First ‘701’ emerges from Derby
THE first of 60 ten-car Class 701 EMUs – which, along with 30 five-car sets, will enable South Western Railway to remove all its Class 455, 456, 458 and 707 units from service – was moved from Bombardier, Derby to Eastleigh on June 11 for commissioning. Nos. 66745 Modern Railways – the first 50 years and 66740 Sarah were used to bring No. 701002 south, running via the Midland Main Line and Staines.
As part of its commissioning, the unit is due to visit the Swanage Railway each week to enable engineers from Bombardier to carry out work that cannot be undertaken in the vicinity of third rail electrified lines.
No. 701002 made its first appearance on the line on June 14, the aforementioned No. 66745 being used to move it from Eastleigh, along with No. 66775 HMS Argyll. The unit has since been taken to Jersey Sidings (Weymouth) to begin a full programme of trials between Weymouth and Wareham.
The new units are being leased by SWR from Rock Rail. The first sets were originally planned to be put into service in mid-2019, with full fleet introduction by the end of 2020. This would have allowed the other fleets to be
