Govia Thameslink Railway has now been given the go-ahead by the Office of Rail and Road to upgrade its Great Northern Class 717 fleet. The upgrades will mark the fleet as the very first to be authorised to move over to the very latest spec of the European Train Control System.

The Class 717 fleet, which is leased from Rock Rail by the rail operator, came fitted with European Train Control System B3MR1 or version 3.4.0 and this authorisation to move forward to the BL3R2 system or version 3.6.0.

The upgrade will allow the trains to run passenger services on the Northern City Line using the latest digital infrastructure which has been installed on the East Coast Main Line as part of the East Coast Digital Programme. The government-funded digital signalling programme will eventually see the replacement of traditional line side signalling with innovative in-cab signalling technology of the European Train Control System.

The upgrade will undergo its final testing during autumn prior to the whole fleet being upgraded during the early part of 2024. This essential preparatory work will enable the trains to be fully ready to use the European Train Control System on the East Coast Main Line in 2025.

Aaron Meakin, ERTMS Fleet Project Manager at Govia Thameslink Railway, said:

“State-of-the-art in-cab signalling is going to give everybody a better rail service. Winning approval from the regulator to upgrade the software on our 717s means we’ll be ready to run these trains on the East Coast Main Line as soon as that’s possible.”

Ricky Barsby, Network Rail’s Head of Access and Integration for the East Coast Digital Programme, said:

“The approval from the Office of Rail and Road is a key step forward on the billion pound East Coast Digital Programme.”

“We continue to make good progress on the scheme, which will bring significant benefits for passengers when complete, including better and more reliable journeys.”

Mark Swindell, CEO Rock Rail, said:

“Rock Rail is very pleased that its Class 717 fleet is the first train to achieve authorisation to upgrade the on-board ETCS digital signalling software to version 3.6.0 as part of the East Coast Digital Programme, a leading digital signalling programme that is essential for increasing capacity and reliability on one of the busiest parts of Britain’s railway network.”

Kevin Clark, Fleet Operations Director at Siemens Mobility UKI, said:

“This is another great example of us working with our industry partners to provide and install the technology which will ensure these trains can provide the best passenger service on the East Coast Mainline.”