Transport for London has ordered Bombardier Aventra units, the successor to the highly successful Electrostar, for operation on London Overground. The first route is the Gospel Oak-Barking (GOB) line, somewhat belatedly after a botched electrification necessitating multiple extended line closures in 2017, followed by failure to certify the new Class 710s for operation. Fault lies largely with Network Rail and Bombardier, respectively.
Things got even worse at the beginning of 2019 when the existing train fleet, eight 2-car Class 172 diesel trains were gradually returned off-lease, to take up a new life in the West Midlands with their enhanced timetable starting in the May 2019 timetable change. Despite an abundance of spare Class 313/4/5/6/7/8/9 electric trains available, including some which could have been a simple sideways move from TfL Rail (who's Aventras, named Class 345, did work) instead three Class 378s were stolen from elsewhere on the Overground network, shortened to four carriages (from five) and pressed in to service. Three trains replacing eight is never going to be great for reliability but at least they all had four carriages.
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Fast forward to July 2019, and a year and a half late the Class 710s finally entered all day service, and have delivered a quarter hourly electric service on the Gospel Oak-Barking. As the successor the Class 378 Electrostars there isn't much to tell them apart....but here's the differences....
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| The 710s come with a much ,ore stylised front end and a menacing amount of shiney black paint and glass. Wonder how good that will look in a few years...not very would be my guess. |
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| The step up in to the train remains. |
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| There are new arm rests. No idea if any research in to the ergonomics of these was carried out but they aren't very comfortable. The seating moquette is also new, choco-mint-orange maybe? |
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| It feels like the 710s have longer sections of longitudinal seating but maybe that's just the impression given by a lightly loaded train. |
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| The ends of the train have tip down seats (once again TfL policy for trains and buses being so radically different). At the end are two USB chargers in each side. I'd be impressed if there was ever anyone sat in the end seat charging two devices at the same time! |
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| The end, close up. |
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| USB chargers are also curiously placed in the carriage connections, again in pairs. The seating layout does not lend itself to USB chargers unless they were in the ends of the armrests, however to use these chargers you'd need to be standing. It feels like USB chargers have been added to claim that they are there rather than with any ability to practically use them. |
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| Dot matrix screens in the 378s have given away to flat screens showing next stop and connection information. |
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| There are also electronic screens for advertising along the bodysides. However in this case the free on-train wifi is being advertised. |
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| Despite the platform extensions there are still some stations (it seems) where some doors cannot be opened, where there was insufficient space to extend the platform to four carriages long. |
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| One of the nice things about the GOB is the view as it trundles along at first floor height. |
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| The GOB is a very busy freight railway: here's a DB Schenker Class 66 (still in EWS colours) hauling a cartic train. |
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| Gratuitous Class 710 photo. |
So....710s....very similar to 378s....they do feel quite sporty and quick off the mark, which can only be helpful when they get on to busier lines. They retain one of the basic problems of the 378s: insufficient doors, but have gained potentially lightly used USB phone chargers. The interior displays appear to be common to the TfL Rail/Elizabeth line Class 345s which gives some consistency for the customer.
Class 710s are coming soon to the Euston-Watford Junction DC Lines, and then the West Anglia routes out of Liverpool Street. Displaced 378s from the DCs should bolster North/East London Line services, and then the Class 315/317 EMUs will be replaced, and probably scrapped, on the West Anglia services. They will be a very common sight at Liverpool Street with Abellio Great Anglia also ordering a load of Aventras for their Southend main line service.