British Rail Class 360

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Class 360, no. 360111 at Ipswich on 31st January 2004. This unit is painted in First Great Eastern livery.

The British Rail Class 360 electric multiple units were built by Siemens in two sub-types from 2002-2005. These units are part of the highly successful Desiro family.

[edit] Description

Unlike the South West Trains and West Coast Main Line Desiros, the Class 360 lacks inter-unit gangways. This was a late design change, as the Health and Safety Executive was not happy with the driver's forward visibility with the previous design's gangway cab.

The Class 360 is a modern unit with Air Conditioning and is powered by OHLE with a top speed of 100mph.

Class 360 on Heathrow Connect.

[edit] Current operations

[edit] First Great Eastern / 'one'

First Great Eastern ordered 21 4-car units to replace their elderly Class 312 slam-door units. They entered service in 2003, and by mid-2004 had completely replaced the old trains. They are primarily used on London Liverpool Street to Ipswich and Clacton services.

Since they were built, First Group has lost the franchise to the National Express Group, who operate the Great Eastern routes as part of their 'one' franchise. Though operated by 'one' the 360 class is not maintained by the franchise, but is under contract from Siemens for routine maintenance.

[edit] Heathrow Connect

Heathrow Connect runs four 4-car units operating London Paddington-Heathrow Airport stopping trains. They entered service on 12 June 2005. These units were originally built as Class 350s for prospective spot hire.

[edit] Fleet Details

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