British Rail Class 700
The British Rail Class 700 is an electric multiple unit passenger train from the Desiro City family built by Siemens Mobility. It is capable of operating on from overhead wires or 750 V DC from third rail. 115 trainsets were built between 2014 and 2018, for use on the Thameslink network, as part of the Thameslink Programme in the United Kingdom., they are operated by Govia Thameslink Railway.
In 2011, the consortium Cross London Trains consisting of Siemens Project Ventures, 3i Infrastructure, and Innisfree was announced as preferred bidder with Siemens Mobility to manufacture the trains. The decision was politically controversial as the trains were to be built in Germany, while the competing consortium led by Bombardier Transportation had a UK train factory. Both the procurement process and final close of contract were significantly delayed, resulting in the expected first delivery date moving from 2012 to 2016. The £1.6 billion contract to manufacture and provide service depots for the trains was finalised in June 2013. The first train was delivered in late July 2015.
A fleet of 60 eight-car and 55 twelve-car trains entered service between spring 2016 and 2019. Having replaced s,, and, The Class 700 is the only class operated on the Thameslink network. Each train is able to reach and carry 1,146 passengers in an eight-car train, and 1,754 passengers in a 12-car train. Maintenance depots have been built at Hornsey and Three Bridges.
Procurement
Announcement
The Department for Transport began its procurement process on 9 April 2008, with the aim of introducing more passenger capacity on Thameslink lines to match expected demand. In addition, the bidders were to provide depots for vehicle maintenance and storage and finance for the rolling-stock project whereby revenues would be generated from the long-term leasing of rolling stock to the train operating company and associated maintenance payments.The general specifications included: high reliability, short station dwell times, integrated information technology including passenger information and information for vehicle maintenance, a top speed of, and high acceleration and deceleration performance in line with a high-frequency timetable. The trains were to be designed for low weight, low track forces, and high energy efficiency. A standard 12-car train was to be about long and shorter eight-car trains were limited to.
The passenger accommodation was to include versions for both "metro" and "commuter" trains, based around a 2+2 seating arrangement, with fold-up seats and designed for high levels of standing passengers. Ride quality and noise levels were expected to equal or be better than those of current vehicles and climate control was to be fitted. The vehicles were to be fitted for driver-only operation, and to include GSM-R communications radio, as well as AWS, TPWS, and ERTMS level 2 safety systems. The ability to be used in 'Automatic train operation' mode, where an on-board computer controls the motors and brakes, was also specified.
Vehicles were to operate on 750 V DC and 25 kV AC electrification systems, with regenerative brakes. Maintenance time was to be reduced by the use of modular components, remote diagnostics, and the avoidance of over-complicated systems. The Department for Transport gave a target of when empty for a train.
Bids
In July 2008, the Department for Transport shortlisted consortia including Alstom, Bombardier, Hitachi, and Siemens as train builders. The invitations to tender were issued to the four bidders in November 2008.Hitachi exited the bidding process in April 2009.
In July 2009, Siemens unveiled the Desiro City, a development of design and technology used in its Desiro UK range and the Desiro Mainline range. Development of the design had begun in 2007, with an investment of about £45 million.
In September 2009, Alstom unveiled the X'trapolis UK, unusually an articulated vehicle, using cars, with individual carriages proposed to be supported at one end by a bogie and at the opposite end by a linkage to the next carriage. The shorter vehicle allowed a slightly wider design; the smaller number of bogies was to have resulted in a train approximately 40 tonnes lighter than a conventional design. However, the design would have resulted in a higher axle load. The bid was rejected in October 2009.
Bombardier Transportation offered the Aventra, a design incorporating a development of the FLEXX Eco inside frame bogie with bogie-mounted traction motors.
Both Bombardier's and Siemens' rolling-stock designs were conventional EMUs incorporating inside frame bogies and modern passenger and rolling stock information systems.
Contract decision and financial close
The contract for the order was originally planned to be signed in summer 2009, with the first vehicles in service by February 2012, and squadron service by 2015. The award of the contract was delayed by the 2010 general election and the subsequent spending review, following which the procurement was announced to be proceeding in late 2010.On 16 June 2011, Cross London Trains Ltd, a consortium formed by Siemens Project Ventures GmbH, Innisfree Ltd., and 3i Infrastructure Ltd., was named preferred bidder for the PFI contract, and the targeted entry of trains into service was rescheduled to 2015–2018. The vehicles would be manufactured at Siemens' plant in Krefeld, Germany, and maintenance depots were to be built at Hornsey and Three Bridges.
