British Rail Class 387

The first Class 387/1s were ordered for the Thameslink route, which enabled the existing Class 319s to be transferred to Northern Rail for use on the newly electrified Manchester Victoria to Liverpool via Newton-le-Willows route.[2][3]

On behalf of the Department for Transport, Southern issued an OJEU notice in December 2012[2] with proposals received in January 2013. The invitation to tender for the fleet was released the following month with final offers being submitted by 18 June 2013. Southern announced it had signed a deal with Bombardier on 30 July 2013 for 29 four carriage units.[4][5]

In October 2015, Porterbrook placed a speculative order for 80 carriages. Fifty-six were later leased to Great Western Railway and the remaining 24 to c2c as 387/3s.[6]

The Class 387/1 fleet is subdivided into a Class 387/1a fleet which has been fitted with the ETCS signalling system for use in the Heathrow Airport railway tunnels[7] (and in along the entire route in future). This subfleet was authorised for use in passenger service under ETCS by the ORR on 14 December 2020.[7]

Govia ordered 27 four-carriage units to replace Class 442s on the Gatwick Express service.[8] The first units entered service in February 2016.[9][10][11]

In April 2016, c2c announced that it would operate six Class 387s to add capacity on the c2c network.

387204 in Gatwick Express livery

As part of Govia's bid for the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise, 27 four-carriage units were ordered to replace Class 442s on the Gatwick Express service, using some of the optional 140 extra carriages.[8] The order was announced in November 2014 with the first units on test in July 2015 and they began to enter service on 29 February 2016.[9][10][11]

The deployment was disrupted by unionised drivers refusing to take passengers, claiming that the twelve coach Class 387 trains are not covered by their driver only operation agreement which is limited to ten coaches, and that running them without a conductor would be unsafe. In response to this, Govia threatened to take legal action, and the union ultimately dropped the claim. Prior to entering service with Gatwick Express, several units entered service with Thameslink in response to delays with commissioning the Class 700 units. These then returned to Gatwick Express by the end of Summer 2016.[12][13]

387159 at Didcot Parkway in February 2018

The first Great Western Railway unit entered service on 5 September 2016 running between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington in peak hours to relieve congestion on some of the country's most crowded trains.[14][15] In January 2017 GWR began running a half-hourly Paddington to Hayes and Harlington service using pairs of these 387/1s.[14]

On 1 January 2018, following further electrification work, Class 387/1 EMUs began operating suburban services between London Paddington and Didcot Parkway, replacing GWR Class 165 DMUs on these services.[16] Due to electrification being suspended from Didcot Parkway to Oxford, the previous Oxford suburban service from London Paddington was cut back to Didcot Parkway to allow electric trains to operate this service. Oxford is still served by the fast services from London Paddington and a DMU service from Didcot Parkway.[17]

In January 2019, Class 387/1 EMUs began operating between Reading and Newbury after electrification works on the Reading to Taunton line had been finished. In December 2019, Class 345s took over most of the GWR stopping services between Reading and Paddington. This displaced 12 Class 387s are now used on Heathrow Express services between Heathrow Terminal 5 and Paddington. GWR proposes to use Class 387s on special services to Cardiff when events are held at the Millennium Stadium.[18]

The first c2c Class 387 was delivered in October 2016 and entered service in November 2016.[19] These trains were built primarily as stock units; they were leased out to c2c which at the time was suffering with overcrowding.[20][21]

387123 at Cambridge in September 2018

From late 2016, 29 of the Class 387/1s operating on Thameslink were displaced by the delivery of Class 700s, and were transferred to Great Northern. They operate mostly on the Kings Cross–Cambridge–King's Lynn route, though they can also be seen on other services. These units were delivered in a white livery, with Southern green doors and Southern moquette.

In 2018, 387105 was transferred to Gatwick Express on a permanent basis, but was not relivered into Gatwick Express red.[22] It was transferred back to Great Northern in May 2020.[23]

387140 and 387130 both in new Heathrow Express livery

In March 2018, Heathrow Airport Holdings came to an agreement with Great Western Railway (GWR) to take over the operation of the Heathrow Express service between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport from August 2018.[24] In September 2019, Heathrow Express confirmed that operation of the service would pass to GWR with ownership remaining with Heathrow Airport Holdings until at least 2028. GWR would provide and maintain the Class 387 units for the service from 2020, with the Class 332 trains withdrawn from service.[25]

Twelve Class 387 units from the GWR fleet were modified to provide a dedicated set of trains for the service including first class accommodation, high speed Wi-Fi, additional luggage racks and on-board entertainment.[26][27] The Heathrow Express sub-fleet has been designated as Class 387/1a due to their unique fitment of the ETCS signalling system for use in the Heathrow Airport railway tunnels.[7]

The first units entered revenue earning service with Heathrow Express on 29 December 2020.[28]

387111 in Thameslink livery, now operating Great Northern services

The first Thameslink unit entered service in December 2014 with all in service by July 2015.[29] They were operated by Thameslink on services between Bedford and Brighton.

During Summer 2016, several of Gatwick Express Class 387/2 units entered service with Thameslink prior to introduction on Gatwick Express services due to the delay of the Class 700 units, although these returned to service with Gatwick Express after a few months.

The Class 387/1s have since been transferred to Great Northern working services from Kings Cross to Peterborough and Cambridge/King's Lynn.