THE continued introduction of new Class 720 Aventra units resulted in Greater Anglia handing back more Class 321s to Eversholt Rail in January.
Two sets, Nos. 321304/317, formed the 5H72 12.48 Clacton-Wembley Yard on January 13. They join Nos. 321301/324, which had arrived at Wembley on December 21, and were the first pair of Renatus units to be taken out of service.
Also now out of traffic are Nos. 321303/325/330, and two of these, Nos. 321303/330, ran from Ilford to Clacton for decommissioning on January 14. No. 321325 was already on site, and all three are expected to be sent to Wembley in the coming weeks.
The remaining ‘321s’ are due to be stopped over the next few months, and during January, the number of booked weekday workings into and out of Liverpool Street was reduced to just a handful of peak-hour duties. Other diagrams operate on the Harwich Town, Southminster and Waltonon-Naze branches.
The only other ‘321s’ still in service are the 12 sets converted to Class 320s for use in Scotland and Swift Express Freight conversion No. 321334 which is operated by Varamis Rail. Eversholt is planning on January 25, arriving at the scrapyard the next day.