1.
Commuter rail
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Trains operate following a schedule, at speeds varying from 50 to 200 km/h. Distance charges or zone pricing may be used and they primarily serve lower density suburban areas, and often share right-of-way with intercity or freight trains. Some services operate only during peak hours and others uses fewer departures during off peak hours, average speeds are high, often 50 km/h or higher. These higher speeds better serve the longer distances involved, some services include express services which skip some stations in order to run faster and separate longer distance riders from short-distance ones. The general range of commuter trains distance varies between 15 and 200 km, sometimes long distances can be explained by that the train runs between two or several cities. Distances between stations may vary, but are much longer than those of urban rail systems. In city centers the train either has a station or passes through the city centre with notably fewer station stops than those of urban rail systems. Toilets are often available on trains and in stations. Their ability to coexist with freight or intercity services in the same right-of-way can drastically reduce system construction costs, however, frequently they are built with dedicated tracks within that right-of-way to prevent delays, especially where service densities have converged in the inner parts of the network. Most such trains run on the standard gauge track. Some light rail systems may run on a narrower gauge, some countries, including Finland, India, Pakistan, Russia, Brazil and Sri Lanka, as well as San Francisco in the USA and Melbourne and Adelaide in Australia, use broad gauge track. The fact that the terminology is not standardised across countries further complicates matters, most S-bahns typically behave like commuter rail with most trackage not separated from other trains, and long lines with trains running between cities and suburbs rather than within a city. The distances between stations however, are usually short, in larger systems there is usually a high frequency metro-like central corridor in the city center where all the lines converge into. Typical examples of large city S-Bahns include Munich and Frankfurt, S-Bahns do also exist in some mid-size cities like Rostock and Magdeburg but behave more like typical commuter rail with lower frequencies and very little exclusive trackage. A similar network exists in Copenhagen called the S-tog, in Hamburg and Copenhagen, other, diesel driven trains, do continue where the S-Bahn ends. Regional rail usually provides rail services between towns and cities, rather than purely linking major population hubs in the way inter-city rail does, Regional rail operates outside major cities. Unlike Inter-city, it stops at most or all stations between cities and it provides a service between smaller communities along the line, and also connections with long-distance services at interchange stations located at junctions or at larger towns along the line. Alternative names are local train or stopping train, examples include the former BRs Regional Railways, Frances TER, Germanys DB Regio and South Koreas Tonggeun services
2.
Rail freight transport
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Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. Trains may haul bulk material, intermodal containers, general freight or specialized freight in purpose-designed cars, Rail freight practices and economics vary by country and region. When considered in terms of ton-miles or tonne-kilometers hauled per unit of energy consumed, maximum economies are typically realized with bulk commodities, especially when hauled over long distances. However, shipment by rail is not as flexible as by highway, moving goods by rail often involves transshipment costs, particularly when the shipper or receiver lack direct rail access. These costs may exceed that of operating the train itself, a factor that practices such as containerization aim to minimize. Traditionally, large shippers build factories and warehouses near rail lines and have a section of track on their property called a siding where goods are loaded onto or unloaded from rail cars, other shippers have their goods hauled by wagon or truck to or from a goods station. When long enough, or based on a schedule, each long distance train is dispatched to another classification yard. At the next classification yard, cars are resorted and those that are destined for stations served by that yard are assigned to local trains for delivery. Others are reassembled into trains heading to classification yards closer to their final destination, a single car might be reclassified or switched in several yards before reaching its final destination, a process that made rail freight slow and increased costs. Many freight rail operators are trying to reduce costs by reducing or eliminating switching in classification yards through techniques such as unit trains. In many countries, railroads have been built to haul one commodity, such as coal or ore, Rail freight uses many types of goods wagon or freight car. Most coal and aggregates are moved in wagons or gondolas or open wagons that can be filled and discharged rapidly. A major disadvantage of rail freight is its lack of flexibility, in part for this reason, rail has lost much of the freight business to road transport. Many governments are now trying to encourage more freight trains, because of the environmental benefits that it would bring. Compared tо road transport whісh employs thе uѕе оf trucks, rail transportation ensures thаt goods thаt соuld оthеrwіѕе bе transported оn а number оf trucks аrе transported іn а single shipment, thіѕ saves а lot аѕ fаr аѕ cost connected tо thе transportation аrе concerned. In Europe many manufacturing towns developed before the railway, many factories did not have direct rail access. This meant that freight had to be shipped through a station, sent by train. When lorries replaced horses it was economic and faster to make one movement by road
3.
