The British Rail Class 720 is a class of electric multiple units built by Bombardier for Greater Anglia and c2c. They will be operated on suburban lines out of and . All 111 of the Greater Anglia units are expected to be introduced from 2020. The c2c units are currently planned to enter service in 2021.
Description
The units will be fully air conditioned, seat back tables and power sockets, passenger-loading / capacity indicators in passenger information system with on-train Wi-Fi and toilets. The seating will be in a 3+2 arrangement, and cantilevered off the floor to create more space for bags. Each five car unit will be 122 m long and provide 540 standard class seats, and ten car units will be 234 m long, and provide 1,100 standard class seats. There will be no first class accommodation in any Class 720 train. Similarly to London Overground units, trains will have through gangways to encourage passengers to spread out across the train. In September 2017, Greater Anglia first unveiled a mockup of the interior on-board the trains and following a consultation which solicited 1,000 responses from members of the public, some changes are to be made to the interior. This includes replacing the originally intended Fainsa seating with softer seating from Kiel as well as the addition of seat back tables. The units will also feature underfloor heating.
History
Greater Anglia
In August 2016, Greater Anglia was awarded the East Anglia franchise with a commitment to replace all of the existing fleet. As part of this an order was placed with Bombardier for 111 electric multiple units that would join the Aventra family. These new trains were designated as the Class 720 and are divided into two sub-classes; 89 five-carriage 720/5 units and 22 ten-carriage 720/1 units. They are to replace the Class 317 and 321 units, together with the more modern 360 and 379 fleets currently used on Outer suburban services on the West Anglia and Great EasternMain Lines. They will be built at Derby Litchurch Lane Works and financed by Angel Trains.
c2c
In 2017, c2c announced it had reached an agreement with Bombardier to obtain 60 vehicles from its Aventra product range, formed into six 10-car trains, to enter service in approximately 2021. They will be classified as the Class 720/6, having originally been designated as the Class 711. The new ‘Aventra’ trains will replace the six four-car Class 387s currently running along side the 357s.
Operation
Greater Anglia
Production of the first unit for Greater Anglia began in February 2018 and was completed in September 2018. The units were initially due to enter service in 2019, but this has now been delayed to some point in 2020. After this delay was announced, the testing of the first unit finally began on 17 March 2020 on the Shenfield to Southend Line.
Fleet details
The units resemble that of the and built for Crossrail and London Overground respectively. However, owing to the services that they will operate, the 720s will be built with a faster top speed of, and will be fitted with a more appropriate interior.
