The British Rail Class 395 ''Javelin'' is a dual-voltage

electric multiple-unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a num ...

(EMU) passenger train built by

Hitachi Rail () is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Nissan ''zaibatsu'' and later DKB Group and Fuyo ...

as part of the

Hitachi A-train The Hitachi A-train is a family of rail rolling stock built and designed by Hitachi Rail using a common base and construction techniques. The stock is designed to facilitate a number of product life-cycle improvements including ease of manufacture ...

''AT300'' family for high-speed commuter services on High Speed 1 and elsewhere on the

South Eastern franchise The South Eastern franchise, also known as the Integrated Kent franchise, is a railway franchise for the provision of passenger services between London and Kent in South East England. History The South Eastern franchise was formed as a shadow ...

. The whole fleet is operated by

Southeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

. The Class 395 can operate at a maximum speed of under 25kVAC overhead electrification on High Speed 1, and on 750VDC third rail supply on conventional lines. It is typically formed as a six-car train, although they can be rapidly coupled to one another to form a 12-car train as required. The type, which was entirely manufactured in Japan, is the first Hitachi-built rail vehicle to be sold to a European customer, as well as being the first British order for a Japanese train. The fleet was ordered during June 2005 by HSBC Rail, and was delivered to the UK between August 2007 and August 2009. Following the completion of fault-free running six months ahead of schedule, a 'preview' service was launched between

London St Pancras St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a London station group, central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Bor ...

and Ashford via Ebbsfleet on 18 June 2009. These were gradually expanded until the commencement of the full regular service on 13 December 2009. The use of the high-speed trains as part of the transport infrastructure for the Olympic Park formed part of the original bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The service was named the '' Olympic Javelin'', which formed the origin of the ''Javelin'' nickname. The Olympic services began 28 July 2012. Furthermore, the Class 395 has also been irregularly operated for charter servicesthough the first such uses did not happen until after the 2012 Olympics due to a lack of free units.

History

Background

In December 2003, formal approval was given by the Strategic Rail Authority for domestic services to be run on the under-construction Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) in Kent, England, which has since been rebranded as High Speed 1 (HS1). Preliminary consultations for a new franchise including the envisioned 'CTRL Domestic' services along with new rolling stock for operating the said services, which were to begin in 2004. In 2005, the proposed high-speed services were combined with those from the former South Eastern rail franchise to form the Integrated Kent franchise (IKF). In October 2004, Hitachi was announced as the preferred bidder to supply high-speed trains for the CTRL services. During June 2005, a contract valued at £250million was signed with Hitachi Europe to supply 28 units, with

Eversholt Rail Group Eversholt Rail Group is a British rolling stock company (ROSCO). Together with Angel Trains and Porterbrook, it is one of the three original ROSCOs created as a result of the privatisation of British Rail. Eversholt was established in March 1994 ...

acting as the financier ( ROSCO); at this point, the new fleet had an expected service date of 2009. In November 2005, the Department for Transport announced

Govia Govia is a transport company based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in November 1996 as a joint venture between Go-Ahead Group (65%) and Keolis (35%) to bid for rail franchises during the privatisation of British Rail. History Establi ...

as the new operator of the IKF. The contract was Hitachi's first rail vehicle sold to a European customer. The company had previously worked with HSBC Rail and UK rail authorities between 2002 and 2003 to demonstrate that the company's traction system was suitable for use on the Great Britain rail network, including testing asynchronous AC motors and confirming electromagnetic compatibility, as part of a separate contract involving the upgrade of existing Class 465 and

466 __NOTOC__ Year 466 ( CDLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Leo and Tatianus (or, less frequently, year 1219 '' ...

EMUs. The contract was also the first British order for a Japanese train; as such, Hitachi viewed the deal as a key opportunity to establish itself in the UK market. Construction of the CTRL (High Speed 1) was complete in November 2007. By 2008, the initially planned 'CTRL Domestic' services (2003) from London St Pancras to Gravesend, and Canterbury West and Folkestone Central, via Ashford, had been expanded in scope to include services to Medway Towns, East Kent and Dover. Furthermore, a 29th train was added to the order agreement by franchise holder

so as to provide additional capacity.

Maintenance depots and training

The contract for the trains included maintenance of the trains; according to Hitachi, the maintenance techniques and schedules of which being initially generated from experience of their Shinkansen cousins in Japan. Maintenance services are provided via a consortium, referred to as 'DEPCO', which included HSBC Rail (finance), Fitzpatrick Contractors Ltd (construction), RPS Burks Green (architects/civil engineers), EMCOR UK (mechanical and electrical plant) and

GrantRail VolkerRail is a specialist railway infrastructure services company based in Doncaster, England, providing services across the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is wholly owned by Netherlands-based VolkerWessels, a multi-disciplinary construction an ...

