Abellio, JR East and Mitsui announced that Bombardier Transportation and CAF were selected to manufacture 107 new trains for the next West Midlands franchise, the financing of which is being led by Infracapital and Deutsche Asset Management.
These trains will be made up of 413 carriages and cost £680 million (EUR 766.3 million), a project that is part of £1 billion (EUR 1.12 billion) into the franchise that Abellio, JR East and Mitsui will be overseeing in the coming years.
Under the contract, Bombardier will produce 333 electric carriages made up of 36-3 car trains for metro services and 45-5 car trains for outer suburban and long distance configurations. They will be built at Bombardier’s facility in Derby.
“Being selected for this important order is another huge endorsement of our workforce and the quality of the products we design, engineer and manufacture here in the UK. Our modern Aventra trains will be built in the Midlands for the Midlands, and provide passengers with greater connectivity, reliability and shorter journey times,” Richard Hunter, UK Managing Director, Bombardier Transportation said.
CAF will produce 80 diesel carriages made up of 12-2 car trains and 14 – 4 car trains which will provide dedicated services for journeys to the towns and cities around Birmingham.
“This opportunity consolidates CAF’s position as one of the leading manufacturers of trains in the UK market and is a fabulous achievement in CAF’s centenary year,” Richard Garner, Business Development Director for UK and Ireland at CAF said.
The new trains will provide space for an extra 85,000 passengers on rush hour services into Birmingham and London. The new trains will be essential for delivery of the increased capacity and improved journey times required on the franchise. By the end of the franchise there will be 25% more train carriages available than at the start.
The trains will be leased to the new West Midlands rail franchise, as is standard practice.
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