Article from BTNews 30 MAY 2016
New trains for commuters
A new future for commuters was unveiled by Thameslink at Blackfriars station in London on Tuesday in the shape of the new Siemens Class 700 train, writes Andrew Sharp.
It can carry up to 1,750 people seated and standing, and will soon be running on routes between London and Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
Thameslink, which says new trains are essential to meet the 40% growth in passenger numbers over the past decade, is taking delivery of 60 eight-car and 55 12-car versions of the new model.
Features include wider doors and aisles to make boarding and disembarking easier, and walkways between carriages to allow easy movement through the train to find seats and give a greater sense of security.
There is also enlarged luggage space (essential for airport travellers); climate control which adjusts to the number of passengers; signs showing which carriages have more space and screens with real-time service information.
Thameslink plans to run 24 trains an hour each way on the core section between Blackfriars, where routes from Sevenoaks, Brighton and Horsham will converge, and St Pancras, where trains will diverge to Luton and Bedford on the Thameslink route and Cambridge and Peterborough on the Great Northern route.
(See also ON TOUR in BTN’s 13 April 2015 issue).
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David Starkie, United Kingdom
Hasn't this new train been unveiled before?