The first South Western Railway Class 701 train has arrived on the network ahead of a test programme which will start next week.
The near-£1bn fleet of new trains will be a 90-strong fleet, and the first one is now stabled at Eastleigh before beginning the testing programme to gain Office for Rail and Road certification.
The 10-car train will have its new systems assessed, including new communication systems, new toilets, new doors and regenerative braking.
GB Railfreight hauled the train for nearly 200 miles from Derby in a 400m convoy with brake units to make sure the train was safe.
The convoy passed Brentford, Staines, Virginia Water and other stations before being stabled at Eastleigh.
More Class 701 trains for South Western Railway are expected to arrive in the coming weeks and months from Bombardier.
Alex Foulds, SWR's Commercial Projects Director, said: “I'm delighted to see us achieving another major milestone. The programme is gathering pace, and we're entering an important phase of the project as we begin real-world testing on our network ahead of the trains entering passenger service later this year. We've been working hard with Bombardier to ensure that these trains are fit and ready to transform journeys for suburban passengers.”
Will Tanner, Bombardier's Director of Communications, said: “We are delighted to see the first of these British-designed and built trains leave the factory at Derby. It has been a great team effort by all involved. Network testing can now begin on these cutting-edge trains, which is another important step towards passenger service.”
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A new stepping stone for South Western Railway to introduce their new rolling stocks for Southwest London and to replace the ageing trains. Hopefully these will be in service very soon or next year. I like the livery as well.
About time that South Western Railway will be introducing the new Class 701 DC Aventra stock in service very soon either this year or next year. The Class 701s (60 701/0 and 30 701/5) will operate on London Waterloo-Hampton Court, South Chessington, Shepperton, Staines, Hounslow, Brentford, Twickenham, Richmond, Strawberry Hill, Wimbledon, Guildford, Reading, Wokingham, Windsor & Eton Riverside, Bracknell and other services in and around Southwest London.
And the Class 701s are to replace the Class 455, Class 456, Class 458/5 and Class 707 units. With rumours spreading around on where these units will be going to or to be sent for scrap. And the Class 707s to be cascaded to Southeastern.
Or maybe Southern could inherit either the Class 455s or Class 458s from South Western Railway and to use them with the existing Class 455s and Class 377s used on the suburban services and Class 377s & Class 313s on the East Coastway and West Coastway service with the possibility of replace the Class 313s on those routes.