Siemens Mobility recently welcomed Luke Taylor, Member of Parliament for Sutton and Cheam, to its Three Bridges Depot. The visit provided an opportunity to learn more about the maintenance and servicing of the Class 700 fleet, which GTR uses to operate its Thameslink services, connecting communities across London and the southeast.
Luke Taylor, Liberal Democrat MP for Sutton and Cheam, said:
“It was a pleasure to visit Siemens’ Thameslink Depot at Three Bridges to see the great work being done to keep the trains so many depend on safe and presentable.
So many Londoners depend on these services to run efficiently and safely, so I was particularly glad to see the level of effort being put on using innovative new technologies and smart data solutions to monitor the network in real time.
The future growth of our city depends on a bedrock of proactive maintenance and forward-thinking engineering like this, so thank you to the Siemens team for their hard work keeping London moving.”
During the tour, Luke Taylor met depot colleagues, engineers and technicians responsible for maintaining the Thameslink fleet. He learned about the specialist skills required to maintain a modern railway, as well as Siemens Mobility’s commitment to developing future talent through its apprenticeship and early careers programmes. There are currently 15 apprentices working on the Thameslink project, and 181 completing apprenticeships in Siemens Mobility in the UK.
Discussions focused on the importance of reliable rail services, and how digital tools such as Railigent help optimise performance of the fleet. Through the digital tools analysing data from the trains, this drives a data driven maintenance strategy and enables technicians to do pinpointed inspections and solve potential issues on components before they become a problem, such as on doors and HVAC units.
Lena Voorbach, Finance Director, Rolling Stock and Customer Services at Siemens Mobility UK&I, said:
“I am delighted Luke Taylor MP had the opportunity to see the incredible work our Three Bridges team does to keep the Thameslink fleet running reliably for the thousands of passengers who depend on it every day. It was fantastic to show Luke around the depot and demonstrate the digital tools like Railigent giving us valuable data from the train, which enable us to keep optimising performance for this fleet. It is so important that we continue to invest in our people and technology, as their skills and expertise will drive the innovation needed to keep our communities connected for the long term.”
Three Bridges Depot maintains the 115-strong Thameslink Class 700 fleet on behalf of GTR and plays a vital role in supporting one of the UK’s busiest rail networks. Through continued investment in its people, facilities and technology, Siemens Mobility is helping to deliver reliable and sustainable rail services while supporting the development of the next generation of railway talent.
Image credit: Siemens Mobility
