www.javelintrain.com Open in urlscan Pro
149.56.22.120  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

''the fastest rail travel times in the UK''


INTRODUCING THE UK'S JAVELIN TRAIN



Sleek looking bullet trains have always presented iconic images of Japanese life
and culture, and for UK rail travelers they've been creating the same images on
the Southeastern rail routes. The UK version of the bullet train is known as the
Javelin, and on 12th Dec 2008 the first UK Javelin train raced into London on
its inaugural high speed rail journey.

These good looking, dark blue liveried Javelin trains - also known as Class 395
-  offer the fastest domestic service rail travel in the UK and went into full
passenger service in December 2009 on the High Speed HS1 rail route.

Built by Hitachi, the 140mph maximum speed Class 395 6-car Javelin train
completed the first rail journey from Ashford in Kent to London St Pancras in 37
minutes.

Hitachi are also building the IEP train which will be introduced on other rail
services from 2017 onwards, and the two types of service combined bring fast
train services to various routes across the UK from and to stations like Kings
Cross and Paddington in London.


ROUTES & TIMETABLES



From the first scheduled service in December 2009, there have been 29 Javelin
trains in service with Southeastern rail on the Kent to London (Ashford to
Ebbsfleet/Dartford and St Pancras/London via Stratford) domestic rail service
and High Speed 1 Channel Tunnel Rail Link routes. The timetables page gives more
detail.

Southeastern rail lease the trains from HSBC Rail, and were formed by a joint
venture between Go-Ahead and Keolis. For Southeastern, the Javelin route forms
part of a near 750 kilometre rail network serving locations to the South and
South-East of London.

You'll find full details of routes covered on the dedicated Javelin routes page.

The popularity of the service to commuters in the further Southeast towns can be
gauged by the fact that Dover to London journeys have reportedly increased by
close on 50% since the trains first started running.

And the benefits don't stop there - the whole of the conventional SouthEast rail
service has got a boost because longer distance commuters have migrated to
High-Speed, leading to an increase in capacity on  outlying routes too. Although
counties further North of London don't yet have their own High Speed rail, 
travellers to those too have also seen a growth in numbers. HS2 is of course
planned for future build but for now - with the Javelin terminating at St
Pancras and the close-by Kings Cross - UK rail commuters have an improved way to
get from the South to many other destinations in the North. Journey numbers from
Kent to Northern UK stations increased by over half a million in 2014.





JOURNEY TIMES



Commuters on the Javelin experience a reduction in previous journey times from
around 83 minutes to 37 minutes for the Ashford to London trip. That reduction
in travel time extends to stations off the high speed line too, with London to
Ramsgate and London to Dover travel times seeing reductions of around 53 and 50
minutes respectively.

Of course there's an additional price to pay for speed - fares for journeys that
run over the section of line that's able to let the trains run at their highest
speed will often see an upward bump in the cost of a trip. This is
understandable of course. Clearly the investment required to run - and
potentially extend - the service is huge. For example, the Bexhill and Hastings
extensions would involve the electrification of the Marshlink Line which runs
from Hastings to Ashford and Rye - at a cost of around £100 million.

The cost of tickets does not seem to have deterred rail travellers though.
During 2014 over 10 million journeys were completed using the service - an
average of about 34000 per day on weekdays -  resulting in a record 5th year and
seeing an increase in the stations covered in the Javelin timetable.
Southeastern also introduced a coastal loop rail service to increase
opportunities for other south coast travelers looking for a fast route into and
out of London. Services to Ramsgate and Dover were extended to run through Deal
and Sandwich to complete the loop.

You'll find the latest Southeastern high speed timetables here, or visit the
Javelin train timetables page here on Javelintrain.com for train time details
and ticket options.





RELIABILITY



As of the end of 2014, it was reported that up to 93% of services were pulling
in to their destination within five minutes of planned arrival time. The English
winter weather does not appear to be wreaking its normal havoc on Javelin
routes, with the power supplied to the trains via overhead electric supply as
opposed to the third rail 'under train' power that drives traditional routes.


                



SERVICE DURING THE UK OLYMPICS



Starting on 27th July 2012 -officially the first day of the Olympic Games - the
Javelin train got to use its 340 seat capacity on the Olympic Javelin Train
service that promised to speed spectators from St Pancras to the main Olympic
Games site in Stratford - East London in just under 7 minutes. The service
performed admirably and quickly became an integral part of the overall games
experience for spectators.

With this promise of speedy, effective travel to the London Olympics site it's
rather apt that the trains had been named after British personalities who are
easily associated with speed.

