A major investment at Slade Green train maintenance depot is set to improve rail services in the region.
The depot, which employs 180 people locally, has undergone significant upgrades, including the installation of a new wheel lathe, a carriage wash, and an extended overhead gantry. These improvements will enhance the maintenance capabilities of the depot, allowing for smoother and more reliable journeys for passengers.
The new wheel lathe is particularly significant, as it can service the depot’s five-vehicle fleet, including the Class 707 City Beam trains. This increased capacity will help to reduce maintenance downtime and improve overall service reliability.
Mark Johnson, Southeastern’s Engineering Director said: “Our railway is getting busier, and at Southeastern we’re seeing record post-pandemic passenger numbers, with over 400k daily entries and exits being recorded at our London terminals.
“This is encouraging news, and we’re working hard to support this growth by improving performance and reducing subsidy.
“We’re very proud of the great work that is done at Slade Green with Siemens and the wider team to keep our trains in the best possible condition for customer service, with recent improvements we’ve made in partnership with Network Rail ensuring that we have the most cost-effective and efficient maintenance regime, helping us also to prepare for any potential new or cascaded fleet in the coming years.”
David Davidson, Network Rail’s Kent Route Director said: “We are building a better, more reliable and sustainable railway, and underpinning that is our ambition is to deliver better performance and reduce our subsidy.
“It’s really important to the Alliance that we invest in our train depots, so that they meet the needs not only of the current train fleet but also the future train fleet. Our Alliance with Southeastern can achieve so much more as a single structure that can focus on things like performance – and that’s embodied in the way we are investing in Slade Green depot.”
Mark Barry, Fleet Operations Director at Siemens Mobility, said: “It was great to show Daniel Francis MP some of the work our team does at Slade Green, working as one team with Southeastern to maintain our next-generation digital fleet of Desiro City Class 707 trains.
“The technical expertise our team offers, combined with cutting-edge Railigent digital remote monitoring technology to prevent technical failures, helps keep our fleet in service for passengers travelling on the network.”
Daniel Francis, Labour MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford said: “The Slade Green depot in my constituency is approaching its 125th anniversary next year and it’s been great to see the work going on here, the employment opportunities it brings to local people and the maintenance carried out to ensure trains across the network can run every day.”
