Uckfield - August 2003
Uckfield - After months of eager anticipation, on 20 August 2003, unit 170 721 became the first of South Central's new fleet of Turbostars to visit Uckfield.
Here, the brand new unit is seen slowly approaching the platform on the second of two test runs on the line that day -- and the first to reach the terminus.
On the earlier run, a vandal broke a window at Hurst Green, delaying the train and forcing it to turn back at Crowborough; an incident which one can only hope will not set a precedent for the future.
But vandalism or not, it was truly an historic day for the Uckfield line, representing the first time that new rolling stock had appeared for service on the route since the last of the class 207s was delivered in 1962.
And whereas the latter units, with their poor seating and antiquated non-corridor design, looked back to the 1930s and were obsolescent even as they left Eastleigh, the air-conditioned class 170 ranks among the best of its type -- and compares very favourably with any car on the road.