A farewell event of Class 315 is held today. The Class 315 was built in 1980-81 and has been used in London and nearby regions for more than 40 years. It has been observed often on Great Eastern Main Line in the past few years.
It is said that very few Class 315 services remain even after the farewell railtour, possibly until 9 December, though they might be affected by nationwide industrial action.
The last regular services of the Class have been those between Liverpool Street and Shenfield. When I lived in London in 2018-19, the 315s were used by London Overground and TfL Rail, and the services on the GEML were provided by the latter one. Even after Crossrail opened in May 2022, the 315s remained in service. But unsurprisingly, all 315s will leave the mainline at last.
A Class 315 train arriving at Seven Sisters. In spite of its appearance, this train was apparently Overground service. In 2019, an ex-TfL Rail unit 315858 was transferred to Lea Valley Lines as another unit operated by Overground broke down. Do you remember?
As the Class 315 is withdrawn, I realised that there are only a few electric multiple units built by British Rail (before the privatisation) remain in London today. The following BR EMUs in the capital retired since the pandemic began:
| Class | Operator | Retired in |
|---|---|---|
| 317 | LO | Apr 2020 |
| 315 | LO | Oct 2020 |
| 365 | GN | May 2021 |
| 456 | SW | Jan 2022 |
| 455 | SN | May 2022 |
| 317 | LE | Jul 2022 |
| 322 | LE | Aug 2022 |
| 315 | XR | Nov 2022 |
If I have not made any mistake, there are only Class 321 (Greater Anglia), Class 455 (South Western Railway) and Class 465 & 466 (Southeastern). The first two trains are due to be replaced with new Aventra trains, so they might retire next year or so.
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