The Anonymous Widower

London’s Low-Key New Train Launch

To say that the launch of the new carriages for the London Overground on Thursday was low-key would be an understatement. I have only found one article on the web with a picture and that is in Rail Magazine. They say this.

The first five-car Class 378 for the London Overground network was unveiled at New Cross Gate depot yesterday (November 6).

All 57 EMUs in the fleet are receiving an extra carriage, as part of a £320 million investment boosting overall capacity by 25% – equivalent to an additional 170 passengers per train.

But where are the politicians in the photo?

First Five-Car Class 378

It’s not like Boris to miss a photo-opportunity.

In some ways there is a very solid engineering principle behind these Class 378 trains. You should always make sure that anything you design can be adjusted to meet changing circumstances.

London Overground thought that three car trains would be enough for the limited number of passengers on the North and East London Lines. It quickly became obvious that these were inadequate. Either by good design or just plain luck, the trains had been originally built as two end cars with cabs and an unpowered trailer car in the middle. So to go from three to four they just built an extra trailer car and plugged it in, with a few small adjustments to the trains systems.

But even four cars have proved inadequate and now the process is being repeated to create five car trains. This is perhaps a little more complicated, as they have been unable to lengthen some platforms like Shadwell, so selective door opening has been implemented.

In the London Transport Infrastructure Plan for 2050, it states that these lines will have six cars at some point. So how long will it be before another car gets added?

November 9, 2014 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Class 378 Train, Engineering, London Overground