglia
- Great Western Railway
- References
The Clubman/Turbostar/Electrostar platform is a modular design, which share the same basic design, bodyshell and core structure, and is optimised for speedy manufacture and easy maintenance. It consists of an underframe, which is created by seam-welding a number of aluminium alloy extrusions, upon which bodyside panels are mounted followed by a single piece roof, again made from extruded sections. The car ends (cabs) are made from glass-reinforced plastic and steel, and are huck-bolted onto the main car bodies. Underframe components are collected in ‘rafts’, which are bolted into slots on the underframe extrusion. The mostly aluminium alloy body gives light weight to help acceleration and energy efficiency.
The Electrostar was also selected for use on the Gautrain system in South Africa, a new railway between Johannesburg, Pretoria, and the Johannesburg International Airport. The trains were assembled by UCW Partnership in South Africa from components made in Derby.
Transport for London (TfL) announced in August 2006 that it had ordered 48 three- and four-car Electrostar trains for the new London Overground service. These were categorised by Network Rail as Class 378, and entered service in 2009 to replace the Class 313 and Class 508 on the North London Line and West London Line, and to provide the opening service on the new East London line extension from 2010.
In 2009, as part of the government's wider rolling stock plan, an order was placed for thirty four-car Class 379 Electrostar units intended for use by National Express East Anglia (now operated by Abellio Greater Anglia) on the Stansted Express and West Anglia services. The first of the new Class 379 units entered passenger service on Thursday 3 March 2011 running the 20:10 Stansted Express from London Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport and the 21:15 return service.
c2c
c2c uses Class 357 units on services down the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway line from Shoeburyness and Southend to London Fenchurch Street.
Southeastern
The Class 375 is the backbone of Southeastern's long distance routes, seeing services on most of its lines originating from its London termini (London Victoria, Charing Cross, Cannon Street and London Bridge) including;
On the outer suburban portions of these above routes, Class 465/9 Networkers support the Electrostars, but they do not work in multiple together.
The Class 376 operates on the metro routes in suburban London, in conjunction with the Class 465 and Class 466 Networkers, operating over the London portion of the above lines from the London Termini (including Blackfriars) out to Dartford and Sevenoaks);
This leaves the Bromley North Line and Sheerness Line, both operated by Class 466s (2 car Networkers) which also used to operate on the Medway Valley Line prior to the May 2012 Timetable Changes.
Southern
Southern's Class 377 fleet is found on all parts of the network apart from the non-electrified routes. They also now run frequently in metro routes alongside the Class 455s and used to run alongside the Class 456s until their transfer to South West Trains in 2014.
Main lines
Outer suburban
Suburban
Often found on
377s can be also found running overnight on Southern London Victoria–Brighton duties at 1:00am and 4:00am, calling at Clapham Junction, East Croydon, Horley, Gatwick Airport, Three Bridges.
London Overground
London Overground operates Class 378s over five lines around London:
The sixth major route it's responsible for is the unelectrified Gospel Oak to Barking Line. For this, London Overground obtained Class 172 Turbostar DMUs.
Thameslink
From March 2009 First Capital Connect (now Thameslink) ran 23 x 4 car Class 377's on the Thameslink Bedford to Brighton route, this increased to 26 x 4 car Class 377's in late 2011. This arrangement has continued since the franchise transferred to Govia Thameslink Railway in September 2014.
Gautrain (South Africa)
On 8 June 2010, the route between Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport in South Africa opened in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The rest between Johannesburg Park Station and Rosebank was to be completed in 2011. This section was actually opened 7 June 2012, the delay caused by work to resolve a water-seepage problem in the single-track tunnel section between Rosebank and Park. Although railways in South Africa use the 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) Cape gauge, Gautrain is built to the more expensive standard gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in). According to the Gautrain planning and implementation study, this is done for several reasons, including that standard gauge is safer and more comfortable to passengers. The rolling stock is also easier, quicker and less expensive to obtain than Cape Gauge rolling stock, and standard gauge is also less expensive to maintain as it is more tolerant of track imperfections than Cape Gauge. Standard gauge allows for travel at Gautrain's required speed of 160 km/h (99 mph).
Abellio Greater Anglia
From March 2011 National Express East Anglia introduced 30 x 4 car Class 379s on Stansted Express and West Anglia Main Line services. These incorporate some features of Bombardier's planned 'Aventra' Mark 2 Electrostars.
All units had entered service by mid-August 2011, two months ahead of schedule. A major timetable update in December 2011 entailed the introduction of 12-car trains on some peak workings to and from Cambridge. These trains are now operated by Abellio Greater Anglia as of 5 February 2012.
Great Western Railway
From September 2016 Great Western Railway introduced 37 x 4 car class 387/1s on Peak services between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington. They will eventually replace the class 165s and the class 166s on the Thames Valley services.