Class 345

Elizabeth Line 345, 345064 West Ealing

The Class 345 Aventra is a fleet of 80 9 car 90mph electric multiple units working on the Elizabeth line. They were built by Alstom between 2015-2026, in two batches with the first batch being 70 units for the intinal operation of the Elizabeth Line however due to rapid growth, which has made the Elizabeth Line Britain's Busiest Railway which has lead to the ordering of an extra 10 units which had the added benefit of keeping Derby Litchurch Lane Works open and building trains.

Introduction

The Class 345s were introduced on the Great Eastern Main Line originally as 7 car units to replace the Class 315 on the 22nd of June 2017. The Class 345s were introduced on the Western side between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington due to not being approved to run to Heathrow, during that time the Class 360 worked the Heathrow services. The 345s started a soft launch service of 6 trains per day to Reading in December 2019 before the timetable change. The Class 345s were branded as TfL Rail until the 24th of May 2022 when the CCOS opened. The Class 345 completed the replacement of the Class 315s on the 9th of December 2022 after through running having been introduced.

Features

The Class 345s feature Wi-Fi, Plug Sockets at the Bays of Seats. The Class 345 Feature a mix of Bays of 4 and Longitudinal seating by the Doors and in the End carriages to provide a compromise between the shorter hops like Bond Street to Farringdon and the Longer Hops like Reading to Abbey Wood.

Systems

The Class 345s feature multiple signalling systems. The class 345s use CBTC between Westbourne Park Turn Back Sidings and Abbey Wood/Stratford (London) controlled from Romford Signal Box. From London Liverpool Street (High Level) to Shenfield and London Paddington (High Level) to Reading/Heathrow Lights on sticks controlled from Thames Valley Signalling Centre for Western and Upminster IECC for Eastern which both feature the standard safety systems of AWS and TPWS. The Western section between Ealing Broadway and West Drayton/Heathrow Branch has ETCS which replaced the BR-ATP for Heathrow Express. The Class 345s base signalling system is ETCS, with Lights on Sticks and CBTC being National Train Control (NTC) modes for ETCS. In addition the multiple signalling systems the Class 345s also feature a GPS based Selective Door Operation for stations like Twyford, which have short platforms which are either to costly to extend or can't not be extended for example in Twyford's case because of the Henley-on-Thames Branch connection.