Greater London
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London, or Greater London, is a region of England which forms the administrative boundaries of London. It is organised into 33 local government districts, the 32 London boroughs, the Greater London Authority, based in Southwark, is responsible for strategic local government across the region and consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The county of Greater London was created on 1 April 1965 through the London Government Act 1963, administratively, Greater London was first established as a sui generis council area under the Greater London Council between 1963 and 1986. The area was re-established as a region in 1994, and the Greater London Authority formed in 2000, the region covers 1,572 km2 and had a population of 8,174,000 at the 2011 census. In 2012, it had the highest GVA per capita in the United Kingdom at £37,232, the Greater London Built-up Area—used in some national statistics—is a measure of the continuous urban area of London, and therefore includes areas outside of the administrative region. The term Greater London has been and still is used to different areas in governance, statistics, history. In terms of ceremonial counties, London is divided into the small City of London, outside the limited boundaries of the City, a variety of arrangements has governed the wider area since 1855, culminating in the creation of the Greater London administrative area in 1965. The Greater London Arterial Road Programme was devised between 1913 and 1916, one of the larger early forms was the Greater London Planning Region, devised in 1927, which occupied 1,856 square miles and included 9 million people. The LCC pressed for an alteration in its boundaries soon after the end of the First World War, noting that within the Metropolitan, a Royal Commission on London Government was set up to consider the issue. The LCC proposed a vast new area for Greater London, with a boundary somewhere between the Metropolitan Police District and the home counties, protests were made at the possibility of including Windsor, Slough and Eton in the authority. The Commission made its report in 1923, rejecting the LCCs scheme, two minority reports favoured change beyond the amalgamation of smaller urban districts, including both smaller borough councils and a central authority for strategic functions. The London Traffic Act 1924 was a result of the Commission, Greater London originally had a two-tier system of local government, with the Greater London Council sharing power with the City of London Corporation and the 32 London Borough councils. The GLC was abolished in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985 and its functions were devolved to the City Corporation and the London Boroughs, with some functions transferred to central government and joint boards. Greater London was used to form the London region of England in 1994, a referendum held in 1998 established a public will to recreate an upper tier of government to cover the region. The Greater London Authority, London Assembly and the directly elected Mayor of London were created in 2000 by the Greater London Authority Act 1999, in 2000, the outer boundary of the Metropolitan Police District was re-aligned to the Greater London boundary. The 2000 and 2004 mayoral elections were won by Ken Livingstone, the 2008 and 2012 elections were won by Boris Johnson. The 2016 election was won by Sadiq Khan, Greater London continues to include the most closely associated parts of the Greater London Urban Area and their historic buffers. Thus it includes, in five boroughs, significant parts of the Metropolitan Green Belt which protects designated greenfield land in a way to the citys parks
4.
London Victoria station
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Victoria station is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster. It is near to Victoria Street, which along with the area and it is in Travelcard Zone 1. From the main lines, trains can connect to the Catford Loop Line, Dartford Loop Line, Southern operates the majority of commuter and regional services to south London, Sussex and parts of east Surrey, while Southeastern operates trains to south east London and Kent. Gatwick Express trains run direct from Victoria to Gatwick Airport, the Underground station is on the Circle and District lines between Sloane Square and St. Jamess Park, and the Victoria line between Pimlico and Green Park. With over 81 million passenger entries and exits in 2015/16, Victoria is the second-busiest station in London after Waterloo, combined with the Underground Station and interchanges in the national rail station, London Victoria handled about 170 million passengers in the 2015/2016 period. It is one of 19 stations managed by Network Rail, the area around the station is an important interchange for other forms of transport, a local bus station is in the forecourt and Victoria Coach Station is nearby. Victoria Station came about in a fashion to help address this problem for the London Brighton and South Coast Railway. It consisted of two adjacent main line railway stations which, from the viewpoint of passengers, were unconnected, the London and Brighton Railway terminus at London Bridge provided reasonable access to the City of London but was most inconvenient for travellers to and from Westminster. As early as 1842 John Urpeth Rastrick had proposed that the railway should build a branch to serve the West End, but his proposal came to nothing. During the summer of 1857 a scheme for an independent Grosvenor Basin Terminus in the West End of London, the station was originally referred to as the Grosvenor Terminus but later renamed Victoria as it was sited at the end of Victoria Street. Three other railway companies were seeking a terminus in Westminster, the Great Western, the London & North Western. The first two already had access to Battersea through their joint ownership of the West London Line with the LB&SCR. The new line followed part of the route of the Grosvenor Canal with Victoria station on the canal basin. It required the construction of a new bridge over the Thames, originally known as Victoria Bridge and it was of mixed gauge to cater for GWR trains. The LB&SCR had hoped to amalgamate with the VS&PR, and introduced a Parliamentary Bill to allow it to do so in 1860 and this was opposed by the GWR and LC&DR and rejected. By way of compromise the LB&SCR was permitted to lease Victoria station from the VS&PR, Victoria station proved to be unexpectedly popular for both the main companies, and by 1862 there were frequent delays due to congestion at Stewarts Lane Junction. In March 1863 the LB&SCR and the LC&DR jointly funded a new route into Victoria, avoiding Stewarts Lane. The work was completed during 1867/8, the LB&SCR side of Victoria station opened on 1 October 1860, the temporary terminus in Battersea having closed the day before
5.