(trackwork) constructed a new maintenance depot building at Ashford and the updating of the existing depot site. The new Ashford Depot was constructed on the site of the Ashford Down Yard Carriage Sidings, and formally opened on 2 October 2007. The facility included a five-track trainshed with bogie drop made by BBM and train lifting equipment from Mechan. A second building housed a wheel lathe from Sculfort. Other facilities included carriage washing plant, a 25kV OHL test track, and sidings for rolling stock. The design and layout of the depot, which was optimised specifically for the Class 395, enables the most efficient workflow possible, including minimal complex shunting actions, physical minimisation wherever reasonable, and in line with modern data management practices. A Class 395 train simulator supplied by Corys TESS was acquired for use at Southeastern's training centre in Ashford for driver training. Southeastern's co-parent company SNCF also assisted with high-speed driver training. The DEPCO consortium also updated

Ramsgate train depot Ramsgate railway station serves the town of Ramsgate in Thanet in Kent, England, and is at least 10 minutes' walk from the town centre. The station lies on the Chatham Main Line, down the line from , the Kent Coast Line, and the Ashford to Ram ...

for the IKF with facilities including storage sidings for the Class 395 trains and light maintenance facilities.

Testing and preview service

Pre-shipping factory tests included static and dynamic load tests, traction and braking tests, including tests on a 750VDC third-rail system specially installed at Hitachi's test track. This round of manufacturer tests included the use of supercomputers to conduct both simulations and verification tests. The first train was delivered from Japan to

Southampton Docks The Port of Southampton is a passenger and cargo port in the central part of the south coast of England. The modern era in the history of the Port of Southampton began when the first dock was inaugurated in 1843. The port has been owned and op ...

on 23 August 2007. Days later, it was unveiled by Secretary of State for Transport

Ruth Kelly Ruth Maria Kelly (born 9 May 1968) is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolton West from 1997 until she stood down in 2010. Previously, she served as the Secretary of State for Transport, ...

at a media event held at Hitachi's new Ashford maintenance facility. Following the delivery of the first four units in March 2008, production was temporarily put on hold while these units were subjected to extensive UK-based testing. Homologation testing was undertaken by Serco. SNCF International assisted with testing of KVB and TVM 430 signalling systems, with speeds of attained in January 2008. Following the successful completion of these tests, production and shipping of the main production tranche commenced in December 2008. Each train was required to demonstrate of fault-free operations prior to their acceptance by Southeastern. The final three trains arrived in the UK in August 2009, with the final train delivered to

on 11 December 2009. The performance metric of fault-free running was achieved six months ahead of schedule, clearing the way for a 'preview' service to be offered between London St Pancras and Ashford via Ebbsfleet. On 18 June 2009, these were ceremonially launched by the Secretary of State for Transport

Andrew Adonis Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis, (born Andreas Adonis; 22 February 1963) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and journalist who served in HM Government for five years in the Third Blair ministry, Blair ministry and the Brown mi ...

, although the preview service only became available to general passengers on 29 June. The preview service allowed for further train testing under real-world conditions, during which the type reportedly achieved a 99% punctuality rate in the first month of operations. In September 2009, preliminary services were launched to the Kent coast (Dover via Folkestone, and Ramsgate via Canterbury). During November 2009, preview services commenced on the

North Kent line The North Kent Line is a railway line which branches off the South East Main Line at St Johns junction west of Lewisham station in Greater London and runs to Rochester Bridge Junction near Strood, Medway where it links to the Chatham Main Li ...

as well. Even during the preview service, the Class 395 presented several performance improvements in comparison to conventional rolling stock, including its high rate of acceleration, lower noise levels (primarily attributed to its

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

arrangements), and its aesthetic appeal. Railway journalist Richard Clinnick observed several minor shortcomings of the interior, such as the somewhat cramped seating arrangement and the lack of securing straps at the baby changing facility, but positively reviewed the overall package. In September 2010, it was reported that several passengers were concerned by the presence of a 'wobbling' motion that occurred within some tunnel sections; the phenomenon was described by Southeastern as non-dangerous, but all trains were fitted with dampers that prevent any recurrence of the issue.

