Electrostar

Electrostar is the name given to a series of related electric multiple-unit (EMU) passenger trains manufactured by Bombardier Transportation (formerly ADtranz) at their Litchurch Lane Works in Derby, England. Since the privatisation of British Rail, it has become the most common new EMU type in Britain, where different variants referred to as Class 357, Class 375, Class 376, Class 377, Class 378 and Class 379, are most common on the high-volume suburbun commuter routes in South, West, North and East London, and mainline services south to Sussex, Kent & South Essex coasts and north to Cambridge and Stansted Airport. It shares the same bodyshell and core structure as the Turbostar, which is in turn the most common post-privatisation diesel multiple unit (DMU) family, and both evolved from the Class 168 Clubman design by ADtranz.

The Clubman/Turbostar/Electrostar platform is a modular design, which share the same basic design, bodyshell and core structure, and is optimised for speedy manufacture and easy maintenance. It consists of an underframe, which is created by seam-welding a number of aluminium alloy extrusions, upon which bodyside panels are mounted followed by a single piece roof, again made from extruded sections. The car ends (cabs) are made from glass-reinforced plastic and steel, and are huck-bolted onto the main car bodies. Underframe components are collected in ‘rafts’, which are bolted into slots on the underframe extrusion. The mostly aluminium alloy body gives light weight to help acceleration and energy efficiency.

The Electrostar has also been selected for use on the Gautrain system in South Africa, a new railway between Johannesburg, Pretoria, and the Johannesburg International Airport. The trains will be assembled by UCW Partnership in South Africa from components made in Derby.

Transport for London (TfL) announced in August 2006 that it had ordered 48 three- and four-car Electrostar trains for the London Overground service. These were categorised by Network Rail as Class 378, and entered service in 2009 to replace the Class 313 and Class 508 on the North London Line and West London Line, and to provide the opening service on the new East London line extension from 2010.

In 2009, as part of the government's wider rolling stock plan, an order was placed for thirty four-car Class 379 Electrostar units intended for use by National Express East Anglia (now operated by Greater Anglia) on the Stansted Express and West Anglia services. The first of the new Class 379 units entered passenger service on Thursday 3 March 2011 running the 20:10 Stansted Express from London Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport and the 21:15 return service.

c2c
c2c uses Class 357 units on services down the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway line from Shoeburyness and Southend to London Fenchurch Street.

Southeastern
The Class 375 is the backbone of Southeastern's long distance routes, seeing services on most of its lines originating from its London termini (London Victoria, Charing Cross, Cannon Street and London Bridge) including;
 * Chatham Main Line
 * Maidstone East Line
 * Medway Valley Line
 * South Eastern Main Line
 * Hastings Line
 * Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) line
 * Kent Coast Line
 * North Kent Line

On the outer suburban portions of these above routes, Class 465/9 Networkers support the Electrostars, but they do not work in multiple together.

The Class 376 operates on the metro routes in suburban London, in conjunction with the Class 465 and Class 466 Networkers, operating over the London portion of the above lines from the London Termini (including Blackfriars) out to Dartford and Sevenoaks);


 * North Kent Line (to Dartford)
 * Bexleyheath Line (to Dartford)
 * Dartford Loop Line (to Dartford)
 * Chatham Main Line (to Sevenoaks)
 * Maidstone East Line (to Sevenoaks)
 * South Eastern Main Line (to Sevenoaks)
 * Hayes Line

This leaves the Bromley North Line and Sheerness Line, both operated by Class 466s (2 car Networkers) which also used to operate on the Medway Valley Line prior to the May 2012 Timetable Changes.

Southern
Southern's Class 377 fleet is found on all parts of the network apart from the non-electrified routes. They also now run frequently in metro routes alongside the Class 455s and Class 456s.

Main lines

 * Brighton Main Line (Victoria–Gatwick-Brighton)
 * East Coastway (Brighton–Eastbourne/Hastings)
 * West Coastway (Brighton–Portsmouth/Southampton)
 * Arun Valley Line (Victoria–Horsham/Littlehampton/Chichester)
 * West London Line (South Croydon–Milton Keynes Central) (Using Dual Voltage Class 377/2)

Outer suburban

 * London Victoria–Horsham via Dorking
 * London Victoria–East Grinstead
 * London Bridge–Horsham via East Croydon
 * London Bridge-Reigate
 * London Bridge-Tonbridge via Redhill

Suburban
Often found on
 * London Victoria–Dorking via Sutton
 * London Victoria–Epsom Downs
 * London Bridge-London Victoria via Sydenham
 * London Bridge-Caterham
 * London Victoria-Caterham
 * London Victoria-Epsom
 * London Bridge-Tattenham Corner

377s can be also found running overnight on Southern London Victoria–Brighton duties at 1:00am and 4:00am, calling at Clapham Junction, East Croydon, Horley, Gatwick Airport, Three Bridges.

London Overground
London Overground operates Class 378s over four lines around London:
 * North London Line (Richmond-Stratford)
 * West London Line (Clapham Junction-Stratford)
 * Watford DC Line (Euston-Watford)
 * East London Line (Clapham Junction/Crystal Palace/New Cross/West Croydon-Highbury & Islington via Canada Water)
 * South London Line

The sixth major route it's responsible for is the unelectrified Gospel Oak to Barking Line. For this, London Overground obtained Class 172 Turbostar DMUs.

First Capital Connect
Since March 2009 First Capital Connect are running 23 x 4 car Class 377's on the Thameslink Bedford to Brighton route, this increased to 26 x 4 car Class 377's in late 2011.


 * Thameslink, Bedford to Brighton
 * Thameslink, Bedford to Ashford International/Gillingham/Bearsted/Rochester peak only services. (These services will be jointly run by First Capital Connect and Southeastern with services north of Blackfriars operated by First Capital Connect and south by Southeastern).

Greater Anglia
From March 2011 National Express East Anglia introduced 30 x 4 car Class 379s on Stansted Express and West Anglia Main Line services. These incorporate some features of Bombardier's planned 'Aventra' Mark 2 Electrostars.

All units entered service as of mid-August 2011, two months ahead of schedule. A major timetable update in December 2011 entailed the introduction of 12-car trains on some peak workings to/from Cambridge.

These trains are now operated by Greater Anglia as of 5 February 2012.