Siemens has built its 115th and final Class 700 Desiro City train for Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR).

A total of 1,140 carriages have been manufactured at Siemens’ factory in Krefeld, Germany.

The final train will now travel to Wildenrath to undergo testing before it is delivered to GTR in May.

The first pre-series Class 700 was built five years ago. At peak production, Siemens was building two carriages a day.

GTR began operating its Class 700 fleet in June 2016 and it currently has 68 trains in service.

GTR will accept the 100th Class 700 next week. It will have the full fleet of 115 trains at its Three Bridges and Hornsey depots by this summer and in service by the end of 2019.

The Thameslink route is already exclusively operated by Class 700s – the first mainline train in the UK to use Automatic Train Operation (ATO) and ERTMS signalling.

Britain’s Rail Minister Jo Johnson said: “The final Thameslink train to roll off the production line is an important milestone, with passengers already experiencing the benefits of these high-capacity, state-of-the-art new trains on the network.

“The ambitious £7bn Thameslink programme – sponsored by this Government – is delivering extensive infrastructure enhancements, new trains and a new timetable to tackle one of the busiest and most congested parts of the rail network.

“These major improvements will result in faster, more frequent and more reliable journeys for thousands of passengers across London and the South East when the new timetable is introduced in May.”

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