Southeastern is undertaking a full programme of refurbishment for its Class 395 ‘Javelin' high-speed passenger trains and has now seen Unit 395012 better known to many as the ‘Trainbow' as the first to return to service on the London St. Pancras to Kent route.
The work is being carried out in partnership with Hitachi Rail and Eversholt Rail at Southeastern's Ashford Train Maintenance Depot and includes:
- A full refreshment of the interior, including new carpets and seats
- Live passenger information system upgrade with new media screens from 2024
- CCTV system upgrade
- USB at-seat charging
- LED lighting installation
- Energy meters will be fitted to support the rail operator cut its energy usage, reducing impact on the environment
The huge programme of improvements aims to support Britain's fastest and only very high-speed passenger fleet to maintain its remarkable reliability record and passenger satisfaction rates whilst which is expected to bring a boost of £1 billion to the tourism economy of Kent.
Southeastern's Engineering Director, Mark Johnson, said:
“Southeastern is committed to delivering better, more reliable and more sustainable services, supported by the fastest domestic passenger trains in the UK.”
“With this refurbishment, we're going to make the experience for our passengers even better. Carpets, seats and sides have all been stripped down, repainted or replaced, with a whole new look and feel, improving the accessibility of the train at the same time for all of our customers.”
“This is just the beginning of the programme, as later in the year we're upgrading the passenger information systems on board all 174 carriages in the high-speed fleet, which will bring more benefits to our customers as we improve the way we give people the most up-to-date information about their journeys”.
Paul Sutherland, Client Services Director at Eversholt Rail said:
“We are delighted to see the first upgraded Class 395 train returning into passenger service today. The upgrades being made to this fleet will provide an improved travelling experience for customers in the South East and we look forward to seeing the refurbished trains back in service.”
Jim Brewin, Chief Director UK & Ireland at Hitachi Rail said:
“We are extremely proud to oversee the iconic Javelin fleet interior refurbishment and digital upgrade.”
“Working in partnership with Eversholt Rail and Southeastern, the Hitachi team are doing an incredible job transforming these trains so passengers get a new and improved experience, which builds on 13 years of high-speed performance and industry-leading reliability.”
“I am equally excited at the opportunity to make the UK's fastest domestic passenger fleet, one of the most digitally advanced. Adopting Hitachi's infrastructure monitoring solution on Javelin trains will automate overhead line inspection to minimise disruption and reduce maintenance costs while ensuring the fleet remains at the cutting edge of UK train innovation.”
As a regular user of these trains, it’s great to see the refurbishment happening.
But…
– From what I can see, the USB version that is being rolled out is about 10 years old – it does not provide enough amperage to charge newer model phones
– The doors between coaches don’t sense when people are using them – they close while you’re walking through – would be great to see this improved
– The doors in/out of the train take a long time to open after they’ve been released – a faster process would be good
Lastly, Southeastern are currently running these on a highly reduced service during off peak – eg the Gravesend line gets one train per hour – great to have refurbed trains, but when are they going to be returned to a meaningful (at least three times per hour off-peak) service?