By Keith Fender
c2c introduced the first two of its six new Class 387/3 EMUs on November 14.
Sets 387301 and 387302 will operate the 07.43 service from Thorpe Bay to London Fenchurch St.
Monthly Subscription: Enjoy more Railway Magazine reading each month with free delivery to you door, and access to over 100 years in the archive, all for just £5.35 per month.
Click here to subscribe & save
The same units had been used for a first passenger special, working from Southend to Barking and back on November 11, carrying local stakeholders and the media.
c2c has leased six Class 387s from Porterbrook for three years. The contract for the trains – ordered by Porterbrook from Bombardier as part of a speculative order for 20 trains – was agreed in May, with the trains having since been built at Derby.
The interior of these trains is similar to Class 387/1 units used by Southern, with the 387/3s also fitted with third rail conductor shoes (and having been tested on the Brighton Line). The controls to lower the third rail equipment have been isolated while in use with c2c.
Read more in the December issue of The RM