Tag: Medway

395 “Javelin” High Speed Unit

  • 395 Unit at Newington

The advent of High Speed 1 to link London with the Channel Tunnel would not only mean faster services for the Eurostar, but also could enable the population of Kent to enjoy a new faster way of travel.  As early as 2003, formal approval was given to allow domestic High Speed services on High Speed 1.  The award in 2006 of the 2012 Olympics to London further enhanced the need for such a service to exist.

Hitachi won the right to supply the new High Speed stock to SouthEastern Railway, their first rail contract in Britain.  In total 29 were built.  The service to be provided meant that the trains had to be “duel electric”, to accommodate both 750 DC third rail and 25 kV AC overhead lines.  The third rail extends from Ashford to Folkestone, then onwards through the Medway Towns and finally Ebbsfleet International, where the 3rd Rail shoe is retracted and the Pantograph raised (or visa-versa).

The train is based on the 400 series “Mini Shinkansen”, and comprises of 6 carriages, which can be driven from either end. The front nose of the train can be retracted to allow automatic coupling to another 6 car unit. Power is through the middle four cars, powered by pantographs/shoes on the outer two cars. Each 6 car train has 340 seats and two toilets, one of which is disabled accessible.

Additional training had to be given to train crews, to enable them to understand the TVM 430 signalling display system which was in use on the High Speed portion of the line.  This is a lot different from the UK rail signalling, mostly as it is “In Cab”.

Services started fully in December 2009. During the 2012 Olympic Games, many services were run in 12 car formations, and a regular shuttle service was established from Ebbsfleet International to Stratford International, the home of the Olympic Park.  In 2015, a circular route from St Pancras to St Pancras was introduced.

The trains are designed to travel at 140 mph on the High Speed section, but are limited to 70-90 mph on the old mainline from Ashford through Margate, Medway then to Ebbsfleet.  They are exceptionally comfortable, and have benefitted from being fitted with dampers to reduce the effect of excessive wobble in the High Speed tunnel sections.

The train was given the designation of class 395, but due to the Olympics quickly gathered the nickname of Javelin, which was then established across the fleet.  Initially, 11 of the Javelins were named after British Olympic medalists by public vote.  This increased to 23 after the 2012 Olympics, with some named after Paralympians.  Other noted named Javelins were 395014 “The Victoria Cross” (later 015) and 395016 “Somme 100”.

In 2018 to commemorate the 100 anniversary of the end of World War One, 395018 had special vinyl’s applied.  These can be seen below on 11/11/18, a day after a special railtour had taken place through the south and east of the UK.

As of 2018, they continue to be the flagship of the SouthEastern railway network, and are very heavily used, even if they have a small premium applied to the ticket price.

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British Rail 411 Unit (4 Cep) and variants “Slam Door”

I make no apologies for this blog.  These are the trains from my area of the country (North Kent) when I was growing up in the 1970’s and 1980’s.  The familiar sound of these “Slam Door” trains were the soundtrack to the rush hour, with the sound of said doors ringing through the major London Termini of Charing Cross and Victoria.  So here is a short history of these workhorses of the North Kent and Chatham Main Line.

The 411 unit, also known as the 4Cep, were built for British Rail between 1956 and 1963, mainly ran on the Chatham/North Kent lines.  A total of 133 units were made, mainly just passenger based, although around 22 had buffet cars installed, these were re-categorised as 4 Bep units.  The 4 referred to the 4 car formation, two driving cars which also had standard seating, the middle two cars having a mix of 1st class corridor and standard class corridor coaches.  They had a maximum speed of 90 Mph.

Each area of seating contained a door, which was inherently dangerous as it could be opened at any time.  This lead to many doors being opened way before stopping, and people would literally jump from a moving train onto the platform.  You really had to stand away from the platform edge when a slam door was coming in, otherwise you may have had a door in the head!

If you had ever ridden in one, or heard one you would not forget it.  They were dangerous, accidents such as the Clapham Rail Crash of 1988 with Vep and Rep variants would prove to be catastrophic.  Replacements such as the Networker and Electrostar would follow, with their automatic doors and safer designs.  But they never quite recaptured the feel and seating comfort of these trains.

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Medway Stations 4 – Cuxton

Continuing my look at stations in the Medway area, this time I shall look at a small station on the Medway Valley line – Cuxton.

