Forty-three BRAND NEW trains stored

Forty-three brand new trains were stored at secure locations awaiting entry into traffic as RAIL 883 went to press on July 10.

That figure comprises 34 nine-car Class 345s for Crossrail, three Class 745s and six Class 755s for Greater Anglia, totalling 366 vehicles.

Twenty-nine of the Class 345s are stored at Old Oak Common, with the remaining five at Worksop. The GA ‘745s’ and ‘755s’ are stored at Kimberley on the Mid-Norfolk Railway.

Meanwhile, more than 700 new vehicles are either stored at various depots, undergoing testing and commissioning, or awaiting acceptance. These include:

•  Four two-car and 11 three-car Class 195 diesel multiple units for Northern (41 vehicles).
• Six three-car and ten four-car Class 331 electric multiple units for the same operator (58 vehicles).
• Twelve nine-car Class 345 EMUs for Crossrail (108 vehicles).
• Four five-car Class 397 EMUs for TPE (20 vehicles).
• Nineteen four-car Class 710/1, six four-car Class 710/2s and six five-car Class 710/2 EMUs for London Overground (130 vehicles).
• Nine six-car Class 717 EMUs for Great Northern (54 vehicles).
• Five five-car Class 720/5s for GA (25 vehicles).
•  One 12-car Class 745/0 EMU and one 12-car Class 745/1 EMU for GA (24 vehicles).
• Two three-car Class 755/3 bi-modes and 11 four-car Class 755/4s for GA (50 vehicles).
• Six five-car Class 800/2 bi-modes, ten five-car Class 801/1 EMUs and one nine-car Class 801/2 EMU for LNER (89 vehicles).
• Twelve five-car Class 802/2 bi-modes for TPE (60 vehicles).
• Six five-coach Mk 5A sets for TPE (30 vehicles).
• Forty-three Caledonian Sleeper Mk 5s.

The introduction of these new trains is enabling operators to remove older trains from traffic. However, only about a quarter of the number removed from traffic have been sent for scrap, with the rest stored at locations including Long Marston, Potter’s Group (Ely) and Worksop.

As this issue of RAIL went to press, some 479 vehicles were stored, while a further 114 had been disposed of - 113 of those for scrap and one (a Mk 3 Trailer Guard Standard) preserved. However, the stored figure could reach more than 1,000 by the end of the year.

• For the FULL story, read RAIL 883, out now.