It Looks Like 315817 Is The Prototype Overground Class 315 Train

Since Sunday, I’ve ridden on quite a few Class 315 trains, both of the Overground and TfL Rail. Although, I saw 315817 on Monday at Enfield Town station, I hadn’t got a chance to ride in one that as one the Overground’s managers had told me, had spent ten days in the maintenance shop being cleaned, painted and dressed. Today, there had been overhead line problems, so what should turn up at Hackney Downs station after a longer than usual wait, but 315817.

In my view, the design of the new livery is good and the ten days in the shop were well spent.

Good points include.

1. Getting rid of the awful pink!

2. Cleverly adapting the Class 378 colours and fabric, so that costs of the refurbishment are minimised.

3. The new Tube-style route map and the cut down central Tube map. Harry Beck, Frank Pick et. al., set down a good set of rules.

4. Affordable seat refurbishment on the original frames.

When the train arrived at Liverpool Street, I noted it was an eight-car train, with an unrefurbished unit in tandem with 315817. But then eight-car trains are used quite regularly on Lea Valley Lines services in the peak periods.

So it would appear that if business becomes too much for four-car trains, London Overground will just couple them together and make them 8-car trains, thus avoiding the problems of success on the North and East London Lines.

And there is probably no shortage of Class 315 trains, with London Overground having seventeen of them and TfL Rail forty-four.

I do suspect though, that 315817 is probably the only train that has so far been refurbished. I look forward to see the rest as they trickle through.