East Midlands Railway – the incoming Midland Main Line franchisee operated by Abellio – has selected new rolling stock for its network – with the company taking on Hitachi High Speed trains for its new intercity fleet.
This is part of the complete fleet replacement that Abellio committed to East Midlands Railways when signing for the franchise.
In total, 165 carriages will be built and formed into 5 car united – a total of 33 units. they will run in pairs to give 10-car trains regularly according to Hitachi.
The new trains will be introduced from 2022 and will serve the main cities and towns on the Midland Main Line including Sheffield, Chesterfield, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and Lincoln as well as Kettering and London St Pancras.
The trains will feature including air conditioning, free Wi-Fi throughout, plug sockets and passenger information screens. There are also plans to introduce “an improved and more consistent ‘seven day’ catering service” in both 1st and Standard Class (although no mention of if this will be in the form of a buffet or a trolley service).
The new trains will be bi-mode – allowing them to run off overhead power lines (to take advantage of the electrified parts of the Midland Main Line), as well as diesel-powered for the sections of the Midland Main Line that are still unelectrified.
The trains will be assembled at Hitachi UK train factory at Newton Aycliffe, Co. Durham, and will be maintained at Derby Etches Park depot.
The funding for the trains will be through a new consortium – lead by Rock Rail and the fleet will be financed through Rock Rail East Midlands Plc. and leased to Abellio for the life of the franchise
In quotes
Commenting on the order, Dominic Booth, Abellio (UK) Managing Director said:
“These new trains form the centrepiece of our ambitious plans for a complete replacement of all the trains on the East Midlands Railway and are a more than £600 million investment to really improve the region’s railway. They will respond to what our passengers have told us they want with more frequent services, faster journeys between the East Midlands and London, and provide more capacity with 80% more seats into London in the morning peak”.
Karen Boswell, Managing Director for Hitachi Rail UK, welcomed the positive news for British railway workers:
“Today’s announcement will be welcomed in workshops and engineering centres across the country, thanks to our large network of UK suppliers. Our train factory in County Durham sources train parts from across the country, including a significant amount from the region where the new trains will run.
“Hitachi is delighted that EMR passengers will soon be receiving the very latest model of our new intercity trains, which are already proving popular and increasing satisfaction among passengers in other parts of the country”.
Building on the Intercity Express Train Project
Hitachi’s wins in the high-speed market have been notable, with the company initially winning the Class 395 “Javelin” train order for SouthEastern, the Intercity Express Train project for GWR and LNER, follow on orders from GWR, Hull Trains, Transpennine Express and the new FirstGroup London to Scotland route.
For those looking at the HS2 award, it’s going to be a tough battle to beat Hitachi.
Meanwhile, for passengers, additional trainsets will be welcome as these will replace the popular – if ageing – British Rail InterCity 125 trainsets and deliver extra capacity on the Midland Main Line – which will be welcome to see.
With the experience of the IET programme, hopefully Hitachi will be in a position to deliver these new trains to the East Midland on-time.
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