London Bridge station
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The main line station is the oldest railway station in London fare zone 1 and one of the oldest in the world having opened in 1836. It is one of two main line termini in London to the south of the River Thames, the other being Waterloo. Historically, trains from Cannon Street and Thameslink services from Bedford to Brighton also called at the station, in terms of passenger arrivals and departures it is the fourth-busiest station in London as well as the United Kingdom as a whole, handling over 54 million customers a year. The main line station is one of 19 UK stations managed by Network Rail, the Underground station is served by the Jubilee line and the Bank branch of the Northern line. It consists of a hall and entrance area with its main frontage on Tooley Street, along with entrances on Borough High Street. London Bridge station was opened as the London station on 14 December 1836 south of the River Thames in Tooley Street, making it the first and oldest of the current London railway termini. It was not the earliest station in the present London metropolitan area, as the London and Greenwich Railway opened stations first at Spa Road, delays in the completion of a bridge at Bermondsey Street postponed the opening of the line into London Bridge station until December. This meant that from 10 October 1836 trains were able to operate as far as the east end of Bermondsey Street bridge, since then the station has had a most complex history, involving frequent rebuilding and changes of ownership. The original station was 60 ft wide and 400 ft long and it was later covered with a wooden trussed pitched roof,56 ft by 212 ft, shortly after opening. Sixteen columns and fourteen beams from this structure were retrieved in 2013, thus these two railways were required to share the route of the London and Croydon Railway from near Norwood. As a result, in 1838 the London and Croydon Railway obtained powers to enlarge the station it was constructing at London Bridge. The directors of the companies involved therefore decided to exchange the station sites, plans for a large new station were drawn up, designed jointly by Lewis Cubitt, John Urpeth Rastrick and Henry Roberts. Drawings were published in the Illustrated London News and George Bradshaws Guide to the London and Brighton Railway 1844 and they show a quasi-Italianate building with a picturesque campanile. This line opened in 1844 and most of the services from two companies were withdrawn from London Bridge, leaving only the Greenwich and Brighton companies using London Bridge station. The following year the Croydon and Brighton companies merged with others to form the London Brighton, as a result of these amalgamations, there were now only two companies wishing to use the two adjoining stations at London Bridge. As a result, the LB&SCR used the joint station until 1849. The SER took over the second London and Greenwich station and sought to develop that site rather than continue to invest in the joint station. The SER station was rebuilt and enlarged between 1847 and 1850, to a design by Samuel Beazley
6.
