EMU PRESERVATION
4-VEP to return in 2024
An appeal fund has been launched to get third-rail EMU No. 3417 back into passenger traffic, as Hassard Stacpoole reports.
THE Southern Electric Traction Group (SETG) has set a target to return 4-VEP EMU No. 3417 Gordon Pettitt back into traffic for use on heritage lines in 2024, and is launching an appeal to raise £50,000 to help achieve this goal.
The SETG, which was set up by a small number of staff at Wimbledon Park depot, has been carrying out a steady and thorough restoration of the 1963-series, York-built Class 423. No. 3417 has been in the custody of the group since 2015, when it was delivered to Strawberry Hill depot from Bombardier’s Ilford Carriage Works following a successful and high-quality repaint.