The Anonymous Widower

The Capacity Of London Overground’s New Class 710 Trains

The first of London Overground’s new Class 710 trains has just been delivered and will enter service by November.

This article on the International Railway Journal is entitledTfL Unveils Class 710 EMUs For London Overground.

This is a short extract.

The new EMUs will double the capacity of the current class 172 DMUs to almost 700 passengers per train and feature walk-through carriages for greater capacity and improved accessibility, with more wheelchair spaces.

It strikes me, that seven hundred seems a lot of passengers, so how does this compare with other trains?

Class 172 Trains

The Class 172 trains currently working the Gospel Oak to Barking Line are only two cars and have a capacity of 120 seats.

They will be replaced with Class 710/2 trains with longitudinal seating.

Class 315 Trains

The Class 315 trains currently working the Lea Valley Lines, have 318 seats according to Wikipedia.

They will be replaced with Class 710/1 trains with a mix of transverse longitudinal seating.

Class 378 Trains

The Class 378 trains currently working the North and East London Lines, have similar longitudinal seating as the new Class 710/2 trains for the Gospel Oak to Barking Line and can really cram passengers inside.

London Underground S7 And S8 Trains

The S7/S8 Stock trains of the London Underground are London’s biggest people carriers.

• S7 – 7 cars – 117.45 metres long – 865 passengers – 7.36 passengers per metre
• S8 – 8 cars – 133.68 metres long – 1003 passengers – 7.50 passengers per metre

As the Class 710 trains have been designed on similar principles, I suspect we’ll be seeing similar passenger densities of around 7-8 passengers per metre.

This would give a capacity of around six hundred passengers, if the trains are the same eighty metre length as the current Class 315 trains.

Conclusion

It appears that seven hundred is the only published figure and if it is, these new Class 710 trains are going to substantially increase public transport capacity across North London.

They are certainly future-proofed for an outbreak of London Overground Syndrome, where passenger numbers greatly exceed forecasts.

As some of the trains are being delivered as five-car units, there is always the option of adding an extra car. Especially, as the platforms on the line, seem to have been built for five or even six car trains.

London Overground have not made the platform length miscalculations of the North and East London Lines.

June 24, 2018 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Class 710 Train, Gospel Oak And Barking Line, London Overground, London Overground Syndrome