Network Rail
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Network Rail is the owner and infrastructure manager of most of the rail network in England, Scotland and Wales. Network Rail is an arms length public body of the Department for Transport with no shareholders, since 1 September 2014, Network Rail has been classified as a public sector body. Britains railway system was built by companies, but it was nationalised by the Transport Act 1947. Infrastructure and passenger and freight services were separated at that time, between 1994 and 2002 the infrastructure was owned and operated by Railtrack. The Hatfield train crash on 17 October 2000 was a moment in the collapse of Railtrack. The costs of modernising the West Coast Main Line were also spiralling, the purchase was completed on 3 October 2002. The SRA was abolished in November 2006, the company moved its headquarters to Kings Place,90 York Way, from 40 Melton Street, Euston, in August 2008. In October 2008, Sir Ian McAllister announced that he would not stand for re-election as chairman of Network Rail and he had held the position for six years. He noted that as Network Rail moved to a new phase in its development it was appropriate for a new chairman to lead it there, many track safety initiatives have been introduced in the time Network Rail has been responsible for this area. This ruling came into force in January 2009 for maintenance and property workers and in April 2009 for infrastructure, in 2009, allegations appeared in the media from the Transport Salaried Staffs Association concerning treatment of Network Rail employees. Former chief executive Iain Coucher was also accused of financial impropriety involving unspecified payments to his business partner Victoria Pender during his tenure at Network Rail, an internal investigation held by Network Rail in 2010, vetted by its auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers, uncovered no evidence of wrongdoing. An independent enquiry headed by Anthony White QC in 2011 further examined the claims, critical commentary appeared in the media concerning the knighthood awarded to John Armitt in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to engineering and construction. The reorganisation has been interpreted as a move back towards vertical integration of track, in 2016 Network Rail failed to check whether the Flying Scotsman could fit through tunnels along the Borders Route resulting in the cancellation of a trip just 24 hours before departure. Scottish Transport Minister Derek Mackay branded the affair a debacle, Network Rails attempt to electrify the West Coast Mainline has been dogged by poor planning and cost overruns, the projected cost has ballooned from by £1.2 billion to £2. It however owns a fleet of departmental stock, although it owns over 2,500 railway stations, it manages only 18 of the biggest and busiest of them, all the other stations being managed by one or other of the various train operating companies. Network Rail has a 15-year lease on Square One in Manchester with 800 staff in one of Manchesters largest refurbished office spaces, Network Rail should not be confused with National Rail. National Rail is not an organisation, but merely a brand, used to explain, the majority of Network Rail lines also carry freight traffic, some lines are freight only. A few lines that carry passenger traffic are not part of the National Rail network, conversely, a few National Rail services operate over track which is not part of the Network Rail network
7.
London Overground
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The London Overground is a suburban rail network in the United Kingdom. Established in 2007, it serves a large part of Greater London and parts of Hertfordshire, the network forms part of the National Rail network, but under the franchise control and branding of Transport for London. Operation has been franchised to Arriva Rail London since 13 November 2016, the Overground has been assigned the colour orange as a mode specific colour by Transport for London. This colour is used in the Overground version of the TfL roundel, for the representation of Overground routes on the map, in train interiors. Rail services in Great Britain are mostly run under franchises operated by train operating companies. The concept of developing a network of services around London goes back to the independently produced Ringrail proposals in the early 1970s. The proposal from Barren was for several overlapping services mainly using the North London Line and this was given the marketing name Cross Town Link-Line, and operated with basic 2-car diesel units. The next initiative came from the GLC in 1984, when the government supported the Broadgate development that would entail the demolition of Broad Street Station. The closure process was convoluted because of problems in making arrangements for the North London Line. These would eventually run to and from Liverpool Street via a new section of track and this used a name once associated with a semicircular service that operated from Broad Street to Mansion House, but ceased during World War 1. The pamphlets and briefings, first issued in 1997, initially suggested a route from Clapham Junction to the Greenwich Peninsula, intended to improve access from south London to the Millennium Dome. However, this was thwarted by architect Richard Rogers who considered a railway route on an elevated viaduct could cause community severance, nothing further happened to develop this network until after the new GLA was set up in 2000. But the lobbying discreetly continued with a series of short briefings published by one RDS member based in North London, mayoral and GLA candidates were approached to discuss the viability of the Outer Circle concept. The principle was widely supported and was adopted into the first Mayors Transport Plan, meanwhile, a pilot scheme was launched in 2003 to bring several National Rail local services, mainly in South London and operated by multiple companies, under the ON – Overground Network brand. TfL introduced consistent information displays, station signage and maps on the routes in South London. The pilot scheme was later dropped, in January 2004 the Department for Transport announced a review of the rail industry in Great Britain. As part of review, proposals were put forward by TfL for a London Regional Rail Authority to give TfL regulatory powers over rail services in. A result of consultation was agreement by the then Secretary of State for Transport, Alistair Darling
8.
