Posted 16th September 2020 | 2 Comments

GTR and Porterbrook unveil £55 million fleet modernisation

TRAINS built just five years ago are among those set to be upgraded at Selhurst Depot as part of a £55 million fleet modernisation programme announced by Govia Thameslink Railway and leasing company Porterbrook.

The newest of the 270 electric multiple units in the programme are more than 50 Bombardier ‘Electrostar’ Class 387s which were first delivered from Derby to start replacing the long-serving Class 319s on the Thameslink route. The candidates also include 214 older Electrostar Class 377s, which run on the Southern network.

The work, which will take five years, will include the installation of on-board performance monitoring and fault diagnosis, real-time passenger information screens and USB/power points,

GTR said it has responded to calls from passengers revealed in recent research led by Transport Focus and funded by Porterbrook. The trains will also be fitted with new energy-saving LED lighting, plus passenger-counting technology and forward-facing CCTV cameras.

GTR engineering director Steve Lammin said: ‘Taking on board our passengers’ feedback, this multi-faceted upgrade by our own team at Selhurst Depot will provide a better on-board experience and more reliability. I’m really pleased that GTR is working with Porterbrook and Bombardier to deliver this improvement programme.’

Porterbrook CEO Mary Grant added: ‘We are committed to helping GTR meet the needs of its travelling customers. This is why Porterbrook are investing £55 million in the Electrostar fleet to significantly enhance passenger facilities and improve reliability using digital analytics. These are excellent and popular trains and I am delighted that their upgrade will be undertaken by GTR’s own workforce at Selhurst Depot.’

The first train is expected to be upgraded later in the autumn, with one following each week after that.

Reader Comments:

Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.

  • Martin Marrison, Haywards Heath

    I wonder what GTR/Southern are going to do to replace the Diesel class 720s that run to Uckfield and the East Coastway service between Hasting and Ashford as I believe these are going else where next year? There was talk of a hybrid battery electric 377/8 to run off third rail but that seem to have gone quiet.....

  • Andrew Gwilt, Benfleet Essex

    Is Southern to retain the Class 313 and Class 455 units. With South Western Railway replacing the Class 455, Class 456, Class 458 and Class 707 units with the Class 701 “Arterio” that is due to come into service some point later this year.

    And with the Class 707 cascaded to Southeastern which could replace the Class 376. And therefore possibly Southern might be interested in inheriting the Class 376 to be used on the suburban services. And they could also inherit the Class 458 to replace the Class 313 on the East Coastway Line and West Coastway Line services.

    And c2c to replace the Class 387/3 when the Class 720/6 Aventras have been built and in service from next year that could allow the Class 387/3 to be cascaded to Gatwick Express, Great Northern or Southern to add more capacity.