GTR completes Class 700 rollout across Thameslink route in the UK

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Credit: GTR.
Credit: GTR.
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Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has completed the rollout of Siemens Class 700 carriages across the Thameslink route in the UK – meaning all the trains across Thameslink’s network are now Class 700s.

Passengers travelling between London Bridge, Gatwick Airport and Brighton now have brand new trains that are up to three times longer giving more space and more seats after GTR withdrew the last of its older trains.

The 12-carriage trains replace the mostly four-carriage (weekdays) and eight-carriage (Saturdays) twice-hourly service, creating 9,000 extra seats each weekday and much more space for passengers at Gatwick.


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The Class 700s feature cutting-edge passenger information systems with real-time information from the London Underground and on which direction to walk to find more space on the train.

Rail minister Paul Maynard said: “This investment will transform north-south travel across London and the south east by a providing a modern, accessible service in time for the expanded Thameslink network from 2018.”

GTR engineering director Gerry McFadden added: “Thameslink is now a Class 700-only route marking a significant milestone in our journey of modernisation towards a new high-frequency service through central London.

“Right now it means trains up to three times longer on the off-peak services between Brighton, Gatwick Airport and London Bridge and from May next year hundreds of thousands of new passengers from east Kent, Sussex, Cambridge and Peterborough will be plugged into the cross-London route when the Thameslink network expands.”

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