Southern (Govia Thameslink Railway)
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Southern is the brand name used by the Govia Thameslink Railway train operating company on the Southern routes of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise. In July 2015, the franchisee was subsumed into GTR, but the existing Southern and Gatwick Express brand identities were retained alongside those of Thameslink and it also provides services between Milton Keynes and Croydon via the West London Line. It also operates services from Brighton to Ashford, Brighton to Seaford, Brighton to Southampton, following the end of British Rail, Connex South Central was awarded the Network SouthCentral franchise by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising. Operations began on 26 May 1996, in March 2000, the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority announced its intention to relet the franchise from May 2003 with Connex and Govia the shortlisted bidders. In October 2000 the SSRA announced that Govia had been awarded the franchise, Govia negotiated a deal with Connex to buy out the remainder of its franchise, this was completed in August 2001. Govia trading as SouthCentral took over operations on 26 August 2001, in May 2004 the franchise was rebranded as Southern in a recall of the pre-nationalisation Southern Railway, using a green roundel logo with Southern in yellow in a green bar. In April 2007 the Department for Transport announced that the Gatwick Express franchise was to be incorporated into the main South Central franchise. This was part of a plan to increase capacity on the Brighton Main Line, involving the extension of services from Gatwick to Brighton. This doubled the number of London to Brighton express trains during those periods, in December 2008, Southern took over the services on the Redhill to Tonbridge Line from Southeastern. However, such a transfer never took place and the DfT put out the franchise for tender. In August 2008 the DfT shortlisted Govia, National Express, NedRail, in June 2009 the DfT announced that Govia had retained the franchise, to start on 20 September 2009. In March 2012 the Department for Transport announced that Abellio, FirstGroup, Govia, MTR and Stagecoach had been shortlisted for the new Thameslink, Southern, the Invitation to Tender was to be issued in October 2012, with the successful bidder announced in spring 2013. However, in the wake of the collapse of the InterCity West Coast refranchising process, in December 2012, Southerns London Victoria to London Bridge via Denmark Hill service ceased, being partially replaced by London Overgrounds new Clapham Junction to Dalston Junction service. However the Southern brand was retained, Southern was criticised for major changes to its timetables in December 2007 and December 2008. In December 2007, Southern changed the arrangement for the splitting of services to and from London Victoria on the Arun Valley Line, in December 2008 further timetable changes included the introduction of the extended Gatwick Express services. However, reliability and timekeeping on some of the new services were considered poor, on 22 January 2009, Southern responded to some of these criticisms. During 2009 these services have recorded improved timekeeping and criticisms have since subsided, the new timetable also led to unhappiness due to the difference in speed and frequency of service between East Coastway services and those on the Brighton Main Line. Further changes to the timetable were made in December 2010, the first timetable change to many of the requirements of the new franchise
9.
Southeastern (train operating company)
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London & South Eastern Railway Limited, trading as Southeastern, is a British train operating company in South East England. Southeastern also provides services along High Speed 1 from London St. Pancras, on 1 April 2006 it became the franchisee for the new Integrated Kent franchise, replacing the publicly owned South Eastern Trains on the former South Eastern franchise. Southeastern serves the main London stations of Charing Cross, Victoria, Blackfriars, Cannon Street, London Bridge, Waterloo East, the Southeastern network has a route mileage of 540, with 179 stations. About 70% of its services run to and from London and it is owned by Govia, a joint venture between Go-Ahead Group and Keolis, which also operates the neighbouring Southern franchise, which overlaps with Southeastern in some areas. The companys formal name, under which it mounted its bid for the franchise, is London, the managing director is David Statham, formerly MD of First Capital Connect. Since the privatisation of British Rail, the franchise to run trains in this area has been held by three different companies, the first company to win the South Eastern franchise, on 14 October 1996, was Connex, which operated it under the name Connex South Eastern. Connex gained a reputation for unreliable services, but it was for financial management that its franchise was cut short by the Strategic Rail Authority on 9 November 2003. Train services were taken over by South Eastern Trains, a wholly owned subsidiary of the SRA/Department for Transport created for the purpose. This would see the existing South Eastern franchise combined with the new high-speed services to be operated on High Speed 1 to form a new