British Rail Class 374

The Class 374^[2] electric multiple unit high speed trains, branded as Eurostar e320, are intended for Eurostar services through the Channel Tunnel to serve destinations beyond the core routes to Paris and Brussels and scheduled to begin passenger service in December 2015. The trains owned by Eurostar International Limited are sixteen-carriage variants of the Siemens Velaro, each measuring 400 metres long. The trains are designed to be compliant with the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) and the original order for ten sets was subsequently increased to seventeen sets in November 2014.^[3]

Eurostar International's existing fleet of Class 373 articulated trains, which date from the opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1993, cannot operate under the 15 kV AC overhead line (OHLE) electrification system used in Germany, and most cannot operate under the 1.5 kV DC overhead line (OHLE) electrification system used in the Netherlands and do not have sufficient space to install ERTMS signalling. Therefore, Eurostar cannot use its Class 373 units on services to these countries.

Development

Mock up on display in Kensington Gardens in London in 2010

Siemens Velaro high speed EMUs are derived from the ICE 3 first used by Deutsche Bahn (DB) in 2000. Variants include DB Class 407, intended for international services including through the Channel Tunnel.^[4]

In 2009, Eurostar announced a £700m project to update its fleet, with approximately £550m for new trains able to operate away from the core London-Paris/Brussels network.^[5] In October 2010, Eurostar announced that Siemens had been selected, with the Velaro platform to be used. The Velaro e320, named because of plans to operate at 320 km/h (200 mph), would be 16 cars long, to meet the Channel Tunnel safety specifications but would have distributed traction with the traction equipment along the length of the train, not concentrated in power cars at each end.^[6]

Alstom litigation

The nomination of Siemens would see it break into the French high-speed market, as all French and French subsidiary high-speed operators use TGV derivatives produced by Alstom.^[7] Alstom attempted legal action to prevent the contract, claiming that the Siemens sets would breach Channel Tunnel safety rules,^[8] but this was thrown out of court.^[9] Alstom said that it would "pursue alternative legal options to uphold its position", and on 4 November 2010 it lodged a complaint with the European Commission over the tendering process, which then asked the British government for "clarification".^[10] Alstom then announced it had started legal action against Eurostar in the High Court in London.^[11] In July 2011, the High Court rejected Alstom's claim that the tender process was "ineffective",^[12] and in April 2012 Alstom said it would call off pending court actions against Eurostar.^[13]

Construction and delivery

374011 at Gare de Lille-Europe

The trains were constructed at the Siemens plant at Krefeld in Germany,^[3] with the first rolled out for testing at the Wildenrath test circuit in early 2013^[14] as Class 374, with the first unit bearing this UIC identification mark.^[2] The intention was for the first unit to enter service in 2014, but the approval was delayed. As a consequence, Eurostar did receive its first unit in 2014 for presentation but operation could only start a year later.^[15]

At the presentation of the first train in London on 13 November 2014, Eurostar announced they have ordered 7 additional train sets, and that the first e320 service would be at the end of 2015.^[16] By November 2014 nine of the 10 trains had been built and all 10 were scheduled to be delivered by April 2016.^[16] The seven trains in the second order will be delivered by March 2018.^[17]

Testing

By April 2013 testing had started at Siemens Mobility's test and validation centre, Wegberg-Wildenrath.

On 25 June 2013 set 4001+4002 was hauled between barrier vehicles by a Crossrail Class 66 from Aachen West in Germany to Forest-South in Belgium. Self-powered testing commenced in early July 2013 between Gare d'Ath and Gare de Silly.

On 27 January 2014 set 4007+4008 was hauled across Belgium by B-Logistiks' TRAXX E 186 199,^[18] and on the night of 29/30 January 2014 was dragged by Eurotunnel Class 0001 rescue locomotives via the Channel Tunnel and High Speed 1 to Temple Mills Depot where it arrived at 01:41:30 on 30 January 2014.^[19][20][21]

As of July–August 2014 test were carried out on the LGV Nord line near Lille. The end of 2014 saw testing of one set on the LGV Est due to its higher line speed of 320 km/h. As is standard practice with new rolling stock, an overspeed test was performed to 352 km/h.

The French Railway Safety Board (EPSF) granted an authorisation to run the train in France on 16 October 2015; the approval for operating though the Channel Tunnel was granted on 19 November by the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC).^[22] At the beginning of January 2016 the Belgian authority SSICF authorized the operation in its country.^[23]

Operations

Class 374 alongside a Class 373 at London St Pancras

Eurostar intend to use the trains to expand its core operation between London St Pancras International, Paris Gare du Nord and Brussels Midi/Zuid. To meet the prospect of increased competition through the Channel Tunnel (primarily from DB), it intends to use them to expand its network to Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Cologne, and more destinations in France.^[24] In September 2013, Eurostar announced that its new service between London and Amsterdam, intended to begin operation in December 2016, would be operated by the trains.^[25] The first Class 374 set entered service in November 2015, ahead of the full launch of the new type; the receipt of the safety authorization from the Intergovernmental Commission was received earlier than expected, allowing Eurostar to begin utilizing the type on a small number of services for in-service testing.^[26]

Fleet details

The carriages are numbered in half-sets of eight-vehicles as 93 70 3740 NNN-N GB-EIL, where 93 denotes high-speed EMU, 70 denotes Great Britain, 374 is the class, 40NN (sharing the 4 from the class 374) is the unit number followed by a single digit for each carriage counting from the driving car towards the centre, a check digit, GB for Great Britain and EIL for Eurostar International Limited.

Each set is formed of 16 coaches:

See also

• Siemens Velaro
• British Rail Class 373
• Eurostar

References

External links

• Media related to British Rail Class 374 at Wikimedia Commons
• Specification Sheet