#6034
British Rail Class 701
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by ALSTOM Transportation Germany· from 2024· Class of British passenger electric multiple units
3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. GBR South Western Railway - 701006 - 2S42 Weybridge-Waterloo: Aubrey· CC BY 4.0
- 2. 701 Kingston: Vanmanyo· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 3. Class 701 at Velim 2: Superalbs· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
The British Rail Class 701 Arterio is a class of electric multiple unit passenger train built by Bombardier Transportation and Alstom at Derby Litchurch Lane Works. Built on the Aventra platform, they are operated by South Western Railway, and operate services between Waterloo and Windsor, Reading, Staines and South West London suburban lines. Ordered in 2017, the trains were originally due to enter service from mid-2019, but were subject to several delays which prevented this.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 2 years ago, in 2024.
- Top speed is 1.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 15 minutes.
- Seats 556: 11 full city buses (~50 seats each).
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 2024
- in service from
- 2024
- status
- in service
- number built
- 90
- kind
- multiple unit
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- ALSTOM Transportation Germany, Alstom
- operators
- South Western Railway
- top speed
- 161 km/h
- power
- —
- formation
- 10 cars per 701/0 unit, 5 cars per 701/5 unit (See Fleet details)
- capacity
- 556 passengers
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
family
Sources: Wikidata Q39059086, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 701 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.