Operations and performance

A full regular service commenced on 13 December 2009. Initial services included a half-hourly north Kent service to and from St Pancras, London, via Stratford, Ebbsfleet, Gravesend, Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham, and Sittingbourne to Faversham, a half-hourly service to East Kent via Stratford, Ebbsfleet, Ashford with one train continuing to Margate via Canterbury West, Ramsgate and Broadstairs, with the other to Dover via Folkestone West and Folkestone Central. Seven million journeys were made in the first year of operation. The introduction of the trains was generally successful, with good reliability and passenger satisfaction figures. The new high-speed services also caused an increase in passenger numbers above that already being experienced on the Kent network. On introduction, timetabled journeys to London from Ebbsfleet were reduced from 51 to 18 minutes, whilst trains using the entire length of High Speed 1 (starting in Ashford) had timetabled journeys reduced by around 45 minutes. However, the service has been criticised as being of limited use to many London commuters because trains terminate at St Pancras. Additionally, the change in service patterns to accommodate high-speed trains resulted in some non-high-speed services in Kent becoming slower. In May 2011, a limited service from Maidstone West via and started, followed in September 2011 by a limited service from Sandwich via Deal to London St Pancras (partially subsidised by Kent County Council). In 2013, four years after the service started, total passenger numbers were ten million and punctuality was 92.6% (compared to 90.1% nationwide).

Design

The 400 Series ''Mini Shinkansen'' and Hitachi's A Train design form the basis of the Class 395 design. From the 400 Series the class inherits the same six-car 20-metre carriage with doors at one-third and two-thirds along the carriage. Both types of train are designed for operations at high speed on newly built lines, as well as at lower speed on conventional legacy lines. Unlike the steel-bodied 400 Series, the Class 395 has its carbody (walls, roof, floor) formed from friction stir welded (FSW) double-walled hollow extruded aluminium body panels, a technology that Hitachi Rail considers to be a part of its A-Train train family specification. The manufacturer claims that the FSW approach achieves minimal strain while providing a lightweight and high strength carbody in comparison to conventional techniques. Each Class 395 unit contains six cars, formed DPT1-MS1-MS2-MS3-MS4-DPT2. The intermediate cars carry the traction motors - one at each axle - while the unpowered outer cars carry the pantographs. The bogies are bolsterless, with both powered and unpowered bogies sharing a common design to simplify maintenance. Each six-car unit can work in multiple with another to create 12-car trains. The coupling process is automated and has been designed to take less than 60seconds. The propulsion system of the Class 395 comprises 16 electric motors each rated to produce that work in conjunction with four IGBT converter/inverter units. In combination with its braking system, it can achieve a peak acceleration rate of and a normal maximum deceleration rate of , although the latter can be elevated to under emergency circumstances. The train uses an electrically operated air brake system, supplied by Faiveley. Approximately 40% of the train's components were sourced from suppliers within the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. Each six-car train is fitted with 340 seats in 2+2 formation, all standard class, with an additional twelve tip-up priority seats located in an indicated wheelchair area near the vestibules of the DPT1 vehicle. There is no separation between the vestibules and the main interior save for wind shields. There are two toilets per unit, one of which is larger and designed to be universally accessible. The seats are mostly arranged 'airline' style, though there are also a small number of table seats present in each car. Nearly all seats feature flip-down tables and coat hooks, while a single electrical socket has been provided for each pair of seats. The interior design and layout is in conformance with the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 2010. The trains meet UK Railway Group Standards (RGS), and European Union

Technical Specifications for Interoperability A technical specification for interoperability (abbreviated as TSI) is a text provided for in European Directive 2016/797 adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on the interoperability of the European rail system ...

(TSI) standards for

crashworthiness Crashworthiness is the ability of a structure to protect its occupants during an impact. This is commonly tested when investigating the safety of aircraft and vehicles. Depending on the nature of the impact and the vehicle involved, different crit ...

, and UK or EU standards for structure-load-bearing behaviour, material strength, aerodynamics, noise and fire resistance. Key areas of the train's design that were heavily influenced by these standards were its fireproofing measures and crashworthiness approach, which Hitachi observed to bear considerable differences with their corresponding Japanese standards. In addition to the applicable standards, the Class 395 was greatly shaped by the various criteria specified by the customer. Wherever it has been beneficial to do so, the various technologies and new approaches developed for the type have been incorporated by Hitachi back into its main product lines. Each train is equipped with a computer-based Train Management System (TMS), which incorporates numerous monitoring systems, communications, environmental controls, and enables the train crew to control various onboard systems, including

Selective Door Operation Selective door operation (SDO), also known as selective door opening, is a mechanism employed primarily on trains (although buses with multiple doors also generally have this feature) that allows the driver or conductor/guard to open the doors of ...

(SDO). The TMS features considerable redundancy, which has enabled it to obtain a SIL 2 safety certification. The SDO system uses a combination of

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

and train speed integration to estimate its position and identify the station at which the train has stopped, simplifying the correct door selection sequence. For reliability, passenger doors use a relatively simple sliding pneumatic system that has already been in use for several decades on Shinkansen trains.

