Train operator c2c has reached an agreement with the Department for Transport (DfT) to secure a short-term lease on six four-car Class 387s.
The operator has already begun the tendering process for a fleet of new trains but said it needed new units immediately to meet the “unprecedented growth” experienced over the past six months.
Porterbrook Leasing will supply 24 new Bombardier-built Class 387 carriages on a three-year lease. In November 2015, Porterbrook announced it would be ordering 80 additional Class 387 EMUs to meet the increasing demand for electric rolling stock.
C2c said the new trains will start to enter service from October, with all the new units expected to be on the network by the end of the year.
C2c managing director Julian Drury said: “Extra carriages are absolutely vital for c2c to meet the surge in demand from passengers who want to travel. This agreement is hugely important, as we will now get new carriages on c2c within six months when they normally take years to be delivered.
“Combined with the other changes we are making in both the short- and long-term, this is the most significant increase in capacity for c2c passengers for over a decade.”
C2c began the procurement process for the first batch of the 68 new carriages it plans to order earlier this month. The operator said it hopes to award the contract sometime this summer.
I do think that c2c need new carriages to help with rush hour with passengers and commuters travelling to/from London Fenchurch Street, Southend Central, Shoeburyness and Grays via Upminster on semi-fast services.
I did notice that c2c are hiring the Class 387/3’s (6 387/3’s numbered as 387301-387306) with the rest to be built but undecided on when will the rest of the Class 387’s will be going to. Possibly going to Thameslink to operate on Luton/St. Albans-Orpington/Sevenoaks services with the Class 700’s to operate on the Thameslink routes as they start service today and some have started service yesterday. But the Class 387/3’s are undecided but could be used on Thameslink as 8 of Class 387/3’s are to be used on GWR Thames Valley routes working alongside Class 387/1’s.
Thameslink are hiring three 387/2s at the moment to cover for their existing fleet, so I’ll doubt they’ll need any more. And the Class 700 entry to passenger service has been postponed.
Right. So how comes it’s been prosponed. Must be due to driving training as new recruits are to be trained aswell older train drivers also need training to drive these new Class 700 trains before it enters passenger service. I think it should enter service in May or possibly in the Summer (June/July time).
There’s been numerous technical issues reported. The April 16th date was only provisional anyway.
Ok.