Introduction to service
The class 334 is part of the Juniper range built by Alstom. The class were ordered as a replacement for the veteran Class 303 units. The 40 strong fleet made up of 3 car sets were built between 1998 and 2000 and featuring seating for 183 passengers, Passenger Information Displays, automatic doors between carriages, air conditioning and toilets with disabled access. The units also featured a modernised version of the SPT Carmine and Cream livery. The Delivery of the units and their introduction to service was supposed to have began during 1999 but serious problems kept them out of service for a long time.
The delay of their introduction resulted in Alstom building an extra 2 sets as a good will gesture meaning that the original order of 38 was increased to 40. Testing finally began during 2000, however there was a couple of incidents and numerous breakdowns which delayed introduction. An incident of note during testing was 334001 rolling away from Platform 11a at Glasgow Central and derailing on a set of catch points.
The delay in delivering, testing, acceptance, driver training and entering service for SPT / Scotrail meant that the elderly class 303's which were to be replaced by the class 334's in 1999 had to soldier on for longer than expected with the final examples not being withdrawn until December 2002. There was many reports that the 303's were reputedly more reliable in service than the 334s during the time that both classes ran together!
Introduction to Service
On 3rd April 2001, 334010+334020 formed the first Class 334 operated service as they made their debut on a morning peak journey to Gourock.
As the first 334s started to appear in service on the Ayrshire and Inverclyde lines, this in turn displaced some of the class 318s from these lines and they in turn began to be cascaded on to the Argyle line from May 2001, and began to replace the class 303's.
By October 2001, the class 334s began to appear on services on the Cathcart Circle both as cover for Class 314's and taking over some of the class 303's peak time diagrams, indeed by this point, there was no class 303's running out of Glasgow Central High level.
In September 2002, the first Class 334's began to appear on the North Clyde and Argyle Lines, where until December 2002, it was possible to catch both a 303 and a 334. For a time after introduction on these lines the 334s were mainly confined to peak time services with 303's, 318s and 320s being used off peak before eventually taking on a more equal role once the final 303's had been withdrawn.
In early December 2002, a press and invited guests special using 334024 ran to Ayr to mark the acceptance of the final class 334s into service. The final 5 sets to enter service (001,002,009,039 and 040) did so in mid December, allowing SPT to withdraw the final 6 class 303s (303001,003,004,011,043 and 088) at the end of the month.
By July 2011 the 334's had transferred from the Ayrshire lines and are now on the North Clyde / Airdrie - Bathgate and Argyle lines. By 2011
Unit namings
March 2003 saw 334001 being named Donald Dewar after the Late "First" First Minister of Scotland whilst 334021 was named Larkhall in 2005 after the newly reopened line.
Present Situation
At present the class 334's can be found mainly on the North Clyde line and running right out to Edinburgh Waverley and also some use on the Argyle line.
Livery
18 of the 334's are painted in a modified variation of the SPT Carmine and Cream livery with blue stripes on the body sides and Strathclyde Passenger Transport branding on the sides. The fronts of the units have yellow warning panels. 22 of the units have had their SPT livery replaced with the new Saltire blue livery which all Scotrail units will be receiving in the next few years.
Good / Bad points about the 334's
Like all types of train there are some good and some bad points to the class 334's
The good points are that the seats are comfortable, the interior is smart with bright lighting, the trains are disability friendly, they have a nice livery, they're fast, with quick acceleration and braking.
The bad points are that the motors and brakes make a loud whining noise when the train is accelerating and braking, on some sets when the pantograph is passing over a dead section of overhead line most of the lights go out and sometimes dont come back on again. They have a low seating capacity compared to the other types of unit in operation and when busy the units can get cramped with not alot of space for standing.