The contract was significantly delayed: initially Siemens had hoped to reach agreement in early 2012; by late 2012 commercial close was hoped for by the end of the year, and financial close in early 2013. Key aspects of the commercial contract were reported to have been finalised by December 2012.
As a result of the delays to the procurement, in late 2012, train operating company Southern began procurement of 116 dual-voltage EMU vehicles from Bombardier that would be used temporarily on the Thameslink route until 2015; the order contract was finalised in July 2013.
In mid-2013 the National Audit Office reported that the contract delay could negatively impact the delivery of the entire Thameslink Programme.
The £1.6 billion contract to finance, supply, and maintain a 1,140-carriage fleet of passenger rolling stock was eventually finalised between the DfT, the supplier Siemens, and the Cross London Trains consortium on 14 June 2013.
To finance the work, loans were arranged with nineteen banks, with Lloyds, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, KfW and BTMU acting as mandated lead arrangers; the European Investment Bank also provided a debt facility. Loans for the construction of the rolling-stock depots were through Siemens Financial Services.
Design and manufacturing
Development of the new SF7000 bogie began in 2007, with the intention that it would be the UK-market replacement for the preceding Siemens SGP SF5000 model. To reduce energy consumption and track access charges, a key feature of the design was reduced weight: weight-saving design elements included short wheelbase, inboard frames, a bolsterless bogie design, and hollow axles. Total bogie weight is 6.3 tonnes and 4.4 tonnes, a reduction of around one third from the SF5000 design.The primary suspension system uses layered rubber, with pneumatic secondary suspension. Motor bogies have a wheelbase of, while trailer bogies are shorter. Both variants use wheels of nominal diameter. Braking is by tread brakes and regenerative braking on motor bogies, and two axle-mounted disc brakes per axle on trailer bogies.
Prototypes of the new bogie were completed at Siemens' bogie plant in Graz, Austria in late 2011.
Manufacture of pre-series production trainsets began before formal financial close of the project in mid-2013.
A mock-up of the train was unveiled at the ExCel centre in January 2014, and then displayed at various stations in London and the surrounding area.
In March 2014, testing of a 12-car unit began at the Wegberg-Wildenrath Test and Validation Centre; a completed unit was presented by Siemens in Krefeld, Germany in April 2015.
Introduction into service
The first train arrived in the UK by the end of July 2015, and was delivered to the Three Bridges depot. The first test run on the Brighton Main Line took place in December 2015.The first train in service was unit 700108 forming the 1002 Brighton to London Bridge service on 20 June 2016. By 18 September 2017, Class 700s replaced all,, and units previously in use on the network. All units were accepted by Thameslink by summer 2018, and by the end of 2019 all were in passenger service.
The Class 700 fleet, at 60 eight-car and 55 twelve-car units, is over double the size of the old Thameslink fleet. This increase has been used not only to enhance capacity, but also to expand the Thameslink network.
On 6 November 2017, Class 700s started on the Great Northern route with the first, 700128, operating the 0656 to service. The Great Northern route has since been partially incorporated in the Thameslink network after through services through the Canal Tunnels began on 26 February 2018. On this route, Class 700s replaced parts of the fleet.
On 11 December 2017, Class 700s took over peak-time services from to and weekday-only services from London Bridge to from Southern with the former starting from Bedford instead of London Bridge.
From 21 May 2018, Class 700s also entered service on the new to service, having replaced the Southeastern s from to. The Class 465s are now being used to enhance capacity on other routes.
Class 700s are still due to enter service on a planned new service between and but a date for this has not yet been confirmed.
Criticism
Procurement
Because the trains were to be built outside the UK, the decision to award the contract to Siemens proved controversial: there was widespread criticism of the UK government's bidding process and perceived lack of support for British manufacturing, which in turn led to a review of governmental procurement mechanisms. Additionally, the decision to procure a train with a new bogie design untested in the UK was challenged by several observers at a parliamentary investigation into the train procurement; rival bidder Bombardier already had a proven low-weight bogie.In 2014, the NAO reported on the Department for Transport's handling of Intercity Express and Thameslink rolling-stock procurement projects. The report questioned the DfT's attempt to take leadership in the project, contrary to general policy, without any prior experience of large-scale rolling stock procurement; the NAO also said the DfT had handled communications with bidders poorly, increasing the likelihood of a legal challenge to its decisions.