British Rail Class 707

The British Rail Class 707 is an electric multiple unit built by Siemens, currently operated by South Western Railway (SWR). A total of 150 carriages were built, formed into 30 five-car units, providing for 18,000 additional peak-time passengers into London Waterloo.[2]

British Rail Class 707 Desiro City
South West Trains 707003 at Clapham Junction carriage sidings in 2016
707017's interior at Weybridge
In service17 August 2017 – Present
ManufacturerSiemens
Built atKrefeld, Germany
Family nameDesiro City
Constructed2015–2018
Number built30
Formation5 carriages per unit
Fleet numbers707001–707030
Capacity275 seats, 320 standing
Operator(s)South Western Railway
Depot(s)Wimbledon Traincare depot
Line(s) servedVarious
Specifications
Train length101.52 m (333 ft 1 in)
Car length20 m (65 ft 7 in)
Width2.80 m (9 ft 2 1⁄4 in)
Floor height1.10 m (43.31 in)
Maximum speed160 km/h (100 mph)
Power output1,200 kW (1,600 hp)
Electric system(s)750 V DC Third rail
Current collection methodContact shoe
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Notes
Sources : Desiro City data sheet[1]
Except where noted

In the future, these units will serve as additional capacity for Southeastern services.[3]

History

In September 2014, South West Trains (SWT) announced plans to procure a total of 30 five-car trains as a means of expanding the fleet used to operate services out of London Waterloo. As a result of significant infrastructure improvements to allow the operation of ten-car trains across large parts of the SWT network, the operator procured additional rolling stock to allow for this. SWT's fleet includes other Desiro units (Class 444 and 450) built by Siemens. The Class 707 was the second product purchased for use on the British network from the Desiro City range, following the purchase of the Class 700 for Thameslink. All are leased from Angel Trains.[4][5]

Construction of the first vehicles began in June 2015, with the first completed in March 2016.[6] The first two Class 707 units were completed as dual-voltage units with pantographs for operation on 25 kV 50 Hz AC catenary. This was a temporary arrangement for testing purposes at Siemens' Wildenrath facility from May 2016.[7][8][9]

The rest of the fleet is being delivered with just 750 V DC shoegear for use on third rail electrified lines, but all will have the ability to be modified for dual-voltage use if required in future.[10] The first reached England on 9 December 2016.[11]

Entry into service was originally planned for July 2017, with all 30 planned to be delivered by the end of 2017.[12] However, the first units entered service on 17 August, just 3 days before the South Western franchise was taken over by South Western Railway on 20 August 2017.[13]

Due to lower leasing costs now available, these trains will be replaced by Class 701 Aventras from December 2020.[14][15] They will then be cascaded to Southeastern.[16][3]

Operation

The Class 707 is intended primarily for services between London Waterloo and Windsor & Eton Riverside and London Waterloo and Weybridge via Hounslow, allowing the Class 458 units used on those services to be cascaded back to operations to Reading, which will then allow the Class 450 units to move elsewhere on the SWR network.[17] The intention is to run these services as ten-car trains with pairs of Class 707s. However they also run on lines through to Kingston, Wimbledon, Epsom, Guildford and Woking.

The Class 707 units are based at the Wimbledon Traincare depot.[4]

Future

In April 2020, it was announced that Southeastern, as part of a new Direct Award Contract, had signed a deal to lease these units (as and when they become available due to being replaced by the Class 701).[3] They will be the last of the current South Western Railway suburban units to come off lease, following the '458s’ and then the ‘455s’ and ‘456s’.[18] This is different to the original plan of letting the 707s off lease first.[18] When announcing this contract, the Department for Transport promised there would be ‘space for thousands of extra passengers during the morning and evening peak times’.[18]

Fleet details
Class Operator No. built Year built Cars per unit Unit nos.
Class 707 South Western Railway 30 2015–2018[19] 5 707001–707030

Livery details
SWT Class 707

References
  1. "Desiro City Class 707" (PDF). Siemens. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  2. "SWT Desiro City fleet to be '707s'". Rail. Bauer Media (768): 27.
  3. "Southeastern signs deal to lease unwanted Class 707s". www.railmagazine.com. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  4. Class 707 Desiro City Factsheet South West Trains
  5. "Class 707s on way as well" Today's Railways UK issue 162 June 2015 page 67
  6. "Class 707s on way as well" Railways Illustrated issue 166 August 2015 page 15
  7. "First South West Trains Class 707s begin testing" Rail Magazine issue 806 3 August 2016 page 6
  8. "Class 707 People Movers for the Windsor Line" Modern Railways issue 816 September 2016 page 10
  9. "SWT Class 707s on Test" Railways Illustrated issue 166 October 2016 page 7
  10. "Class 707 breaks cover". The Rail Engineer. 25 August 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  11. "First SWT 707 reaches UK" Modern Railways issue 821 February 2017 page 12
  12. "First South West Trains Class 707 EMU under construction". Railway Gazette International. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  13. "Class 707s enter service on Windsor routes". Global Rail News. 18 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  14. "Business focus: Why your box-fresh train is being replaced". Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  15. FirstGroup and MTR order 750 EMU cars for South Western franchise International Railway Journal 20 June 2017
  16. "Risky business: train fleets in a state of flux". www.railmagazine.com. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  17. Robert Pritchard. "Rolling Stock Update". Today's Railways UK. No. 159. Platform 5. pp. 40–43.
  18. "Southeastern to take '707s' from SWR". Modern Railways. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  19. https://www.railstaff.uk/2017/12/27/swr-receive-final-class-707-trains-january/

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