British Rail Class 707
Desiro City
Southeastern Class 707s at Hither Green
Interior as refreshed by Southeastern
In service17 August 2017 – present
ManufacturerSiemens Mobility
Built atKrefeld, Germany
Family nameDesiro City
Replaced
Constructed2015–2018[2]
Entered service2017
Number built30
SuccessorClass 455(SWR)
Class 458 (SWR)[3]
Formation
  • 5 cars per unit:[4]
  • DMOS-TOS-TOS(L)W-(P)TOS-DMOS
Fleet numbers707001–707030
Capacity275 seats[2]
OwnersAngel Trains
Operators
Depots
Lines served
  • London Waterloo and Windsor[2]
  • London Waterloo and Hounslow[2] (via Brentford or Richmond)
  • London Waterloo and Weybridge[2] (via Brentford)
  • London Waterloo and Shepperton (via Wimbledon)

The British Rail Class 707 Desiro City is an electric multiple unit passenger train. Siemens Mobility built 30 five-carriage sets, initially leased by South West Trains. SWT's franchise successor South Western Railway began phasing them out from September 2021.[5] Twenty-eight sets are now in service with Southeastern having been transferred from South Western Railway by late 2023, with two sets remaining at South Western Railway.[6]

Background

In September 2014, South West Trains (SWT) announced plans to procure 30 five-car trains to expand its fleet to take advantage of significant infrastructure improvements that would allow the operation of ten-car trains. 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 rolling stock company (ROSCO) Angel Trains.[7][8]

Construction of the first vehicles began in June 2015, with the first completed in March 2016.[9] The first two were completed as dual-voltage units with pantographs for operation on 25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead lines. This was a temporary arrangement for testing purposes at Siemens' Wildenrath test centre from May 2016.[10][11][12] They also operated in England in this configuration, being tested operating on the East Coast Main Line to Peterborough.[13]

The rest of the fleet was 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.[14] The first reached Britain on 9 December 2016.[15] Entry into service was originally planned for July 2017, with all 30 planned to be delivered by the end of 2017.[16] However, the first units entered service on 17 August, just three days before the South Western franchise was taken over by South Western Railway on 20 August 2017.[17][18] The last entered service in March 2018.[19]

Due to lower leasing costs becoming available, SWR decided it would replace the Class 707s with Class 701 Aventras from 2021.[20][21][22]

In April 2020, Southeastern signed a deal to lease the entire Class 707 fleet.[23] The first four units were transferred in January 2021,[24] with fourteen more following in small batches throughout the rest of 2021. The final twelve were expected to transfer to Southeastern by early 2022,[25] but in January 2022 South Western Railway announced that continuing delays to its Class 701 program had resulted in it extending its lease on the remaining 12 units until late 2022.[26][27] By November 2022 the lease had been extended again, into 2023.[28]

Twenty-eight sets are now in service with Southeastern having been transferred from South Western Railway to Southeastern by late 2023, with two sets remaining at South Western Railway temporally.[6] The two sets at South Western Railway are planned to transfer to Southeastern in the future.[6]

Operation

SWT Class 707 at Reading in 2017

The Class 707 was introduced on 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 then allowed the Class 450 units to move elsewhere on the network.[29] When operated by South Western Railway Class 707 units were based at the Wimbledon Traincare Depot.[7]

The first Southeastern Class 707 units entered service on 27 September 2021.[25] Southeastern branded them City Beams, and deployed them on shorter-distance services from London Cannon Street and Charing Cross stations to Gravesend, Dartford, Sevenoaks, and Hayes.[30] Passengers praised the new trains for providing air conditioning and charging points for mobile devices, but expressed dissatisfaction that they were not fitted with toilets.[31] Southeastern noted in response that it was "not practical" to install toilets in the already-built units, and that the Class 376 units already in use on the same routes were also not fitted with toilets.[32]

Fleet details

Class Operator Qty. Year built Cars per unit Unit nos.
707 Southeastern 28 2015–2018 5 707001–707023, 707025-707029[33][34][35][36]
South Western Railway 2 707024, 707030[37]

Named units

The following units have received names:

