British Rail Class 374 Eurostar e320

The British Rail Class 374, also branded as the Eurostar e320, is a type of electric multiple unit passenger train used on Eurostar services through the Channel Tunnel to serve destinations beyond the core routes to Paris and Brussels. They began to run passenger services in November 2015.[2] The trains, owned by Eurostar International Limited, are sixteen-coach versions of the Siemens Velaro. Each train is 390.2 m (1,280 ft) long. The trains are designed to be compliant with the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) and the original order for ten sets was subsequently increased to seventeen sets in November 2014.[3]
Eurostar International's existing fleet of Class 373 "Eurostar e300" trains, introduced in 1994 when the Channel Tunnel opened, cannot be used on the 15 kV AC overhead line (OHLE) electrification system used in Germany, most cannot be used on the 1.5 kV DC overhead line (OHLE) electrification system used in the Netherlands and they do not have sufficient space to install ERTMS signalling. Consequently, Eurostar cannot run its Class 373 units on services to these countries, and the Class 374 was designed and built to help solve this problem, and enable Eurostar to run services to these locations. The Class 374 has replaced the majority of Class 373s as of June 2018, with most Class 373 trains being scrapped in the UK after these new trains were introduced into service.
When the trains are used in Great Britain, they can only run on High Speed 1, which was built to accommodate larger trains from mainland Europe, which feature a larger loading gauge, unlike the domestic British rail network.
Category:Electric locomotives
Category:Scrapped locomotives
Category:Eurostar
Category:European High-Speed Rail Networks
Category:Replacement Locomotives