Southern starts Class 442 driver training

15 August 2008

Class 442 No 2413 on a Brighton-Three Bridges-Eastbourne driver training run on 24 July, photographed on the Lewes-Eastbourne line between Glynde and Berwick. Ken Harris

Driver training courses have started for around 130 Southern and Gatwick Express drivers on Class 442 EMUs which will run between Brighton and London Victoria and will form the Gatwick Express extended services from December this year.

Six Gatwick Express services will be extended to run from Brighton in the morning weekday peak from December, with a similar number returning to Brighton in the evening. This will add around 2,000 extra seats, increasing capacity on the Brighton main line by almost 11%. The stopping pattern is expected to be fast from Victoria to Gatwick and then a number of intermediate stops between Gatwick and Brighton.

Refurbishment of 17 Class 442 units in preparation for this new service is going ahead at Wolverton. The work will see the removal of the Œbuffet and snug¹ section and also the first class compartments. A new first class section in conventional Œopen¹ style will be created in the MBLS vehicle and additional luggage racks are to be fitted to the vestibule bulkheads.

The vestibules will be increased in size, with tip-up seats added, and the doors leading into the saloons will be increased in size. Trains will generally be formed as two five-car units, with each ten-car formation offering around 600 seats, compared to around 350 in an eight-car Class 460 Gatwick Express set. Tony Miles