Last two new Electrostars enter service

The last two trains in a brand new fleet of 23 Electrostars are now in service on the Bedford to Brighton Thameslink route.

The final four-carriage air-conditioned units (numbers 377503 and 377523) arrived at Bedford on Friday, 15 January, and entered service with First Capital Connect today (Monday).

Now in service... Four of the new fleet at Bedford Carriage Sidings

They operate alongside the existing 20-year-old fleet of class 319 trains giving passengers new standards of comfort and passenger information. And their regenerative braking systems have already fed as much power back into the rail network as needed to run a typical household for over 130 years.

Extra seats for the rush hour

Along with other changes introduced, the new trains have also helped create in under a year almost 5,000 extra peak hour seats across the route that also includes services to Sutton and Wimbledon.

The new fleet was ordered to resource the new timetable in March 2009 which allowed building work to begin at Blackfriars station in London as part of the congestion-busting Thameslink Programme.

However, the last train arrived nine months late, putting considerable strain on the existing fleet the reliability of which was severely affected. This has led to a number of trains running four carriages long instead of eight.

The brand new Electrostars give passengers on the Bedford to Brighton route a much-improved travelling environment with a smoother ride, air-conditioning and the latest on-train passenger information.