1. Electrostar variants

2. Electrostar routes
    c2c  Southeastern  Southern  Main lines  Outer suburban  Suburban  London Overground  Gautrain (South Africa)  Greater Anglia  Great Western Railway  Great Northern 

3. Diagrams
    Class 357, c2c  Class 376, Southeastern  Class 377, Southern, Thameslink  Class 378, London Overground  Class 379, Greater Anglia  Class 387  Gatwick Express  Great Western Railway  Great Northern  Gautrain 

4. See also

5. References

6. External links

Electrostar is the name given to a series of related electric multiple-unit (EMU) passenger trains manufactured by Bombardier Transportation (formerly ADtranz) at their Derby Litchurch Lane Works in England. Since the privatisation of British Rail, it has become the most common new EMU type in Britain, where different variants referred to as Class 357, Class 375, Class 376, Class 377, Class 378, Class 379 and Class 387, are most common on the high-volume suburban commuter routes in South, North and East London, and mainline services south to Surrey, Sussex, Kent & South Essex coasts and north to Cambridge and Stansted Airport . It shares the same bodyshell and core structure as the Turbostar, which is in turn the most common post-privatisation diesel multiple unit (DMU) family, and both evolved from the Class 168 Clubman design by ADtranz.

The Clubman/Turbostar/Electrostar platform is a modular design, which share the same basic design, bodyshell and core structure, and is optimised for speedy manufacture and easy maintenance. It consists of an underframe, which is created by seam-welding a number of aluminium alloy extrusions, upon which bodyside panels are mounted followed by a single piece roof, again made from extruded sections. The car ends (cabs) are made from glass-reinforced plastic and steel, and are huck-bolted onto the main car bodies. Underframe components are collected in ‘rafts’, which are bolted into slots on the underframe extrusion. The mostly aluminium alloy body gives light weight to help acceleration and energy efficiency.

The Electrostar was also selected for use on the Gautrain system in South Africa, a new railway between Johannesburg, Pretoria, and the Johannesburg International Airport. The trains were assembled by UCW Partnership in South Africa from components made in Derby.^[1]

In 2009, as part of the government's wider rolling stock plan, an order was placed for thirty four-car Class 379 Electrostar units intended for use by National Express East Anglia (now operated by Greater Anglia) on the Stansted Express and West Anglia services.^[3] The first of the new Class 379 units entered passenger service on Thursday 3 March 2011 running the 20:10 Stansted Express from London Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport and the 21:15 return service.

Production of the trains ended in 2017 when unit no. 387174 for Great Western Railway was completed at Derby^[4]

Electrostar variants

Electrostar routes

c2c

c2c uses Class 357 and Class 387 units on services down the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway line from Shoeburyness and Southend to London Fenchurch Street.

Southeastern

The Class 375 is the backbone of Southeastern's long distance routes, seeing services on most of its lines originating from its London termini (London Victoria, Charing Cross, Cannon Street and London Bridge) including;

• Chatham Main Line
  • Maidstone East Line
• Medway Valley Line
• South Eastern Main Line
  • Hastings Line
  • Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) line
  • Kent Coast Line
• North Kent Line

On the outer suburban portions of these above routes, Class 465/9 Networkers support the Electrostars, but they do not work in multiple together.

The Class 376 operates on the metro routes in suburban London, in conjunction with the Class 465 and Class 466 Networkers, operating over the London portion of the above lines from the London Termini (including Blackfriars) out to Dartford and Sevenoaks);

• North Kent Line (to Dartford)
• Bexleyheath Line (to Dartford)
• Dartford Loop Line (to Dartford)
• Chatham Main Line (to Sevenoaks)
• Maidstone East Line (to Sevenoaks)
• South Eastern Main Line (to Sevenoaks)
• Hayes Line

This leaves the Bromley North Line and Sheerness Line, both operated by Class 466s (2 car Networkers) which also used to operate on the Medway Valley Line prior to the May 2012 Timetable Changes.

Southern

Southern's Class 377 fleet is found on all parts of the network apart from the non-electrified routes. They also now run frequently in metro routes alongside the Class 455s and used to run alongside the Class 456s until their transfer to South West Trains in 2014.

