Southeastern’s first refurbished Metro Class 376 train enters service
The first train to be internally refurbished under an upgrade programme covering Southeastern Metro trains has entered service.
Some trains date back 21 years to 2004 and were ordered under Connex, retaining their old colour scheme until the fleet started to go blue in the recent past. That external repaint is being conducted separately to internal changes, of which the first is now finished.
It was pretty cruel really to paint them the same colour as City Beams. They’d start appearing over the summer and you’d be sat waiting on a hot day. A blue train arrives. Phew, it’s an air conditioned new one!
And then the slow realisation it’s the sweat box that is the Class 376. Balls.
Internal changes
Internal changes are following but sadly there’s no toilets or air conditioning being added. That last one is a big shame given the things can be like saunas in summer and were the last trains in the UK to be ordered without it.
Their small windows do next to nothing to get an air flow going unlike the Networkers.
These trains are part of the Electrostar family of which many, many trains were built and in operation across the UK. This type is the only sub-class without air con. Others using the same bodyshell such as on London Overground and c2c do have it.
Probably the biggest thing is the addition of power and USB sockets. Everything else is pretty small scale stuff. If you don’t like the firm “ironing board” seating you’ll find no change.
It never bothered me and aside from the terrible heat inside on occasion from spring to autumn I never minded the stock as much as some. The toilet issue is annoying and when introduced stations in the Metro area had toilets added to compensate. As you may have guessed that didn’t exactly stand the test of time with some closed.
Lacking three abreast seating was a plus when commuting daily. Given how poor the middle seats are in terms of space on the Networkers give me two seats any day and wider walkways.
Small scale
Other things include new LED lighting, new grab rails and a deep clean. Nothing revolutionary but then they are decent units just needing decent air con and toilets – which are the things they’re not getting ensuring another 20 years of stifling onboard conditions for months every year.
Even now the vast majority of cars on the road will have air con and it’ll be around 99.9 per cent by 2040. It’ll be an absolute anachronism in 2040 for these trains to have it (and this stock are expected to run until 2045) when just about every vehicle in the country will by then. Even buses given how more are being introduced with it.
Certainly as the last UK stock ordered without it they could be the last still running without it. Not a great way to entice travel, and as a Metro network it’s a myth that it’s only for commuters with no other choice. Southeastern Metro serves numerous town centres and is ripe for expansion in leisure travel.
City Beams
It’s something that can at least be avoided using the City Beams, which are now handily labelled on Realtimetrains if you want to avoid the Class 376s.
Then there’s still the venerable Networker fleet which remains the bulk of trains serving metro areas. With some as tired inside as ever with years of grime (a deep clean wouldn’t go amiss given there’s years left in service) and bubbling flooring, there’s still no confirmed replacement order.
Again they’re generally great trains as a passenger but many never benefitted from a decent mid-life upgrade even of the standard of the Class 376.
Regular withdrawals of some units continue with drags to the scrap yard but they’ll remain the biggest provider of services on Metro routes for some years to come.
Bombardier who built and manufactured the Southeastern Class 376 Electrostar. I think they should have been nicknamed as “Metrostar”. But it’s nice to see them fully refurbished.
To be honest I actually quite like what Southeastern have done with the Class 376 and seeing them refurbished does make them more smarter.
Good to see the yellow is finally gone but I do wonder why it’s now orange all though I like it I’m sure that’s also an old interior design I’m sure the newer interiors are blue? Shame no air con will be added, toilets aren’t a great miss due to these only being used on short routes, but idealy I think they should’ve atleast added one for those in need.
No toilet is a nightmare after a few drinks going back to Dartford. Particularly as they close the station toilet at 10pm or earlier.
Since Bombardier Transportation (now called Alstom) since the takeover in 2021 and have manufactured the Class 376. I do think that the Class 376 should have been nicknamed as ‘Metrostar’.
Just like the Class 707 that have been named as “City Beam” and were transferred from South Western Railway few years ago. But overall Alstom and Southeastern have done a great job on refurbishing the Class 376 units.
I’ve seen some class 376 carriages with the new livery and even boarded one. However, the interior was still the same old shabby mess.
The repaints and internal changes are separately undertaken. This post is in reference to the first internally upgraded train which is now complete.
In the absence if air-con, which remember is an ongoing draw on electricity consumption and not just a one-off installation expenditure, I think it would have made sense to repaint them in a predominantly white livery to reflect the sun’s infrared radiation and reduce solar heat gain. The livery could include some dark blue to achieve South East Trains network recognition – eg the front part each end carriage to aid recognition when a train in entering a station, but it’s not needed over the whole train.
Refurbished, you mean repainted. The interior is the same old and tired.
No this is the first internally refurbished unit to complete which is separate to the repaint, of which the 36th and last is now underway.
@J Smith: thanks for the further explanation. I guess that given the work involved, it’s not practicable to do both renovations at the same time. I’ll look out for that one set of fully refurbished rolling stock. 😉