Southeastern’s programme to replace its older Networker trains continues and will give commuters better services on these newer, more comfortable trains.

They started transferring the City Beams from the South Western Railway (SWR) fleet in September 2021, and with these final 2 units, that process is now complete.

Thirty class 707 ‘City Beam’ five-car trains will now service the Grove Park, Hayes, and Dartford ‘Metro’ routes.

The last two units were switched over from the SWR red livery into Southeastern blue at the Gillingham depot following their transfer on 7 September.

Customers like the City Beams for their bright, spacious, accessible interiors, Wi-Fi, handy power sockets, and modern customer information systems showing where customers can find space on board.

They also have two wheelchair spaces for every five carriages. Not to mention air-conditioned carriages and improved heating and ventilation.

The Class 707s are leased from Angel Trains and maintained by Southeastern in partnership with the manufacturer, Siemens.

Southeastern, owned by Govia, runs train services into London from Kent and East Sussex, operating over 2,000 trains a day, carrying more than 640,000 passengers. It serves 176 stations covering 540 miles of track.

The name ‘City Beam’ highlights their primary role in delivering, or beaming, passengers across the capital. The name also refers to the trains’ design. There are no inter-carriage doors, so there is an uninterrupted view from one end to the other, making it like a ray or beam of light in motion.

We’re really proud that our Class 707’s, the City Beams, have been serving passengers in the South East since 2021, playing an important role in transforming journeys for Southeastern passengers. The deployment of the final two trains marks a major milestone in the complete transfer of our fleet to Southeastern which has been a great collaborative effort between Southeastern and Angel Trains.

Sambit Banerjee, Joint CEO for Siemens Mobility UK & Ireland