Construction of a new depot for Eurostar operations at Temple Mills was given the green light by the Government on 15th November 2004. The scheme had a price ceiling of £402 million, which incorporated relocation costs from North Pole, land acquisition, construction of the depot buildings and a single-track access spur between Stratford International and the Temple Mills lands, and project management costs. The scheme required completion in time for the opening of Section 2 of the CTRL.
The state-of-the-art Temple Mills depot was formally opened by the then Transport Secretary, Tom Harris MP, on 2nd October 2007. The site is officially known as the ‘’Eurostar Engineering Centre’’ and the entire complex has been built with UIC European Loading Gauge in mind to accommodate larger passenger rolling stock in the future. The main building is somewhat of a colossus, measuring 435 metres (1,427 feet) in length, by 54 metres (177 feet) in width, by 12 metres (39 feet) in height. Indeed, it is a rather unlovely rectangular structure clad with grey sheeting and resides immediately northeast of the parallel-running Tottenham Hale to Stratford section of line. Eight 400 metre (1312-feet) dead-end tracks enter the depot structure from its south eastern end and compared with the existing facilities at North Pole, everything is housed under one roof, rather than in two separate buildings. For general servicing and daily maintenance, ‘’Three Capitals’’ Eurostar sets could remain coupled in their full twenty-vehicle lengths when at North Pole, for these tasks were carried out within a building long enough to accommodate such formations. However, the major repair structure could only accommodate ten-vehicles on each of its four lines, which required the splitting of Eurostar sets into their two constituent parts.
The abandonment of Waterloo International as a second London hub negated the requirement for Eurostar sets to be equipped with third rail pick-up apparatus. As a result, Temple Mills has only been electrified with 25kV A.C. overhead wires, which extend into the main depot building over all eight tracks. It is envisaged that the removal of third rail gear from train sets will bring significant maintenance cost savings. Indeed, with wires extending into the main depot building, one could be forgiven for wondering how repair crews can safely access the roof areas of trains. Six of the eight roads are equipped with ‘’pull-back’’ wires, which means the overhead electrics can be removed and replaced as and when required. The voltage over each track can also be varied from the standard 25 kV, down to 1500V and 3000V. At the depot structure’s north western end is an additional building housing all heavy repair gear, which includes overhead cranes (for removing power car transformers), a bogie drop pit, and a wheel lathe, the latter two of which were contained within separate sheds at North Pole. On the depot approach tracks can be found an automatic train washer, which trains can pass through when arriving or leaving the site.
On 31st January 2008, North Pole Depot transferred into the ownership of the British Rail Board (Residuary), whilst the new complex at Temple Mills shifted from Government ownership to that of L&CR. Temple Mills had come into use for heavy maintenance tasks on Class 373 stock on 7th October 2007, a month before the formal start of high speed services on Section 2 of the CTRL. This early start was to allow engineers to become accustomed to the new depot.
An eastward view from the same road bridge as the previous photographs shows yet more sidings and a pair of complete ''Three Capitals'' formations. Like the redundant site at North Pole, Temple Mills occupies a thin, but very long, area of land. © David Glasspool
Class 08 No. 08948 is the depot shunter, and is seen here coupled to Class 373 No. 3101, shortly after being started up. The diesel was brought over from North Pole Depot and features extended buffer beams at both ends. The locomotive is equipped with ''Scharfenberg'' couplers, allowing it to attach to Class 373 stock. © David Glasspool
An impressive line-up of red buffer beams present themselves to the west of the main depot building. As earlier mentioned, twelve sidings exist beyond the western extremity of the Eurostar site for stabling Liverpool Street stock. There is no direct physical connection between these sidings and Temple Mills Depot. © David Glasspool
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