Bombardier Electrostar

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The Electrostar, really developed by the former self of Berlin's Bombardier Transportation, Adtranz, is the most popular type of commuter electric multiple unit in Britain since the Thatcher Privatizations which has largely wiped out domestic rail research and development. Although one can argue that the Privatization has brought in better and more reliable equipment from Europe. I'm not getting into that.

Class 375
Nice, simple, modern interior
Anyway, the Electrostar, eh. This little EMU is seen in many shapes and forms and on many suburban and mainline services. This blog has mentioned a couple of types of the Electrostar before, the Gautrain (oh, did I forget to mention this one in South Africa?) and the Class 375/7, which I've had the pleasure of riding during my trips to Britain. This Wikipedia page here sums up where exactly you may find yourself riding an Electrostar, to the best effort of its contributors. Please also feel free to explore the pages dedicated to each Class of the Electrostar EMUs as well. Summing it up in a nutshell, she's a fine little EMU that works under different types of electric systems (overhead catenary, third rail, etc.). 100 mph is the best you'll get out of this commuter train.

Class 376
The reason I wanna mention Electrostar in my blog now is that soon this family of EMUs will enter into its second generation under a different name, Aventra. In fact the latest Electrostar trainsets are already in transition, with some of Aventra's technical features on board. The Aventra will officially début in the form of the Class 345 on London's Crossrail, hopefully starting next year.

Class 378, there are more but I'll stop linking pictures
Again, all photographs courtesy of Wikipedia. Click here to go to the search page on YouTube with the keywords "Bombardier Electrostar".

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