Cuxton Station was opened in 1856, and from the outset had two lines.  Two platforms served by an level crossing at the south end of the station allowed passengers to travel to Maidstone to the south, and Strood to the North.  In 1862, a signal box was erected adjacent to this level crossing, and is still there today (2018)

In 1931 a small siding was opened to the south of the station, trailing off the “down” line, which served a national business (Besto Co.) making fruit baskets. This was followed in 1939 with a goods loop installed to the north of the station.  Unfortunately, none of these sidings survive today, both having been removed by the end of 1990.

A footbridge was installed at the south end of the station in 1961, adjacent to the level crossing and the Signal box.  A note about the level crossing, as it is still manually closed  by the signalman at the time of this Blog (2018).  A really rare sight, and (unfortunately) I will assume this will become automated at some time in the future.

Two views from Cuxton in 2016 follow.  The first shows a light engine class 66, travelling on the “down” line towards Maidstone.  This view is to the north, and the bridges across the M2 can be seen, the nearest one being the HS1 line.

cuxton a

The second view is to the south, showing the signal box, overbridge and level crossing, as well as a stone train travelling on the “up” towards Strood.

cuxton b

Currently at Cuxton, there is only a PERTIS (permit to travel) machine installed here, the majority of the station buildings being disused for many years.  The station is served at this time by Southeastern, with 2 trains per hour (northbound “up” to Strood, southbound “down” to Maidstone (1 Tph continues to Paddock Wood, the other to Tonbridge). (correct as of June 2018)

A few freight trains run though the day, to or via Hoo Junction (to the north) or to the south, some of which come from or go to ARC sidings just outside Allington in Maidstone.  Freight is mainly hauled by class 66 locomotives, although some class 70’s have also been seen on the line.

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The Class 700

On Sunday 20th May 2018, new rail services were due to start between Rainham in Kent and Luton.  Unfortunately, as well publicised in the media (here) things didn’t go according to plan.  But this is not what this blog is about.  This blog looks at the workhorse of that service, the new Class 700 unit, most of which at the time of this blog were owned by Thameslink (although Great Northern will have some).

The trains were built between 2014 and 2018 by Siemens in Germany.  The initial order was for 60 Eight car trains and 55 twelve car trains.  They are scheduled to replace all the class 319s on the Thameslink Network.

Their maximum speed is 100mph, and are electrically supplied with a third rail shoe (750 V DC) as well as a pantograph for overhead operation (25 Kv AC).  They are fully fitted with air conditioning, and a regenerative braking system.

The units are capable of working as ATO (Automatic train operation), which means the train can drive itself.  This is already in operation along the “Thameslink Core” which  links the East Coast mainline to the network around St Pancras.  The usual safety AWS is installed, as well as the ability to upgrade this easily to the new Digital Railway signalling as and when it is operational.

Two shots of the exterior of the train are below, one is of the information plate :P1000809P1000811

Interior shots of the train taken by myself at Rainham are below:

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The images above show the standard configuration in standard class.  1st class carriages have slightly better seats and tables.  As you can see, the train is totally able to be walked through, although first class carriages are separated.  On the 8 car trains there are 3 toilets (1 disabled).  I believe this is increased by one each om the 12 car trains.  Luggage racks above the seats are large, plenty of space for a small case.

The new information boards show various information, including carriage loading indicators and information on the London transport network:

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They also show the time and the next station stop, as well as the usual scrolling information about the service you are on and its destinations.  Overall, these are very impressive and very informative.

As good and shiny as this train is though however, its glaring problem is the seating in standard class, which is well documented if you perform a basic internet search.  Having done a full 2 and a half hour journey from Rainham (Kent) to Luton, I can indeed say that these seats are not built for that length of journey.  They are quite hard, and realistically I see only around an hour and a half being the maximum journey time you would want on them.

This however is not a problem.  The train is really designed with the commuter in mind, so the core user would only be using it for a short journey, either up to London from Medway, or up to London from Luton.  As a modern train it really performs well, with good acceleration and the ride comfort in relation to bumps and jolts is really very smooth. All onboard announcements are clear and concise.

If the lessons from the seating can be learnt, then new variants of this train could be learnt and improvements made to what is in essence a very fine unit.  As an addition to the fleet roster in the south east it is very capable, and notwithstanding the seats, a very enjoyable ride.

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That’s all for now, thanks for reading and I’ll blog again soon.