The trains which serve Eastbourne under operator Southern are undergoing a makeover.
Southern has just completed the refresh of the 100th Class 377 train.
The refresh programme, which started in August 2011, will see the total fleet of 182 Class 377 trains – which equates to 700 carriages – all upgraded by January 2015.
The refresh of the exterior and interior of the train, includes a deep clean, new carpets and seat covers, interior paint repairs, and graffiti resistant panels.
The programme also includes the overhaul of the bogie which means the time the train is out of service is considerably reduced.
The refresh programme is completed in-house at Southern’s Selhurst depot. The train operator says this means ‘considerable time and financial savings when compared with refreshing them elsewhere’.
John Killeen, Southern fleet manager, said, “With around a million miles under its belt, each train becomes rather tired inside, so this refresh is breathing new life into these 10-year old trains and we’re delighted that we’ve reached the milestone of the 100th refreshed train.
“ The project is being delivered on plan and within budget, which is good news for our passengers who are enjoying trains that are now as good as new.”
All 700 carriages will have been completely refreshed by January 2015, having done around a million miles each.
By the time all the carriages are refreshed, enough new carpet will have been laid to stretch between Brighton and Gatwick Airport, enough brush matting will have been laid to carpet the whole of the Victoria Station concourse, 12 miles of anti-graffiti materials will have been used, and 10,000 litres of paint will have been used.
A time-lapse video of a carriage refresh from start to finish can be found at www.southernrailway.com.
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