London, 2014-Jun-24
Siemens Class 700 Desiro City train, designed and built for Thameslink.
The 12-car train successfully achieved the speed earlier this month, marking an important milestone for the ongoing Thameslink Programme. Siemens is on schedule to complete the first train for handover to the long term owner and the train operator.
Iain Smith, Programme Director, Thameslink, at Siemens Rail Systems UK, said: “The Class 700 will be required to travel at up to 100mph every day in service so this rigorous testing process is a fundamental part of the programme. This will ensure reliable performance of the 24 train an hour service through central london when the Thameslink Programme is completed.”
Thameslink rail operator First Capital Connect (FCC) has been managing the new trains contract with Siemens for the Department for Transport.
FCC’s Thameslink Programme director Jonathan Bridgewood said: “Our pasengers have been looking forward to new trains on the Thameslink route with great anticipation. To actually now see one travelling at line speed on the test track in Germany is a wonderful achievement and a credit to everyone involved in the project.”
Andy Pitt, Executive Chairman of Cross London Trains added: “As the future, long-term owner of the trains, we are delighted to see that the Class 700 has achieved another manufacturing milestone, travelling at 100mph on the test track.”
The Class 700 trains are approximately 25% lighter than previous generations, and are up to 50% more energy efficient. They have been designed to be spacious and airy with the latest passenger information systems and features for people with restricted mobility.
There will be 115 new trains on the expanded Thameslink network, which equates to 1,140 carriages in total, dramatically increasing capacity. Once all the new trains are introduced by 2018, Thameslink trains will flow in and out of central London with tube-like frequency.
ENDS
Contacts for journalists:
Siemens Rail Systems
Caroline Holt
Tel: 07921 244 635
Email: caroline.holt@siemens.com
Hannah Buckley
Tel: 020 3128 8539
Email: Siemens@mhpc.com
First Capital Connect
Roger Perkins
Tel: 0345 4700 789
Email: fcc.pressoffice@firstgroup.com
DfT
Eleanor Dwyer
Tel: 0207 944 3123
Email: Eleanor.dwyer@dft.gsi.gov.uk
For further information and press pictures, please see: www.siemens.co.uk/press
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About Siemens
Siemens was established in the United Kingdom 170 years ago and now employs 13,760 people in the UK. Last year’s revenues were £3.36 billion*. As the world’s largest engineering company, Siemens provides innovative solutions to help tackle the world’s major challenges across the key sectors of energy, industry, infrastructure & cities and healthcare. Siemens has offices and factories throughout the UK, with its headquarters in Frimley, Surrey. The company’s global headquarters is in Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.siemens.co.uk
* Data includes intercompany revenue. Data may not be comparable with revenue reported in annual or interim reports
Siemens Rail Systems
Siemens Rail Systems Division provides expertise and technology in the full range of rail vehicles – from heavy rail to metros to trams and light-rail vehicles. In the UK, the Division employs around 750 people and maintains over 360 Siemens passenger trains for First TransPennine Express, South West Trains, Heathrow Express, Greater Anglia Franchise (Abellio), Northern Rail, London Midland and ScotRail. In addition to manufacturing the new trains for Thameslink, the company will also be supplying Eurostar with its new high speed fleet of trains.
About First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect (FCC) is part of FirstGroup. It operates trains from London to Bedford, Brighton, Wimbledon and Sutton on the Thameslink route and Peterborough, Cambridge and King’s Lynn on the Great Northern route. Approximately 180,000 people travel with FCC every weekday – 95,000 on the Thameslink route and 85,000 on the Great Northern route.
Cross London Trains (XLT)
Cross London Trains is a consortium comprising Siemens Project Ventures GmbH, Innisfree Limited and 3i Infrastructure plc. XLT is procuring, financing the new train fleet and leasing it to the operator of the Thameslink franchise.
Thameslink Programme overview
The £6.5bn Government-sponsored Thameslink Programme will create a new high capacity, high frequency service of longer trains across central London. It will also link together new routes, in particular the East Coast Mainline with the Thameslink route at St Pancras International. The first phase is finished, providing longer platforms on the Midland Mainline north Thameslink route (Bedford to St Pancras International) and new stations at Blackfriars and Farringdon so that 50% longer 12-carriage trains can now run between Bedford and Brighton. The final phase is to rebuild London Bridge and its surrounding rail track to unblock this bottleneck and usher in a new high frequency service of new 12 and 8 carriage trains of up to 24 trains per hour in each direction between London Blackfriars and St Pancras International. For more information visit www.thameslinkprogramme.co.uk
