Media centre

Monday 11 Jul 2016

Longer platforms on the way to allow new class 700 trains on Sutton Thameslink route

Region & Route:

| Southern

The extension of platform 2 at Tooting station has been completed on schedule after essential upgrade work as part of the Thameslink Programme.

The extension of platform 2 at Tooting station has been completed on schedule after essential upgrade work as part of the Thameslink Programme.

The extended platform will enable Thameslink’s new 8 carriage climate-controlled Class 700 trains to call at the station, providing passengers on this busy commuter route with more spacious, more reliable journeys into London.

The high capacity, 8-carriage trains will come into passenger service on the Wimbledon and Sutton Thameslink route later this year. The new trains are more spacious and capable of carrying up to 1,146 passengers in air-conditioned comfort. They have the latest passenger information systems that feature live service updates and even indicate where there is more space on the train. They also feature improved access for people with reduced mobility and air conditioning.

The platform extensions form part of enabling work at four stations known as the “Sutton loop” – Tooting, Sutton Common, Hackbridge and Mitcham Junction – that will transform passengers’ journeys to and through London as part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan.

Simon Blanchflower, Thameslink programme director, said “The improvements made to these stations will have a direct, positive impact on passengers’ journeys. The new trains will help to keep London moving and provide more spacious, more reliable journeys into the engine room of the economy.”

Thameslink Passenger Service Director Stuart Cheshire said: “Our new Thameslink trains are going to make a huge difference to passengers on the Wimbledon and Sutton loop when they enter service.

“They are designed to carry many more people, in air conditioned comfort and will be streets ahead of the near-30-year-old trains we operate today. This platform extension at Tooting and the others to follow will enable these trains to make a real difference for commuters .”

Working with contractors Osborne Rail, this essential work is on schedule to complete at Sutton Common station on 15 July. Work at Hackbridge and Mitcham is scheduled to begin on 21 August.

Ends.

About Thameslink Programme

The Government-sponsored Thameslink Programme is  transforming north-south travel through London. When complete in 2018 it will give passengers:

·         New longer and more spacious trains running every 2 to 3 minutes through central London in the peak

·         Improved connections and better options to more destinations on an expanded Thameslink network including Cambridge and Peterborough

·         More robust tracks and state-of-the art signalling and more reliable trains to make journeys more reliable.

·         Completely rebuilt stations at Blackfriars and London Bridge