Main lines

• Brighton Main Line (Victoria–Gatwick-Brighton)
• East Coastway (Brighton–Eastbourne/Hastings)
• West Coastway (Brighton–Portsmouth/Southampton)
• Arun Valley Line (Victoria–Horsham/Littlehampton/Chichester)
• West London Line (East Croydon–Milton Keynes Central) (Using Class 377/2 or Dual Voltage Class 377/7)

Outer suburban

• London Victoria–Horsham via Dorking
• London Victoria–East Grinstead
• London Bridge–Horsham via East Croydon
• London Victoria-Reigate
• London Victoria-Tonbridge via Redhill

Suburban

Often found on

• London Victoria–Dorking via Sutton
• London Victoria–Epsom Downs
• London Bridge-London Victoria via Sydenham
• London Bridge-Caterham
• London Victoria-Caterham
• London Victoria-Epsom
• London Bridge-Tattenham Corner

377s can be also found running overnight on Southern London Victoria–Brighton duties at 1:00am and 4:00am, calling at Clapham Junction, East Croydon, Horley, Gatwick Airport, Three Bridges.

London Overground

London Overground operates Class 378s over five lines around London:

• North London Line (Richmond–Stratford)
• West London Line (Clapham Junction-Willesden Junction/Stratford via West Brompton)
• Watford DC Line (Euston–Watford Junction)
• East London Line (Crystal Palace/New Cross/West Croydon–Dalston Junction/Highbury & Islington via Canada Water)
• South London Line (Clapham Junction-Dalston Junction)

The sixth major route it's responsible for is the unelectrified Gospel Oak to Barking Line. For this, London Overground obtained Class 172 Turbostar DMUs (soon to be replaced by new Class 710 Aventra EMUs)

Gautrain (South Africa)

On 8 June 2010, the route between Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport in South Africa opened in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.^[5] The rest between Johannesburg Park Station and Rosebank was to be completed in 2011. This section was actually opened 7 June 2012,^[6] the delay caused by work to resolve a water-seepage problem in the single-track tunnel section between Rosebank and Park. Although railways in South Africa use the {{RailGauge|1067mm|lk=on}} Cape gauge, Gautrain is built to the more expensive standard gauge of {{RailGauge|sg}}. According to the Gautrain planning and implementation study,^[7] this is done for several reasons, including that standard gauge is safer and more comfortable to passengers. The rolling stock is also easier, quicker and less expensive to obtain than Cape Gauge rolling stock, and standard gauge is also less expensive to maintain as it is more tolerant of track imperfections than Cape Gauge. Standard gauge allows for travel at Gautrain's required speed of {{convert|160|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}.

Greater Anglia

From March 2011 National Express East Anglia introduced 30 x 4 car Class 379s on Stansted Express and West Anglia Main Line services.^[8] These incorporate some features of Bombardier's planned 'Aventra' Mark 2 Electrostars.^[9]

All units had entered service by mid-August 2011, two months ahead of schedule. A major timetable update in December 2011 entailed the introduction of 12-car trains on some peak workings to and from Cambridge.^[10]

These trains are now operated by Greater Anglia as of 5 February 2012.

Great Western Railway

From September 2016 Great Western Railway introduced 37 x 4 car class 387/1s on Peak services between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington. They will eventually replace the class 165s and the class 166s on the Thames Valley services.

Great Northern

From late 2016, 29 of the Class 387/1s operating on Thameslink were displaced by the delivery of Class 700 Desiro City units, and were transferred to Great Northern. They operate mostly on the Kings Cross-Cambridge-King's Lynn route, though they can also been seen on other services. These units were delivered in the livery of Southern, with green doors and Southern upholstery.

Diagrams

Class 357, c2c

Class 376, Southeastern

Class 377, Southern, Thameslink

Class 378, London Overground

Class 379, Greater Anglia

Class 387

Gatwick Express

Great Western Railway

Great Northern

Gautrain

See also

• Bombardier
• Thameslink and Great Northern
• Southern
• Southeastern
• London Overground
• c2c
• Greater Anglia
• Gautrain
• Turbostar

References

External links

• Southern Electric Group Historical Features Index
• Bombardier website - the manufacturer of the Electrostars

The Operators of the Electrostars

• c2c website (Class 357)
• Southern website (Class 377)
• Southeastern website (Classes 375/376)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20051230175019/http://www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk/ First Capital Connect website] (Class 377)
• Transport for London website for London Overground (Class 378)
• Greater Anglia (Class 379)
• Gautrain website

• Charles-François Angelet
• Charles François d'Angennes
• Charles François Delamarche
• Charles-François de Machault de Bellemont
• Charles-François de Machault de Belmont
• Charles François de Rouvroy
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• Charles-François Gand
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• Charles-François Panard
• Charles-François Plantade
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• Charles François Prosper Count de Hemricourt de Grunne
• Charles-François Thaon, Count of Saint-André
• Charles Frazer (Australian politician)
• Charles Frazer (cricketer)
• Charles Freak
• Charles, Fred
• Charles Frederic Andress
• Charles Frederic Humphrey, Sr.