As part of the 200th anniversary of railways, Southeastern and model railway company Hornby have launched a new liveried high-speed Javelin complete with Railway 200 artwork at a small ceremony in Margate.
Southeastern unit No.395015 was unveiled at Margate last Tuesday, March 25, next to a Hornby 00 gauge model of the same train, which also sports the same livery as its full-size counterpart.
At present, 395015 is the only Javelin to carry the new Southeastern livery, which will soon be applied to the remaining members of the Javelin fleet over the coming months as each unit undergoes refurbishment. The Railway 200 graphic will remain a unique feature on 395015.
The colourful graphic on the side of both trains showcases how Highspeed rail has changed travel in Kent over the last 16 years, when Southeastern first started running Highspeed trains to Kent in 2009.
The artwork features landmarks from London and Kent, such as The Orbit at Stratford, Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate, and the White Cliffs of Dover, along with many others.
Since the beginning of high-speed services, over 177 million journeys have been made on Southeastern’s Highspeed network. In the years following the pandemic, this has risen by 6.6%, with 15 million journeys made in 2024.
The model Javelin is part of a combined train and coach pack, which is currently available to buy from Hornby’s website.
“The Southeastern High-Speed service is currently the only domestic high-speed service in the UK. We want to take this opportunity to celebrate the transformative effect rail investment can bring by connecting people with employment, housing, education and opportunities.
“In the last financial year, Southeastern highspeed set a new post-pandemic record of just over 15million journeys which shows how important it remains to the region.
“Railway 200 is a special year for us all and we have already unveiled a specially designed Network SouthEast train as well as celebrating the 189th birthday of London’s oldest station, Deptford and we are delighted to continue today by partnering with Hornby.
“We are delighted to showcase with this special train some of the attractions and businesses which have benefited, and will continue to benefit, from the connections provided by highspeed rail and Southeastern.”
Alicia Andrews, Commercial Director at Southeastern
Responses
Nifty photography. I must be confused as my own OO gauge layout, the rolling stock is so much smaller. Here, Hornby´s new OO gauge shows quite clearly that the model is bigger than 1 foot high.