Next Monday,3rd April, is set to be a significant day for Greater Anglia services as it will be the last day in service for its Class 321 electric units, which are in the process of being replaced by Class 720 units in a £1.4 billion fleet replacement programme.
On Monday, Class 321s are scheduled to operate services between Colchester and Walton-on-the-Naze throughout the day. Anyone who wishes to take a last trip on a Class 321 before they are withdrawn from regular service should take their final trip whilst they can.
A few Class 321s will remain available for a few more weeks for use as short-notice replacements or to provide flexibility if there is a disruption or other unplanned developments.
To mark the Class 321s retirement from the Greater Anglia network, the company is running a Class 321 Farewell charity charter train on Saturday, 29 April to mark their withdrawal. Class 321s were used on suburban and commuter services in East Anglia for over 30 years.
The rail tour is aimed primarily at rail enthusiasts, with all profits going to raise funds for three charities in Greater Anglia's operating area: East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH); Havens Hospices; and the Railway Mission.
The tour will start at London Liverpool Street then run to Clacton, Walton, Harwich Town, Stowmarket, Shenfield, and Southend Victoria, before returning to London Liverpool Street. These are many of the core routes that the Class 321s were closely associated with during much of their working life.
Tickets for the rail tour are £70 for adults or £35 for children aged 5 – 15, and can only be booked online at https://railplus.greateranglia.co.uk/class-321-farewell-charity-train-event.html. Further details about the tour can be obtained by ringing 0345 600 7245 then choosing option 3, followed by option 2.
Compared with the Class 321s, Greater Anglia's new Class 720s feature more seats, plug and USB points, enhanced performance, and better accessibility. Already 101 of the new trains are in service, operating most of Greater Anglia's commuter and local services in Essex and Hertfordshire, services between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge, and stopping services between London Liverpool Street and Ipswich.
The new trains have largely been responsible for increased punctuality and reliability to historically high levels across Greater Anglia's network, with annual performance across its routes consistently over 90%.
Last July, Greater Anglia ran a similar rail tour for its Class 317 units which were being retired, although that tour was over a different route to the Class 321 Farewell tour.
Among those people on the tour will be members of the Clacton Express Preservation Group, who will be raising money for Heritage electric projects and making promotional material available. Last March the group purchased Class 309 No. 309624 from The Lavender Line to preserve it. However, in February this year, the benefactor who was helping to save it walked away from the project, and the group reluctantly had to offer the unit for sale.
Jonathan Denby, Head of Corporate Affairs, Greater Anglia said: “The last day of pre-planned, scheduled use of the Class 321 trains in normal service, on Monday, marks the start of the last phase of our transition to a Greater Anglia network fully operated by new trains. We're looking forward to reaching that point, in the weeks ahead, at which every one of our customers will benefit from the extra seating capacity, more comfortable journeys, improved accessibility and better performance that our new trains offer.
“In the meantime, anyone wishing to bid their farewells to the Class 321s has a chance to do so with their final planned use in service between Colchester and Walton-on-the-Naze on Monday 3 April and on the Class 321 Farewell charity charter train on Saturday 29 April.”
I have ride on them so many times since I was a child and it’s so sad to see that they are no longer going to be in service anymore. ScotRail could be interested in having the refurbished “Renatus” Class 321 or they could of have inherited more redundant Class 321 (converted to Class 320).
Such a shame that these trains have served not just on the Great Eastern main line and other lines in Essex. But also they were used on the East Coast main line (Great Northern) and West Coast main line as well.
Goodbye old friend and thanks for serving most of Essex.
Don’t get rid of the Class 321 “Renatus” because I do think that Alstom would want to keep them and to convert them into Class 600 “Breeze” Hydrogen units.
Class 600 project is cancelled and has been for a year nearly. Althom realised the inpracticality of converting the 321’s for use as Hydrogen units, and the first “breeze” unit has already been scrapped before conversion. Althom, in collaboration with Northern are going for a new Hydrogen Aventra which will initially enter service on Northern services in the Middlesbrough area