Southeastern Networker repainted into original colours
Photo above dates back to 2005 and shows a passing train at Greenwich station
One of Southeastern’s networker trains is being painted back into its original Network SouthEast livery.
It’ll bring back some memories and nostalgia for thousands of commuters and passengers who travelled in the trains when introduced thirty years ago in the early 1990s.
Since then the trains have has a number of paint jobs including Connex’s yellow and blue on select units, white and yellow when re-privatised and then the current dark blue stripe they’ve had since Govia days and now back into government control.
For me the original colour scheme was the best and highlighted features such as through the use of white window frames highlighting rounded corners.
Sadly any photos I have don’t show the colour scheme in great quality. If I recall at the time I was testing out long exposures (without a tripod and not very successfully) which was the reason for these photos existing.
Future
Currently a number of Networkers are in storage and look set for scrap.
One is up in Doncaster and appears to be stripped for parts. Another is in Great Yarmouth and now up for sale.
Yet the bulk of the fleet remain the mainstay of Metro routes day in and day out and look set to continue so for some years to come.
A tender is out for eventual replacement but no award is yet announced. When one is it’ll be years further until the last Class 465 and 466 head for scrap.
Will they make it to 40 years in service? Given how some train introductions have gone such as SWR”s new stock (five years late and counting) it couldn’t be ruled out.
Long before then though that red, blue and white colour scheme will be returning to the tracks sometime soon.
A better photo was posted yesterday (Friday) on this Facebook page… there is an even better one in one of the Comments of the same Facebook post.
https://facebook.com/groups/rtelectricsanddiesels/permalink/9283573635055831/?
Time to break out the three-colour Capitalcard, travel permit and the scratch-off one day bus passes. Last time I saw those colours, City Thameslink station had a different name.
Holborn Viaduct or St Paul’s Thameslink?
Holborn Viaduct, I still have a platform ticket from 91? that I keep meaning to use.
I do think that most of the Class 465 and Class 466 are heading for scrap as they are getting quite old. And I think it’s time that Southeastern should start thinking about ordering brand new trains.
Maybe Alstom could start mass production of the Adessia trains that would see them in service in the next couple years. That’s if Alstom does win the bid to manufacture the Adessia trains for Southeastern. And to number them in the Class 4xx or Class 7xx classification.
I do think that it is very nice to see a Networker train that it’s been painted back in Network Southeast livery. I do remember Network Southeast very well in the 1990’s as I was a child. But it is so nice to see it back once again for the final time.