Rolling stock › In serviceData updated
Class 357 Electrostar unverified
The first of Bombardier's Electrostars, built at Derby for the London, Tilbury and Southend line, where c2c still runs all 74. Unlike the Southern and Southeastern Electrostars, it has a full-width cab with no gangway.
Drawing to come
- Type
- Electric multiple unit
- Builder
- Adtranz, later Bombardier Transportation (now Alstom), Derby Litchurch Lane
- Built
- 1999–2002
- In service
- since 2000
- Operators
- c2c
- Formation
- 4 cars (DMSO(A)-MSO-PTSOL-DMSO(B))
- Trains in fleet
- 74
- Fleets
- c2c: 74
- Top speed
- 100 mph
- Power
- 25 kV AC overhead: six 250 kW three-phase traction motors, two each on the driving cars and the MSO
- Car width
- 2.80 m
- Profile
- main-line
- Air-conditioned
- Yes
- Seats per train
- 282
- Standing (5 per m²)
- 315
- Total capacity
- 357/0 and 357/2: 597 (282 seats, 4 of them tip-up, + 315 standing at 5 per m², calculated from Porterbrook's floor areas, 63.09 m²). The 17 Class 357/3s, altered from 2015 for more standing room, have fewer seats (222, Wikipedia)
- Status
- In service: 74 four-car units, on lease until 2029. Alstom is repainting the fleet at Ilford (53 done by July 2026); 357008 and 357020 were the first in Great British Railways livery, and the remaining 21 are to follow.
This page is marked unverified: its figures haven’t yet been confirmed by an official source or a published history. The foot of the page says what’s in doubt.
Car types
| Code | Car | Length | Doors per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMSO | Driving motor standard open (DMSO) | 20.40 m | 2 double |
| MSO | Motor standard open (MSO) | 19.99 m | 2 double |
| PTSOL | Pantograph trailer standard open with toilet (PTSOL) | 19.99 m | 2 double |
Sources
- Class 357 Electric Multiple Unit (Issue 01 Revision A), Porterbrook Leasing, September 2013, pp. PDF pp. 5, 9, 12-19 (first of the Electrostars; 46 Class 357/0 units, formation, car lengths 20.4 m and 19.99 m, width 2.8 m, height 3.58 m, 100 mph, three IGBT modules each driving two 250 kW motors on 3 of the 4 cars, double-leaf swing-plug doors at 1/3 and 2/3, seats per car (71, 78, 58 + 4 tip-up, 71), floor areas, toilet in the PTSOL, full-width non-gangway cab, Tightlock couplers, build dates from 31 March 2000; layout diagram of each car)
- Class 357, Angel Trains (28 four-car units, formation DMSO(A)-MSO-PTSO-DMSO(B), car lengths, width 2.80 m, 100 mph, Adtranz/Bombardier Electrostar, operated by c2c)
- ELECTROSTAR - United Kingdom (project page: overview, technical data by operator, technical drawing), Bombardier Transportation (archived copy), archived 24 April 2016 (c2c's Electrostars: 282 seats (4-car), 2,800 mm wide, 160 km/h, car lengths 19,945 and 19,690 mm; two sliding powered doors per side)
- Alstom-built trains for Anglia unveiled in new Great British Railways identity, Alstom, 20 July 2026 (74 four-car units, built at Derby Litchurch Lane 1999-2002, leased from Angel Trains and Porterbrook until 2029, maintained at East Ham; repaint at Ilford (53 done, 21 to go); 357008 and 357020 in GBR livery)
- c2c to increase peak time capacity, RAIL, 27 July 2015 (17 Class 357s altered in 2015 for 152 more standing passengers per train)
- Table 6314: rolling stock vehicles by traction type and operator, Office of Rail and Road, 20 November 2025 (c2c's 356 electric vehicles at 31 March 2025 (74 four-car 357s and 12 five-car 720s))
- Annual Report and Accounts 2000, National Express Group PLC, 2001 (c2c's new trains in service in 2000)
- British Rail Class 357, Wikipedia, accessed 6 October 2026 (first service 31 March 2000; 357/2 and 357/3 split; 357/3 seats; height (cross-check))
unverified first passenger service: 31 March 2000 is Wikipedia's date. Porterbrook's earliest vehicle date is 31 March 2000 (357014), and National Express's report for 2000 has c2c's new trains in service that year, car height: Porterbrook's 2013 data sheet prints 3.58 m and Wikipedia 3.78 m. Neither is confirmed, so none is shown, car lengths: Porterbrook and Angel Trains give 20.40 m (DMSO) and 19.99 m (MSO, PTSOL), the same figures Bombardier gives for Southeastern's Electrostars. Bombardier's own c2c line gives 19,945 mm and 19,690 mm, perhaps over the body ends, the split of the 74: Porterbrook owns 46 Class 357/0s and Angel Trains 28 Class 357/2s and 357/3s. The split into 11 357/2s and 17 357/3s, and the 357/3s' renumbering from 357212-228, are Wikipedia's. RAIL (2015) confirms that 17 units were altered, with seats taken out for 152 more standing passengers per train, standing figure: Porterbrook's floor areas are for the 357/0 as built; the 357/3 layout will differ