Morning, first Friday in June
The summer is kind of here
Definitely spring. Nicer weather is upon us
So I thought that's the day, that's the time to take a trip
to the seaside, Southend Central to be precise
and to get there, get the train c2c from here
Fenchurch Street and quite by chance,
no I knew it was happening,
the brand new c2c class 720 Aventra train
There's a press preview where they're showing it off today
It's coming into service soon
So we're going for a ride to have a look
at c2cs brand new train
There's the 357's, there's the new 720
So this is your Aventra series build of trains
Greater Anglia of course already have some 720's
but c2c are getting, well they were originally
gonna be designated 711's I think
But in the end they've stuck to the 720 number
But the 720 slash six series
and this is 720/605.
They've programmed us into the DMI
We're the 11:21 Southend Central
like an express, our own private express train
That's fun.
Teeny side note, I've never been this far down the platforms
at Fenchurch Street before.
I didn't realise you can see the DLR Tower gateway
right there. In my whole London life,
Why have I never walked down this end of the platforms?
Do you wanna get on?
Morning, watch your step
Absolutely
There's a lot of people on board
I dunno who half these people are, but we're all going
for a trip to Southend direct
I'm gonna go down and find a quieter part of the train
and we'll start ...
Morning
And we'll start to, we'll start to analyse it
I was just about to proclaim that it's three by two seating
'cause I'm in a three by two seating.
But down there and over there it's two by two seating
So when people say is it three by two or two by two?
It's both. It's a mix
I do like, I really like the maquette though
I think it's the same pattern design as the Greater Anglia
720's but they're sort of primary colour is red isn't it?
Where c2c, I'm told this is not pink, this is magenta
So they've got like magenta colour
So similar but not exactly the same seat maquette
the whole thing though is just super clean, super bright
But because it's a new train, it won't take long for it
to just sort of, you know, the carpet to get a bit worn
and a bit tatty and for people to leave discarded rubbish
There's a clock up here. That's nice
Of course there's sockets, USB, and three pin plugs
I'm gonna go and find the toilet
and see what the toilets are all about
Are you having fun taking pictures of the new trains?
I am. I'm so excited
And the best thing is there's...
Why are you excited?
There's a full length mirror in the toilets
What?
Have you have you not really?
I've heard a lot of good things about the toilets
Go and have a look
Honestly that is, that's revolutionary
That's like, this is like an Instagram train
It's in Instagram colours
It's ready for Instagram
Oh is it me, or is it super air conditioned?
Is it cooler in here?
It's really cool in here. Yeah
We've got it. Too dang cold to be honest with you
So how's your 720?
Lovely and smooth, smooth, quiet
So it's not the rails making it smooth
It's the train that is smooth
It's the driver making it smooth. (laughs)
That is the correct answer
Yeah, no they're great
They've been a long time coming
but we're glad they're here
We can't wait to get 'em out in service to be honest
Do you wish the entire fleet was the new trains?
Because you're gonna have to drive a mix of old and new,
aren't you?
I think the drivers would naturally want the newer trains
as possible. So yeah
Driver head on
I would love them all to be like this
Yeah, absolutely
So these are much better to drive
A lot smoother, A lot quieter
Oh okay
We're nearly at Southend yeah
Sun's out. We're at Southend
New train. Exciting day
Hi
You're Rob. Rob Mullen, right?
I am Rob
The managing director
I am
The big, big boss of c2c
Something like that
Do you not know?
I do know
That is your job
Yes, it is my job
I'm loving your new trains
Good
The obvious question I must ask
I know what the answer is
but I just want hear you sort of expand on it
Is that you're not replacing the whole fleet of 357's
There's only a small number of these
Why is that?
Well, so there are 12 five cars
You know, we ordered these pre covid so we can't replace all
of our 357's, our, you know, stock fleet
But I guess the aspiration longer term is to make sure
we've got a newer fleet
So let's watch this space
What's your favourite thing about these trains?
Cause I think the fact that they're walkthrough
and there's the deep windows just seems very bright
and spacious
Yeah, I think I agree
Like the light that goes through those trains is fantastic
you know, I mean of course they're brand new
at the moment, you know, we've gotta keep them that way
You've gotta keep that new feeling
Yeah, yeah, yeah
But even, even things like power at seat, you know
better air con you know, better wifi,
I think our customers will have a much better experience
on those units.
And we've come to Southend on the press trip here
Yeah
Will they be running on the Southend branch
or the Grace Tilbury branch?
Which, where will you put the units?
Well we could, we could put them anywhere because...
