ROLLOUT PLANNED ACROSS LONDON OVERGROUND NETWORK
Transport for London introduced two four-car Class 710 Aventra EMUs, built by Bombardier, into passenger service on the Gospel Oak to Barking line (GOBLIN) on 23 May. The ‘710s’ are over a year late entering passenger service following various software issues. Office of Rail and Road approval for the trains to carry passengers was received in early April, with subsequent software modifications and sufficient progress with the driver training programme enabling the two trains to enter service.
Features of the ‘710s’ include Wi-Fi, USB charging points and digital information screens, as well as walk-through carriages for increased capacity and greater accessibility. Since March services on the GOBLIN have been halved from four trains per hour (tph) to 2tph using shortened four-car Class 378 EMUs, following the departure of the line’s former fleet of Class 172 DMUs to West Midlands Trains. The first two ‘710s’ in passenger service are initially supplementing the ‘378s’, with TfL planning to restore the full 4tph frequency later this summer.
COMPENSATION
Once the full service on the GOBLIN is restored, TfL is to provide a month’s free travel for GOBLIN passe…