Sports fans also got the chance to ride what became known as the Paralympics
Javelin train service, when the trains got their chance to perform cross London
high speed duties once again. One of the Paralympics Javelins is named after the
Paralympic star and London 2012 ambassador Marc Woods.

Train spotters will be well advised to get a brand new pair of Sony video
binoculars to capture one of these Javelin trains on video. They'd make a great
sight when viewed in 3D hurtling towards you on the tracks at top speed.

With their Japanese heritage, it wouldn't be surprising for future enhancements
to the Javelin train experience for travelers to include the addition of some on
board entertainment.  It's possible that interest in anything related to
entertainment or online interests could see TV screens or PCs built in seat back
units, giving travelers the chance to watch TV, movies, listen to music, or even
play games for real money such as the wildly popular quiz app HQ Trivia with its
free to enter, twice daily cash prize contests.


Javelintrain.com will bring you the latest Javelin Train news describing
developments on these exciting fast rail services.
 * Share
 * Post
 * Pin
 * Mail
 * Share





THE FUTURE OF HIGH SPEED JAVELIN SERVICES



There's no denying that the Javelin train has been a success. We've seen the
increases in rail travel numbers throughout the SouthEast and further into the
North and other UK regions as a result of its introduction. We've seen the
increases in capacity on direct Javelin routes and other conventional track
routes feeding UK towns.

Even the London Underground has seen benefits as the network has grown. Run down
areas such as Stratford have experienced considerable redevelopment. Ebbsfleet
City has seen further announcements on its development plans.

It would appear that the introduction of high speed rail services does have a
number of positive impacts, not only for travelling times, but delivering knock
on benefits to capacity in general and reliability all round, and not to mention
the somewhat intangible - but nevertheless - positive impacts on the economy as
a whole. Economic growth brings rising house prices and desirability for those
areas where the buying price of housing is more affordable. Strong rail
connections to those areas are a vital piece of the puzzle.



All of which is a pointer to the potential future success and growth of High
speed rail throughout the UK, and in particular the current Javelin train
service.

Will we see the Javelin itself operating on other routes outside of the
Southeast UK? That's debatable at this point. The next fast train service
introduction is most likely to be the IEP, or Intercity Express Program -
although there were some reports in early 2014 of track tests using Javelins to
be carried out near Melton in Leicestershire.

For these track tests, Network Rail had submitted an application to allow the
tests to run, given that the Javelins are the closest model currently running to
the new IEP train models to be introduced from 2017 onwards. Who knows? We could
yet see the now familiar Javelin running on scheduled services into other
regions of the UK.

As far as the current routes go, it's clear that the actual high speed section
of the Javelin route has some potential to be extended. The trains do spend a
considerable amount of their running time on conventional rail tracks, which
limits the speed at which they can operate.


 * Share
 * Post
 * Pin
 * Mail
 * Share


HISTORY & TIMELINE



•  December 2015 sees the 6th anniversary of the inaugural passenger trip

9th October 2015 - Extension of HS1 from Ashford to Bexhill via Rye and Hastings
proposed at public meeting. 

•  3rd Feb 2015 - Javelin visits Hastings and Eastbourne stations for the first
time in support of campaign for improved rail services to local towns

•  11th September 2014 - Southeastern Rail given the OK to continue running HS1
services until June 2018. Oyster cards introduced for commuters between St.
Pancras and Stratford.


•  July 27th to August 12th 2012 - The Javelin train service was diverted from
its normal High Speed Rail duties, becoming the key to fast cross-London travel
for the duration of the 2012 London Olympics.


•  May 2011 - Hitachi have announced plans for  bidding to win a new contract
for designing and maintaining the high speed fleet to run on the planned £34bn
high-speed line (HS2) between London, Birmingham, and the North of England


•  Successful full service introduction, with scheduled Javelin Train high speed
services between London and Kent - 13 December 2009


•  Last of the 29 train order delivered - August 2009


•  First timed run of the service that will carry 25000 Olympic visitors per
hour - 27 July 2009


•  Trial service commences St Pancras to Ebbsfleet - 27 June 2009


•  First journey Kent to London - Dec 12 2008


•  Javelin Train reaches 150mph on first test run - 3rd Oct 2007


•  Javelin Train on public display - 2nd Oct 2007


•  First train delivered from Japan - August 2007


•  Order placed with Hitachi for 28 new high speed trains (29th added later) -
2004




rel="nofollow">addfreestats Web Stats
 
 
 
 

•  Routes & Timetables    •  Journey Times    •  Reliability    •  Future
Developments



Javelin Train UK

Timetables

Routes

Javelin Train News

Olympic Javelin Train

UK High Speed Rail

Japanese Bullet Train

Technical

CTRL