This is a follow up to my previous article.
At last! I got to ride on the new Bombardier Aventra Class 345 for the upcoming Elizabeth Line which is known as Crossrail.
I caught this train by chance at Romford Station because it was running four minutes late.
As I entered the train, it felt like boarding a London Overground train because they have longitudinal seating while most of the middle carriages have transverse seating, similar to the S8 stock train which is used on the London Underground Metropolitan Line.
The train design is based on the S stock and the Class 378 Capitalstar because they are both manufactured by Bombardier.
The interior features colour LCD information screens, audio announcements and coming soon there will be on-board Wi-Fi and 4G.
Currently, the train operates with 7 carriages because the 9 car length can’t be accommodated at London Liverpool Street because of short platforms. When the central section of Crossrail opens, the 9 carriage trains will enter service once TfL Rail takes over the Heathrow to Paddington service in May 2018.
The maximum speed for the Class 345 is 90 mph (145 km/h)
Here’s the video I took. You will notice that at 23 seconds in, the footage is quite shaky because I was using my phone to film - then at 2:42, I use a camera which uses a stabiliser to film as I walk back. I’m sorry the footage isn’t more professional.
TfL Rail (Crossrail)
Class 345 Bombardier Aventra
Operated by MTR Corporation
Romford to Harold Wood
Filmed on 14th August 2017
After I got off at Harold Wood station I chatted to one of the staff about the new train and they told me the new train will be rolling out once a month and they won’t be used during the rush hour for a while.
You can read more about the new train on the Crossrail site and on Wikipedia.
I will be looking forward to more of these trains rolling out.
The counterpart is the Class 700 manufactured by Siemens Mobility which is used for the Thameslink service; they have a higher maximum speed of 100 mph (160 km/h), audio and visual announcements, information screens which show Tube status and toilet facilities which the Class 345 does not have. The Class 700 does not have Wi-Fi or power sockets, but there are plans to have them retro fitted.
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Image attribution
By Sunil060902 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60736365