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to British Rail Class 707.
  1. 1 2 Holden, Michael (5 July 2021). "Southeastern to bring Class 707s to London from Autumn 2021". RailAdvent. Leyland. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Class 707 'Desiro City'". London: First MTR South Western Trains. Archived from the original on 7 February 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  3. ↑ "SWR to withdraw remaining 707s". Today's Railways UK. No. 260. October 2023. p. 62.
  4. ↑ "Class 707 infographic interior". Newcastle upon Tyne: London & South Eastern Railway. 2 July 2021. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  5. ↑ "Introducing our new City Beam trains". Newcastle upon Tyne: London & South Eastern Railway. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 "SWR keeps last two '707s'". Modern Railways. No. 903. December 2023. p. 87.
  7. 1 2 "Class 707 Desiro City - Factsheet". South West Trains. Stockport: Stagecoach Rail Operations. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ↑ "Class 707s on way as well". Today's Railways UK. No. 162. Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing. June 2015. p. 67.
  9. ↑ "Class 707s on way as well". Railways Illustrated. No. 166. Stamford: Key Publishing. August 2015. p. 15.
  10. ↑ "First South West Trains Class 707s begin testing". Rail Magazine. No. 806. Peterborough: Bauer Consumer Media. 3 August 2016. p. 6.
  11. ↑ "Class 707 People Movers for the Windsor Line". Modern Railways. No. 816. Stamford: Key Publishing. September 2016. p. 10.
  12. ↑ "SWT Class 707s on Test". Railways Illustrated. No. 166. Stamford: Key Publishing. October 2016. p. 7.
  13. ↑ "On-test Class 707s reach Peterborough". Rail Magazine. No. 837. Peterborough: Bauer Consumer Media. 11 October 2017. p. 28.
  14. ↑ "Class 707 breaks cover". Rail Engineer. Coalville: Rail Media Group. 25 August 2016. Archived from the original on 2 May 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  15. ↑ "First SWT 707 reaches UK". Modern Railways. No. 821. Stamford: Key Publishing. February 2017. p. 12.
  16. ↑ "First South West Trains Class 707 EMU under construction". Railway Gazette International. Sutton: DVV Media International. 29 October 2015. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  17. ↑ "Class 707s enter service on Windsor routes". Global Rail News. Coalville: Rail Media Group. 18 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  18. ↑ "SWT Class 707s enter traffic - at end of franchise". The Railway Magazine. No. 1398. Horncastle: Mortons Media Group. September 2017. p. 82.
  19. ↑ "Final Class 707s put into service by SWR". Rail Magazine. No. 849. Peterborough: Bauer Consumer Media. 28 March 2018. p. 32.
  20. ↑ Armitage, Jim (14 February 2018). "Business focus: Why your box-fresh train is being replaced by a brand new model". Evening Standard. London. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  21. ↑ Barrow, Keith (20 June 2017). "FirstGroup and MTR order 750 EMU cars for South Western franchise". International Railway Journal. Falmouth: Simmons-Boardman Publishing. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  22. ↑ "Risky business: train fleets in a state of flux". Rail Magazine. Peterborough: Bauer Consumer Media. 23 August 2017. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  23. ↑ Clinnick, Richard (20 April 2020). "Southeastern signs deal to lease unwanted Class 707s". Rail Magazine. Peterborough: Bauer Consumer Media. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  24. ↑ "Southeastern welcomes the first of SWR's Class 707s". Rail Magazine. No. 923. Peterborough: Bauer Consumer Media. 27 January 2021. pp. 24–25.
  25. 1 2 "Brighter, fresher, smarter new City Beam trains enter service in South East London and North Kent". Newcastle upon Tyne: London & South Eastern Railway. 27 September 2021. Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  26. ↑ "SWR retains 12 Class 707 trains in boost to fleet availability". London: First MTR South Western Trains. 11 January 2022. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  27. ↑ Holden, Michael (11 January 2022). "South Western Railway extends Class 707 lease to boost capacity". RailAdvent. Leyland. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  28. ↑ "Southeastern puts Networkers on notice". Modern Railways. No. 891. Stamford: Key Publishing. December 2022. p. 86.
  29. ↑ Robert Pritchard. "Rolling Stock Update". Today's Railways UK. No. 159. Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing. pp. 40–43.
  30. ↑ "Introducing our new City Beam trains". Newcastle upon Tyne: London & South Eastern Railway. Archived from the original on 2 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  31. ↑ "The new trains with WiFi, air conditioning and power points...but no toilets". ITV News. 1 October 2021. Archived from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  32. ↑ McGroarty, Adam (29 September 2021). "Southeastern slammed as flash new trains revealed to have no toilets". KentLive. Reach plc. Archived from the original on 14 October 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  33. ↑ "Final Class 707s at Southeastern". Rail Magazine. No. 995. 1 November 2023. p. 25.
  34. ↑ "Class 707s finish with SWR". Railways Illustrated. No. 250. December 2023. p. 24.
  35. ↑ "Class 707 Desiro City/City Beam". UNITS. Rail Express. No. 329. October 2023. p. 22.
  36. ↑ "Southeastern Class 707 transfers resume". Railways Illustrated. No. 249. November 2023. p. 23.
  37. ↑ "Class 707s linger with SWR". Rail Express. No. 251. January 2024. p. 20.
  38. ↑ "Train naming honours Ukrainian spirit". Rail. No. 978. 8 March 2023. p. 21.
  39. ↑ "Naming Update". Railways Illustrated. No. April 2022. Stamford: Key Publishing. p. 21.
  40. ↑ "Stock Update". The Railway Magazine. No. 241. Horncastle: Mortons Media Group. March 2022. p. 83.
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