Starting 24 July, ScotRail put into service the first new Hitachi class 385 electric train on the Glasgow Queen Street-Edinburgh Waverley via Falkirk High route. The remainder of the new class 385 trains for that route will be phased in over the course of the coming months, before the rollout is extended to other routes across the Central Belt.
ScotRail’s project on the acquisition of new trains is part of company’s £475 million (EUR 532.87 million) rolling stock investment, following the £858 million (EUR 962.5 million) electrification of the line between Edinburgh and Glasgow by Network Rail Scotland.
“The investment we are making will deliver faster journeys, more seats, and better services for our customers,” ScotRail Alliance Managing Director Alex Hynes said.
Hitachi is building 70 new class 385 trains for ScotRail, which will deliver 234 carriages, made up of 24 four-car trains and 46 three-car trains. The four-car trains have 273 seats, with a total of 546 seats for eight-car trains, and three-car trains have 206 seats.
The class 385 trains are 18 per cent more energy efficient than the diesel trains they will replace, and will reduce the CO2 footprint by 21 per cent, with no CO2 emissions from these trains.
The new trains will operate on six railway routes such as Edinburgh – Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High; Edinburgh – North Berwick; South Glasgow suburban routes – Cathcart Circle/Lanark; Glasgow/Edinburgh – Dunblane/Stirling/Alloa; Glasgow – Falkirk Grahamston via Cumbernauld; Glasgow Central – Edinburgh via Shotts.
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