Named units

A mockup 395 was named after athlete Dame Kelly Holmes; the name was subsequently transferred to an operational unit and 11 other "fast Britons" Jamie Staff,

Steve Backley Stephen James Backley, OBE (born 12 February 1969) is a retired British track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He formerly held the world record, and his throw from 1992 is the British record. During his career, he was a ...

, Sir Steve Redgrave,

Rebecca Adlington Rebecca Adlington (born 17 February 1989) is a British former competitive swimmer who specialised in freestyle events in international competition. She won two gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 400-metre freestyle and 800-metre ...

Sir Chris Hoy Sir Christopher Andrew Hoy MBE (born 23 March 1976) is a former track cyclist and Racing driver from Scotland who represented Great Britain at the Olympic and World Championships and Scotland at the Commonwealth Games. Hoy is eleven-times a w ...

Ben Ainslie Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie (born 5 February 1977) is a British competitive sailor. Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history. He won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1996 onwards, including gold at the four consecutiv ...

Daley Thompson Francis Morgan Ayodélé Thompson, (born 30 July 1958), better known as Daley Thompson, is a British former decathlete. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four tim ...

Duncan Goodhew Duncan Alexander Goodhew, (born 27 May 1957) is an English former competitive swimmer. After swimming competitively in America as a collegian at North Carolina State University, he was an Olympic swimmer for Great Britain and won Olympic gold a ...

Katherine Grainger Dame Katherine Jane Grainger (born 12 November 1975) is a British former rower and current Chair of UK Sport. She is a 2012 Summer Olympics gold medallist, four-time Olympic silver medallist and six-time World Champion. She served as Chancell ...

, Lord Sebastian Coe, and Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson; all Olympic/Paralympic medallistswere selected in a public vote. Following the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, Southeastern announced that another 12 units would be named after members of

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their Great Britain at the Olympics, British Olympic team. The brand was developed after Great Britain at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the nation's poor perfor ...

, including Alistair Brownlee,

Ed Clancy Edward Franklin Clancy (born 12 March 1985) is a British former professional track and road bicycle racer, who competed between 2004 and 2021. During his career, Clancy won four medals (three gold, one bronze) at the Summer Olympic Games, ...

Hannah Cockroft Hannah Lucy Cockroft (born 30 July 1992) is a British wheelchair racer specialising in sprint distances in the T34 classification. She holds the world records for the 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres ...

Jessica Ennis Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill (born 28 January 1986) is a British retired track and field athlete from England, specialising in multi-eventing disciplines and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, ...

Mo Farah Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a British long-distance runner. His ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) make him the most successful male track distance runner ever ...

Jason Kenny Sir Jason Francis Kenny, (born 23 March 1988) is an English former track cyclist, specialising in the individual and team sprints. Kenny is the holder of most Olympic gold medals (7) and medals (9) for a British athlete. His wife, Laura Ke ...

Jonnie Peacock Jonathan Peacock MBE (born 28 May 1993) is an English sprint runner... An amputee, Peacock won gold at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and 2016 Summer Paralympics, representing Great Britain in the T44 men's 100 metres event. He won a Bronze m ...

Victoria Pendleton Victoria Louise Pendleton, (born 24 September 1980) is a British jockey and former track cyclist who specialised in the sprint, team sprint and keirin disciplines. She is a former Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champion. With two ...

, Ellie Simmonds, Dame Sarah Storey, Laura Trott, and David Weir. In November 2016, unit 395016 was named 'Somme 100' to commemorate the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. On 8 June 2019, unit 395013 was named 'Hornby Visitor Centre'.

Fleet details

Accidents

*At 3pm on 23 October 2017, 395008 (heading towards London St Pancras) struck a delivery van on a level crossing near Teynham between Faversham and Sittingbourne.

Model railways

In 2009

Hornby Railways Hornby Railways is a British model railways manufacturing company. Its roots date back to 1901 in Liverpool, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was produced in 1920. In 1938, ...

launched two model versions of the BR Class 395, a super detailed model, and a basic representation of the prototype as part of their Railroad range both in South Eastern Blue livery and in 2012 Hornby released a special Olympic Games Livery in both super detail and basic in

OO gauge OO gauge or OO scale (also, 00 gauge and 00 scale) is the most popular standard-gauge model railway standard in the United Kingdom, outside of which it is virtually unknown. OO gauge is one of several 4 mm-scale standards (4 mm to 1 foot, ...

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * *

External links

* {{High-speed rail High-speed trains of the United Kingdom

395 __NOTOC__ Year 395 ( CCCXCV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Olybrius and Probinus (or, less frequently, year 1148 ...

Hitachi multiple units Passenger trains running at least at 200 km/h in commercial operations United Kingdom streamliner trains 25 kV AC multiple units 750 V DC multiple units Train-related introductions in 2009