At the dawn of the 21st century, as part of its franchise agreement, South West Trains (SWT) was required to order new trains to replace the old slam-door stock of Classes 411, 412, 421 and 423. Therefore, in April 2001, an order was placed with Siemens AG for 785 vehicles. This order was originally to be split as 100 four-car Class 450/0 outer-suburban units, 32 five-car Class 450/2 inner-suburban units and 45 five-car Class 444 express units. The Class 444 fleet was built by Siemens at its Vienna plant in Austria. Before shipping to Britain via the Channel Tunnel, units were extensively tested at the test-track at Wildenrath. This extensive testing procedure was performed as in attempt to reduce the time taken for new trains to enter service, by ironing out any problems beforehand. Many
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| - At the dawn of the 21st century, as part of its franchise agreement, South West Trains (SWT) was required to order new trains to replace the old slam-door stock of Classes 411, 412, 421 and 423. Therefore, in April 2001, an order was placed with Siemens AG for 785 vehicles. This order was originally to be split as 100 four-car Class 450/0 outer-suburban units, 32 five-car Class 450/2 inner-suburban units and 45 five-car Class 444 express units. The Class 444 fleet was built by Siemens at its Vienna plant in Austria. Before shipping to Britain via the Channel Tunnel, units were extensively tested at the test-track at Wildenrath. This extensive testing procedure was performed as in attempt to reduce the time taken for new trains to enter service, by ironing out any problems beforehand. Many
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| - A Class 444 Desiro Standard Class carriage interior
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| - British Rail Class 444 Desiro
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| - South West Trains Class 444 Desiro 4440030 sparks through St Denys with a London Waterloo bound service.
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| - At the dawn of the 21st century, as part of its franchise agreement, South West Trains (SWT) was required to order new trains to replace the old slam-door stock of Classes 411, 412, 421 and 423. Therefore, in April 2001, an order was placed with Siemens AG for 785 vehicles. This order was originally to be split as 100 four-car Class 450/0 outer-suburban units, 32 five-car Class 450/2 inner-suburban units and 45 five-car Class 444 express units. The Class 444 fleet was built by Siemens at its Vienna plant in Austria. Before shipping to Britain via the Channel Tunnel, units were extensively tested at the test-track at Wildenrath. This extensive testing procedure was performed as in attempt to reduce the time taken for new trains to enter service, by ironing out any problems beforehand. Many other designs of new train, such as the Bombardier Class 375 and Alstom Class 458 units, had been plagued by problems and poor reliability. The Desiro fleet entered service faster than its competitors, but the trains still suffered from teething problems. Units are formed of five cars or coaches, and are numbered in the range 444001-045. Each unit is formed of two outer driving motors, two intermediate trailers, and an intermediate buffet coach. The description of this formation is DMSO+TSO+TSO+TSRMB+DMCO. Individual vehicles are numbered as follows.
* 63801-63845 - DMCO
* 67201-67245 - TSRMB - fitted with Pantograph Well
* 67101-67145 - TSO
* 67151-67195 - TSO
* 63851-63895 - DMSO Units have end-gangways, which allows people to move between units when they are used in multiple on services. Trains are limited to a 10-coach length (i.e. two units) as longer trains cannot be accommodated in stations. The fleet is painted in SWT's express livery of white, with a blue window band, and red/orange swishes at the cab ends. Each five car unit has a first class section taking up just over half of one car at one end; first class seats have BS 1363 sockets providing AC power suitable for laptops or mobile phone charges, while the car at the other end is standard class throughout and appears ordinary but has BS1363 sockets under the tables. Like all new build third rail stock in the UK, one coach in each unit is fitted with a recess for a pantograph. This allows for a future conversion to AC overhead power.
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