SWR Class 701 Aventra Delivery Notes
The first South Western Railway class 701 train was delivered to Eastleigh Works on 10th June, 2020. The new “Aventra” family of electric multiple units are being built by Bombardier at Derby Litchurch Lane and will be maintained at their home depots of Wimbledon and Feltham depots (Feltham still in construction as of June 2020).
The new units are set to replace a wide range of SWR rolling stock from the south west London metro area, this includes replacing:
- Class 455s
- Class 456s (taken over from Southern in 2014)
- Class 458 (reconstructed from Gatwick Express 460s and the previous 458 fleet)
- Class 707, which are planned to move to Southeastern
There are two sub class designations in the numbering system of the Aventra class 701 EMUs. These are:
- Class 701/0 – the 10 car fixed formation. 60 being constructed.
- Class 701/5 – 5 car fixed formation. 30 being constructed. Presumably the lack of train end gangways means they can’t work in multiple?
Due to work on the Reading, Windsor and South West London services, they were originally due to enter service Mid 2020, however COVID19 halted their construction for several months, so it is therefore likely this entry date is no longer confirmed.
The units are being delivered to Eastleigh Works at present. Before entry into service the new class 701s will work mileage accumulation runs, even as far as Horsham.
This list will keep a log of the delivery dates of the SWR class 701 units, along with their delivery location after coming from Derby, and the locomotives that hauled it.
Class 701 Delivery Log
701001 701002 - Arrived Eastleigh 10/06/20 (66740/66745) 701003 701004 - Arrived Wimbledon 30/06/20 (66775/66745) 701005 701006 701007 701008 701009 701010 701011 701012 701013 701014 701015 701016 701017 701018 701019 701020 701021 701022 701023 701024 701025 701026 701027 701028 701030 701031 701032 701033 701034 701035 701036 701037 701038 701039 701040 701041 701042 701043 701044 701045 701046 701047 701048 701049 701050 701051 701052 701053 701054 701055 701056 701057 701058 701059 701060 701501 701502 701503 701504 701505 701506 701507 701508 701509 701510 701511 701512 701513 701514 701515 701516 701517 701518 701519 701520 701521 701522 701523 701524 701525 701526 701527 701528 701529 701530