Class 350

Class 350 at Harrow & Wealdstone

The Class 350 the most popular Desrio which has been operated by the most number of TOCs, including Southern, Sliverlink and TransPennine Express. The class 350 is a 110mph dual voltage electric multiple unit, which are currently being operated solely by London Northwestern Railway.

History

The class 350/1 was ordered by the Strategic Rail Authority after cancelling the South West Trains 32 five coach Class 450/2s. The 350/1s entered service in June 2005 with Sliverlink and Central trains in a neutral blue grey livery on there jointly operated West Coast Mainline services. The 350/1s are the only dual voltage units in the class 350 family. Then in 2007 London Midland ordered an extra 37 350s which were given the sub class /2, which feature 3+2 seating rather than 2+2 seating found on the other units. The 350/2s entered service in 2009 on more local services. In 2009 Southern sub-leased some 350/1s from London Midland to replace the 377s to allow for 12 car First Capital Connect services, created from the freed up Southern 377/2s. In 2013 London Midland ordered 10 extra 350s for extra capacity which became the 350/3s, First TransPennine Express also ordered a fleet of ten 350s for Manchester to Scotland via West Coast Main Line services which became the 350/4s. Both the 350/3s and 350/4s came with 110mph running as standard, the 350/1s were upgraded at a similar time. The first 350/4 entered service on the 30 December 2013 following completion of electrification of the Chat Moss line and the first 350/3 entered service in October 2014. The 350/4s were subsequently replaced by a fleet of 12 CAF 397s, which allowed the 350/4s to move to West Midlands Trains, which took over from London Midland on the 9th of December 2017. In late 2018 as part of HS2 the class 350/2s where upgraded to 110mph top speed to allow all 350s to use the 110mph timings, which increases the capacity on the West Coast Mainline. In October 2024 West Midlands Trains sent the first 350/2 off lease. In December 2024 Rail confirmed that Northern will be taking the 37 strong fleet of 350/2s to replace there class 323s as spare parts are more easy to get for the 350s rather than the Class 323s.