More Siemens trains for London

In a deal worth US$282 million, Siemens is to replace the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) suburban train fleet on the Great Northern route. The 25 climate-controlled six-carriage units (150 vehicles) will be built at the Siemens plant Krefeld, Germany and will enter service by the end of 2018. The trains will run between Moorgate in the City of London and Welwyn and Hertford, Stevenage and Letchworth. They will be made by Siemens as a variant of the Class 700 trains, based on the Desiro City platform, whi
February 23, 2016 Read time: 1 min
In a deal worth US$282 million, 189 Siemens is to replace the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) suburban train fleet on the Great Northern route. The 25 climate-controlled six-carriage units (150 vehicles) will be built at the Siemens plant Krefeld, Germany and will enter service by the end of 2018.

The trains will run between Moorgate in the City of London and Welwyn and Hertford, Stevenage and Letchworth. They will be made by Siemens as a variant of the Class 700 trains, based on the Desiro City platform, which is being built for GTR's new Thameslink service.

These trains replace Class 313 trains built in 1976/77, which are the oldest type of electric trains in operation in mainland Britain.

Related Content

  • February 16, 2017
    ‘Formation flying’ engineering trains used to upgrade railway
    In a bid to increase efficiencies and reduce delays for passengers, the UK’s Network Rail is trialling ‘formation flying’ engineering trains to repair and renew the 20,000 miles of railway track it is responsible for maintaining. It says this new approach to engineering could potentially save taxpayer-funded Network Rail US$313,000 (£250,000) per week in costs by allowing trains to run at higher speeds once engineering is complete. The pioneering technique was used successfully at Sandy, Bedfordshire, on
    Read More
  • October 21, 2016
    Siemens to electrify metro line in Ecuador
    Siemens has been commissioned by the Acciona-Odebrecht construction consortium to electrify the entire Metro Line 1 in the Ecuador capital, Quito. Line 1 is intended to improve daily commuting in the city, since it will provide direct routes from north and south of the city into the downtown area and historical city centre. The line is scheduled to begin passenger service in summer 2019. The city's first metro line will run over 20 kilometres through the city and operate at an elevation of more than 2,80
    Read More
  • July 4, 2012
    Meeting the challenges of smartcard fare payment
    David Crawford monitors a growing trend in contactless smartcard ticketing The north east United States has become a hive of activity in the smart fare payment arena. In October 2011, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) published, as a preliminary to an imminent procurement process, the detailed concept of its New Fare Payment System (NFPS). Based on open payment industry standards, this is designed to be implemented on all MTA bus and subway services operated by New York City Transit (
    Read More
  • June 20, 2016
    Thales builds on Canadian connection for transit R&D
    The Canadian province of Ontario is continuing to benefit from its ongoing investment in transit R&D. David Crawford looks at the impact of new investment. Developing the next generation of urban rail signalling solutions worldwide, with the emphasis on transit security and efficiency, is the goal of a recently-created business partnership between the government of the Canadian province of Ontario and Thales Canada. The wholly-owned subsidiary of the France-HQ'd global defence, aerospace and transportation
    Read More

Highlighted Content