Okay.
We have that flexibility within, you know
we've got the 10 co-operation so we can run them
up on Tilbury and we can run them here Southend
Okay. And it's right at the beginning of June now
So tell the YouTube interne
when will the first passenger one be in service?
Is there a date? Is there a hot date?
There is. Hello. Hello YouTube network
That's how to do it. Yeah, that's it
Hello YouTube network
I love putting managing directors
of major train operating companies
on the spot and getting them to say hello YouTube
Hello. Hello YouTube
Well hey, I don't have an exact date but we're
After all that, after all that
But we're aiming for September, so yeah
hopefully can see these flying around
Rob, thank you very much
No problem. Thanks Geoff
Thank you. Thanks for your time
Phil's turned up
Hello?
It's not a Geoff video until Phil appears
I feel that's like the rule
That's your rule, not mine Geoff
Okay. Technically the Aventra series of trains
the first was the 345 cross rail trains
Yep
And then just remind ourselves who else got some
So like GA have some don't West Mids have some
and who else?
So crossrails was first
Yes
Then London overground
Oh the 710's
710's. Yes. Yeah
Then Greater Anglia 720's
Yes
Which are like they've got over a hundred of them
But they're 720 slash one slash 2
Where these are 720 ...
These are slash ones and slash fives
Okay. And the west mids?
So West mids are 730's
730's and ...
Two variants, three and five cars
And then technically even though the front of the train
is a different shape
Southwest have got some as well, haven't they?
Yeah, Southwest have got some, well the West mids ones
are a different shape 'cause they've got corridor
connectors
What numbers are they?
That's 730
730's
Southwest is 701's
And they're still not in service are they?
No, no
A long time
So the 701's have got like a flatter cab
and a smaller cab
Yes
Which is part of what's caused some of the problems
So is this the last batch?
This is the last batch of Aventras we think
Are any more gonna turn up anywhere down the road?
We were talking about this earlier on the train
We can't remember which order they were actually ordered in
But are any more gonna turn up?
This is the tail end
So these are the last ...
Well I still would love to build some more but ...
Are you a fan of three by two seating
or two by two seating? You can say both
(whispering) say both
Well, so having got my rucksack I did struggle to walk
down the aisle of that earlier
I think three plus two is a bit tricky
They are by the way two five car trains coupled up,
10 car unit in total
They just look really smart
I love the livery
The livery by the way, the c2c colour
I've been speaking to the people here today
It's not pink, it's magenta
I love the c2c magenta colour
I never realised how much I liked it before
and on the new units. It looks awesome
(doors beep)
Came to Southend, came to the seaside
Didn't get an ice cream, but I think they're about
to give us a free lunch on the way back
Having a little meeting over there
We get the train back express again
So exciting express from Southend back to Fenchurch Street
I'm loving the walkthrough
It's just spacious and clean and you see the windows
Look how deep
Look how deep the windows are
If you sit by a window seat
you are getting a lot of daylight
That is great.
Think of some trains where the windows aren't as
deep as this. They're quite narrow
Good job c2c on the deep, deep windows. I love that
If we go into the loo, can you see, oh hi there
There's like a little red light there and there and there
And this actually shows you where to position your hand
for the soap, water and dryer
So if I put my hand where this red light is
sure enough the water comes out
(water trickles)
If I put my hand there, the soap comes out
If I put my hand there, that's where the dryer is
I can't think of any other train
where you get three little red lights
Does that happen anywhere else?
I don't think so
And yes, there's a space beneath the seats as well
to put your bags and luggage and stuff
And I'm told like with the Greater Anglia 720's
that there is under floor heating as well
I just love how you can see all the way
down the train there
And I'm sat in the accessible area
where there's a wheelchair space
and flip down seats and a accessible toilet there too
And I think that's it
We're on the approach back in to Liverpool Street
Fenchurch Street
What'd I say?
You said Liverpool Street
I meant Fenchurch street
I'm leaving it in. That's funny
I always like to make one mistake
Why did I say Liverpool Street?
Thanks Phil. Phil's just here to correct me
They run to Liverpool Street on Saturdays
On the weekend. Yeah, let's pretend it's a Saturday
Yeah. And I meant a weekend service
Oh right
We'd like to thank you for travelling with c2c
Please remember to take your belongings with you
Thank you very much for attending our special event
(door beeps)
So we're back at Fenchurch Street, not Liverpool Street
Get that right Geoff
Coming soon to the c2c network to Southend
and all their destinations are
the 720/6 Aventra trains
Thanks for watching
See you soon. Bye