| British Rail Class 700 | |
| Artists' impression of the Siemens Desiro City design, in First Capital Connect livery Artists' impression of the Siemens Desiro City design, in First Capital Connect livery | |
| In service | Due to enter service in 2016 |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Siemens Rail Systems |
| Family name | Desiro City[1] |
| Number built | 115 units (1140 vehicles) to be built |
| Formation | 60x 8-carriage (700/0) 55x 12-carriage (700/1) |
| Specifications | |
| Electric system(s) | 25 kV AC overhead 750 V DC Third rail |
| Gauge | {{#switch:sg
|3mm=3 mm (0.118 in) |4mm=4 mm (0.157 in) |4.5mm=4.5 mm (0.177 in) |4.8mm=4.8 mm (0.189 in) |6.5mm=6.5 mm (0.256 in) |6.53mm=6.53 mm (0.257 in) |8mm=8 mm (0.315 in) |8.97mm=8.97 mm (0.353 in) |9mm=9 mm (0.354 in) |9.42mm=9.42 mm (0.371 in) |10.5mm=10.5 mm (0.413 in) |11.94mm=11.94 mm (0.470 in) |12mm=12 mm (0.472 in) |12.7mm=12.7 mm (0.5 in) |13mm=13 mm (0.512 in) |13.5mm=13.5 mm (0.531 in) |14mm=14 mm (0.551 in) |14.125mm=14.125 mm (0.556 in) |14.2mm=14.2 mm (0.559 in) |14.28mm=14.28 mm (0.562 in) |14.3mm=14.3 mm (0.563 in)|15.76mm=15.76 mm (0.620 in) (Standard Gauge) |
The Class 700 will be a new class of train fleet in the United Kingdom, currently under construction by Siemens. The trains will operate on the expanded Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern franchise, and are being procured by the UK Department for Transport as part of a £6 billion Thameslink Programme network upgrade.[2] The rolling stock will be divided into 55 12-car sets (Class 700/1) and 60 8-car sets (Class 700/0)[2]
History and background[]
Procurement specifications[]
The procurement process was begun on 9 April 2008 by the Department for Transport, with the aim of introducing more passenger capacity on Thameslink lines to match expected demand. In addition, the bidders were to provide depots for vehicle maintenance and storage, and finance for the rolling stock project whereby revenues would be generated from the long-term leasing of rolling stock to the operating Train Operating Company and associated maintenance payments.[3]
The general, initial specifications for the rolling stock included:
- high reliability
- short station dwell times
- integrated information technology including passenger information and information for vehicle maintenance
- a top speed of100 mph (Template:Convert/outsep)
- good acceleration and deceleration performance in line with a high frequency timetable.[note 1]
- Ride quality and noise levels meeting or exceeding current vehicles
- Climate control (air conditioning)[4]
- Driver Only Operation, GSM-R communications radio, AWS, TPWS and ERTMS level 2 safety systems, as well as the ability to be used in a 'driverless' mode (automatic train operation)[4]
In addition, the trains were to be designed for low weight and low track forces and high energy efficiency . A standard length train was to be aboutTemplate:Convert/m long, with some services using trains limited to Template:Convert/m.[3] Passenger accommodation was to include layouts suitable for both 'metro' and 'commuter' versions,[note 2] based around a [2+2] seating arrangement, with fold up seats and designed for high levels of standing passengers.[3]
Vehicles were to operate on 750V DC and 25kV AC electrification systems, and be able to brake using regenerative braking, maintenance time was to be reduced by modular components, remote diagnostics, and avoidance of overly complicated systems.[4] The Department of Transport gave a target of 384 tonnes when empty for a Template:Convert/m train.[4]
Bids[]
In July 2008 the Department of Transport shortlisted consortia including Alstom, Bombardier, Hitachi and Siemens as train builders.[6] The Invitation to Tenders were issued to the four bidders in November 2008,[5] however Hitachi exited the bidding process in April 2009.[7] The remaining three bidding consortia unveiled their proposals during the course of 2009:
- Alstom: Unveiled the 'X'trapolis UK' in September 2009 - an unusually articulated vehicle using 15.6m cars, with individual carriages proposed to be supported at one end by a bogie, and at the opposite end by a linkage to the next carriage. The shorter vehicle allowed a slightly wider design; the lower number of bogies was to have resulted in a train approximately 40 tonnes lighter than a conventional design.[8] However, the design would also have resulted in a higher axleload. The bid was rejected in October 2009.[9]
- Siemens: Bidding as part of the Cross London Trains (XLT) consortium made up of Siemens Project Ventures GmbH, Innisfree Ltd and 3i Infrastructure Ltd., unveiled the Desiro City in July 2009, a development of design and technology used in its British Desiro range and the Desiro Mainline range.[10] Development of the design began in 2007, with an investment of about £45 million.[1][11]
- Bombardier: Offered the Aventra, a new design incorporating a development of the FLEXX Eco inside frame bogie with bogie mounted traction motors.[12]
Both Bombardier's and Siemens' rolling stock designs were conventional EMUs incorporating inside frame bogies, and modern passenger and rolling stock information systems.[1][10][11][12]
Contract decision[]
The contract for order was originally planned to be signed in Summer 2009, with the vehicles in service by February 2012, and a full service by 2016.[3] The award of the contract was delayed by the 2010 general election[13] and the subsequent spending review, following which the procurement was announced to be proceeding in late 2010.[14]
On 16 June 2011, the Siemens/Cross-London Trains consortium was named preferred bidder for the PFI contract, with the targeted entry of trains into service rescheduled to 2015–2018. Manufacturing of the vehicles would take place at Siemens' plant in Krefeld, Germany, whilst maintenance depots were to be constructed at Hornsey (London) and Three Bridges (Sussex).[1] As a result of train construction taking place outside of the UK, the decision to seek to award the contract to Siemens proved controversial, with widespread criticism of the UK government's bidding process and lack of weighting in favour of native manufacturing,[15] which in turn led to a review of governmental procurement mechanisms.
