07:20 Friday 10th April 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
DOTTY MCLEOD: I mentioned that we were going to be talking about some very exciting trains, second generation trains. They’re going to be able to carry more passengers. They’re going to be able to travel whatever the weather. And they are on course to hit Cambridgeshire’s railways next year. The trains for Great Northern and Thameslink groups also have improved access for people with disabilities, and will eventually run non-stop services between stations in Cambridgeshire and Brighton, going right across the capital. Roger Perkins is the Head of Communications at Govia Thameslink Railway. So Roger, tell us about these new second generation trains. What’s different about them?
ROGER PERKINS: Good morning, and thanks for having me on. Actually before I go any further I’d just like to say the trains have been put through some amazing testing in a chamber where they’ve been frozen right down, and shown that they still operate. They can work in all conditions. They’re fully climate controlled. They’re much better than the trains we have in service at the moment on Great Northern.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So this should mean no more delays due to snow.
ROGER PERKINS: Well the reason I wanted to pick that up is that clearly trains are still affected by what they’re running on, the track. And if you’ve got track packed up with snow or you’ve got a tree across the line, or a points that won’t allow you to switch from one side to another, or ice, that’s still going to affect the train, because obviously the train needs tracks and power supplies.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So where are we going to get the second generation tracks Roger?
ROGER PERKINS: Well let me tell you about the second generation trains. They’re going to start arriving on the Cambridge route into London next year. Now what’s really exciting is that these trains have been designed to actually run through a new tunnel that’s being built just outside Kings Cross. And it links on to the Bedford to Brighton Thameslink line. And that means from 2018, when London Bridge has been rebuilt and they’ve removed this bottleneck, we’ll be able to take the train that will start to run to Kings Cross to begin with, these new trains will run straight through this tunnel, and go through Faringdon where people will be able to pick up CrossRail to get to Heathrow, and then down to Gatwick, and then on to Brighton as well. And what we’re looking at is 3,000 extra seats from Cambridge into London by 2018.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So what kind of journey time might you be looking at from say Cambridge to Gatwick?
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