I was on the first London Northwestern Railway Class 730/2 train

by HighburyAndIslington

12 comments
  1. On Monday, 9 June 2025, I boarded the first Class 730/2 Alstom Aventra electric-multiple unit (EMU) train in service [1][2][3][4] on the 16:19 London Northwestern Railway service from London Euston to Northampton. The service was operated by units 730213 at the front and 730223 at the rear. It left Euston at 16:29, 10 minutes late. Along the way, it called at Watford Junction and Milton Keynes Central.

    A few other train enthusiasts and a few additional staff members were also on board to ensure that things ran smoothly. Most passengers, however, were regular commuters catching the train home.

    The Class 730/2 is in the same family of trains as the Elizabeth line trains. These new trains have 2+2 seating, open gangways, toilets and charging points for phones and laptops. Staff distributed a few free items to the first passengers on board the train. I took a video of the entire inaugural journey [5].

    [1] https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:L33507/2025-06-09/detailed#allox_id=0

    [2] https://www.londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/whats-new/new-trains

    [3] https://www.railmagazine.com/news/2025/06/09/new-london-northwestern-730-fleet-enters-service

    [4] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx27jkz5gyvo

    [5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDsG8to0QIc

  2. Aren’t the trains this is replacing still relatively new? What’s going to happen to them?

  3. No judging, just curiosity. Why British trains are so small compared e.g. to Hitachi’s ETR 1000 and AGV 575?

  4. With a face like that, I wonder what this train’s nickname gunna be..

  5. See it looks like the engine has a fton-facong door/connection point to attach another engine and carriages.

    How would that work in practice? Would they open up access to the driving station/cockpit to passengers to walk through?

  6. First on the train and already a legend, hope you snagged the best seat!

  7. Seating appears to have half decent window alignment. A pleasant surprise.

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