Classification and livery[]
In March 2013, it was announced that the new rolling stock has been provisionally given the TOPS number of Class 700, with Class 700/0 being the 8-car sets and the 12-car trains having the 700/1 numbering.[16] This classification was confirmed in August 2013,[2] in addition to confirmation that First Capital Connect had agreed with the DfT that the new trains would be produced with an initial livery of "light grey with pastel blue doors and a white diagonal flash at the carriage ends".[2] The livery was chosen in anticipation that it could be retained by the eventual franchisee for the expanded Thameslink franchise, or treated as the basis for an alternative brand. This livery was still carried by the trains when they were introduced, although Thameslink took over b then.
See also[]
- British Rail Class 345 - the rolling stock procured for the Crossrail programme is expected to be similar to that used for Thameslink.[5][17]
- Thameslink (train operating company)
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Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Siemens beats Bombardier to Thameslink train order. Railway Gazette International (16 June 2011).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Press release - First Capital Connect and Siemens reveal further details of Thameslink train order. PR Newswire (8 August 2013). Archived from the original on 9 August 2013. Retrieved on 9 August 2013.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Sources:
Thameslink Rolling Stock Project : Industry Day. www.dft.gov.uk (via webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk). Department for Transport (22 April 2008).
Thameslink Rolling Stock Project : Summary and Overview. www.dft.gov.uk (via webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk). Department for Transport (April 2008).
Thameslink EMU procurement begins. www.railwaygazette.com. Railway Gazette International (9 April 2008). - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Thameslink Rolling Stock Project : Rolling Stock High Level Specification. www.dft.gov.uk (via webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk). Department for Transport (April 2008).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Thameslink EMU invitations to tender issued. www.railwaygazette.com. Railway Gazette International (27 November 2008).
- ↑ Thameslink shortlist announced. www.railwaygazette.com. Railway Gazette International (10 July 2008).
- ↑ Hitachi drops out of Thameslink competition. www.railwaygazette.com. Railway Gazette International (22 April 2009).
- ↑ Alstom unveils X'trapolis UK. www.railwaygazette.com. Railway Gazette International (16 September 2009).
- ↑ Alstom out of Thameslink bidding. www.railwaygazette.com. Railway Gazette International (2009-10-29).
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Siemens offers Desiro City to the UK market. www.railwaygazette.com. Railway Gazette International (17 July 2009).
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Desiro City. www.mobility.siemens.com. Siemens.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Sources:AVENTRA – Bombardier’s flagship EMU for the UK (reproduced from Rail Engineer Magazine. www.rail.co (23 February 2011).
Bombardier’s AVENTRA – A new era in train performance (reproduced from Rail Engineer Magazine. www.rail.co (21 March 2011).
Nigel Wordsworth (October 2009). "Weight loss drives step change". The Rail Engineer (60): 18–19. - ↑ Template:Cite news
- ↑ GW electrification and Thameslink fleet approved. www.railnews.co.uk. Railnews Limited (25 November 2010).
- ↑ Sources:
- Template:Citation/core
- Template:Citation/core
- ↑ Pritchard, Robert (March 2013). "Rolling stock developments since privatisation". Today’s Railway (135): p. 31.
- ↑ Rolling Stock Plant. www2.dft.gov.uk. Department for Transport. Retrieved on 11 July 2011. “It is likely that these vehicles will also meet the aspirations for the next generation of EMUs and may be similar, but probably not identical, to those proposed for the Thameslink Programme.”
External links[]
- Thameslink Rolling Stock Project. www2.dft.gov.uk. Department for Transport.
References[]
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