Annoying Annie
Who could forget "annoying Annie" the announcer who used to announce the upcoming station stops when the 334's were first introduced. "Annoying Annie" spoke in a monotone voice and sounded fed up. There were also a few blips and errors in pronouncing station names such as,
Fortunately Annoying Annie has been replaced with a new voice from a different actress who sounds alot better than Annie ever did (she even apologises if a 3 car set appears instead of the usual 6 car set as well).
Class 334 Unit Formation summary
| Unit Number | Livery | Vehicle Numbers | Unit Name | Notes | year entered service |
| 334001 | Saltire | 64101 74301 65101 | Donald Dewar | This unit was the first to arrive in Scotland, first to be used in testing, however the unit derailed after running away from Central Station when stabled at Platform 11a in 2000. Unit was first 334 to be named. | 2002 |
| 334002 | Saltire | 64102 74302 65102 | Was the final 334 to enter service entering service in December 2002 | 2002 | |
| 334003 | Saltire | 64103 74303 65103 | 2001 | ||
| 334004 | Saltire | 64104 74304 65104 | 2001 | ||
| 334005 | Saltire | 64105 74305 65105 | 2002 | ||
| 334006 | Saltire | 64106 74306 65106 | 2001 | ||
| 334007 | Saltire | 64107 74307 65107 | 2002 | ||
| 334008 | Saltire | 64108 74308 65108 | 2002 | ||
| 334009 | Saltire | 64109 74309 65109 | Unit was one of the last to enter service as it was used as a test train for a while | 2002 | |
| 334010 | Saltire | 64110 74310 65110 | Worked first ever 334 passenger journey of a 334 with 020 to Gourock in 2001 | 2001 | |
| 334011 | Saltire | 64111 74311 65111 | 2001 | ||
| 334012 | Saltire | 64112 74312 65112 | 2002 | ||
| 334013 | Saltire | 64113 74313 65113 | 2001 | ||
| 334014 | Saltire | 64114 74314 65114 | 2001 | ||
| 334015 | Saltire | 64115 74315 65115 | 2002 | ||
| 334016 | Saltire | 64116 74316 65116 | 2001 | ||
| 334017 | Saltire | 64117 74317 65117 | 2002 | ||
| 334018 | Saltire | 64118 74318 65118 | 2002 | ||
| 334019 | Saltire | 64119 74319 65119 | 2001 | ||
| 334020 | Saltire | 64120 74320 65120 | Worked the first 334 passenger service to Gourock with set 010 in 2001 | 2002 | |
| 334021 | Saltire | 64121 74321 65121 | Larkhall | 2001 | |
| 334022 | Saltire | 64122 74322 65122 | 2002 | ||
| 334023 | Saltire | 64123 74323 65123 | 2001 | ||
| 334024 | Saltire | 64124 74324 65124 | Did the press + official trip to offically introduce the 334s in December 2002 | 2001 | |
| 334025 | Saltire | 64125 74325 65125 | 2001 | ||
| 334026 | Saltire | 64126 74326 65126 | 2001 | ||
| 334027 | Saltire | 64127 74327 65127 | 2001 | ||
| 334028 | Saltire | 64128 74328 65128 | 2001 | ||
| 334029 | Saltire | 64129 74329 65129 | 2001 | ||
| 334030 | Saltire | 64130 74330 65130 | 2002 | ||
| 334031 | Saltire | 64131 74331 65131 | 2002 | ||
| 334032 | Saltire | 64132 74332 65132 | 2002 | ||
| 334033 | Saltire | 64133 74333 65133 | 2002 | ||
| 334034 | Saltire | 64134 74334 65134 | 2001 | ||
| 334035 | Saltire | 64135 74335 65135 | 2001 | ||
| 334036 | Saltire | 64136 74336 65136 | 2001 | ||
| 334037 | Saltire | 64137 74337 65137 | 2001 | ||
| 334038 | Saltire | 64138 74338 65138 | 2002 | ||
| 334039 | Saltire | 64139 74339 65139 | 2002 | ||
| 334040 | Saltire | 64140 74340 65140 |