THERE’S a constant flow of passenger trains in the background as Rail Express meets Greater Anglia engineering director Martin Beable at Ilford depot, but what stands out is that apart from the freight services, they are all brand-new trains passing the office block.
Even the Elizabeth line trains are formed of trains delivered from 2016 and introduced into traffic the following year. This has been quite the transformation on the Great Eastern Main Line, and indeed across GA’s network.
Inside Ilford depot, itself modernised in readiness for the influx of new trains, there are several Class 720 electric multiple units undergoing maintenance. Beside them, a Class 321 is undergoing handback repairs while two ‘379s’ are receiving checks ahead of their planned departure for storage. This perhaps perfectly reflects the changes on Anglia’s railways.
This has been an ambitious and challenging project, and the first of its kind since the railways were privatised in the mid-1990s. When Abellio won the Greater Anglia franchise in August 2016 it did so on the proviso it would replace the entire fleet that was then in place; quite a varied fleet it was too. This included the introduction of the first main line trains built by Swiss manufacturer Stadler for the British main line network. These would be derivatives of the successful FLIRT design used across Europe, but which would have to be adapted for the UK network. Stadler was able to achieve this by using the same gauge as used by Turbostars and so used that train as the basis for its product.
Twelve-car Stadler EMUs (Class 745s) would be introduced on the Great Eastern Main Line between Norwich and London, becoming the first brand-new trains introduced on that service since No. D200 on April 18, 1958! Similar EMUs would be introduced on the Stansted Express route, replacing