Integrated Kent Franchise. In December 2008, as part of the agreement, responsibility for the Redhill to Tonbridge Line was handed over to Southern. Southeastern high-speed services began operations on 14 December 2009. In March 2009 the bay platforms at London Blackfriars closed for reconstruction as part of the Thameslink Programme, Southeastern services previously terminating at Blackfriars, mostly from Sevenoaks via the Catford loop, were extended to Kentish Town, St Albans, Luton or Bedford. As a result of change, Southeastern now operates these services jointly with Thameslink using 20 dual-voltage Class 319 sets as well as newly built Class 377 Electrostars. Following the Department for Transports review after the cancellation of the InterCity West Coast franchise process, in 2013, the coalition government extended Southeasterns franchise, without competitive tender, from 31 March 2014 to June 2018. The Southeastern franchise is now set to be extended until December 2018, the Olympic Javelin or Javelin was a high-speed train shuttle service operated by Southeastern over High Speed 1 during the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. The service ran for the duration of games, between St Pancras International station and Ebbsfleet International station, via Stratford International station, which is close to the Olympic Park. During the Summer Olympics a service of eight trains an hour ran between St Pancras and Ebbsfleet, calling at Stratford, replacing the usual East Kent highspeed service, two of these were extended to Ashford and one to Faversham. Between 11pm and 1am the service between St Pancras and Ebbsfleet was increased to twelve per hour, the British Olympic Association applied to register Javelin as a UK trademark on 19 July 2005 and this was granted on 2 June 2006
10.
British Rail Class 378
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The Class 378 Capitalstar is a type of electric multiple unit train, part of Bombardier Transportations Electrostar family. These trains operate on the London Overground network, for which they were specifically designed, the units also have end gangways, but these are intended for emergency use only. The units were initially announced as coming in two separate batches, the initial contract also contained an option to purchase additional cars up to a total of 216. A newly constructed depot near New Cross Gate station would be responsible for maintaining the new fleet, in 2006, TfL announced the new vehicles, with livery designed by Real 451 and interior concept design by Design Triangle. In July 2007, TfL announced it had ordered a further 36 Capitalstar carriages for £36 million, on 16 September 2008, the first complete unit was unveiled and began testing on Bombardiers test track before being delivered for testing on the national network. This also affected delivery of Class 377/5 units to First Capital Connect, the first Class 378 unit entered service on 29 July 2009. On the first public unveiling of the Class 378, TfL announced that it had reached an agreement to procure a further three units, taking the total number to 57. These units were intended to enhance the fleet once the South London Line was brought under London Overgrounds control, in 2011, several 378s on the North London Line suffered shutdowns due to harmonic interference from Class 92s using the line for freight movement. The problem was fixed after Bombardier altered the interference tolerance settings, in July 2015, London Overground announced an order for 45 new Class 710 units, some of which would displace the Class 378s in use on the Watford DC Line. These displaced units will then be cascaded to strengthen services on the lines the units are used on. External CCTV is displayed automatically on releasing the doors via an in-cab monitor and this is similar to that already used on Southerns Electrostar units. Internal CCTV footage can be viewed directly by the driver on an in-cab monitor, the Class 378 fleet is currently formed of two separate subclasses, DC-only 378/1 and dual-voltage Class 378/2, Class 378/1 -20 four-car units were ordered. These units operate services on the extended East London Line, and are 750 V DC only and these trains, which are designated Class 378/1, replaced the A60/A62 Stock previously used on the line. They entered service on 27 April 2010, on the service between Dalston Junction and New Cross / New Cross Gate. The service was extended to Crystal Palace and West Croydon on 23 May 2010, the Southern services on the South London Line were withdrawn in 2012 and replaced by a new London Overground service operated using new air-conditioned 4-car Class 378 units. Class 378/2 -37 dual-voltage four-car units ordered for the North London, West London, East London and these units have dual-voltage capability, taking current at 25 kV AC from overhead wires or 750 V DC from third rail. These trains replaced the Class 313 and Class 508 units in 2010, the first 24 units were originally three-car units designated Class 378/0, and were redesignated Class 378/2 as each unit received its additional carriage in late 2010. The remaining 13 units were built as four-car Class 378/2s from the outset, in February 2013, approval was gained for the procurement of 57 additional vehicles to lengthen the Class 378 fleet from four to five cars
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