TransPennine Express has officially received the first of its brand new Nova 1 trains, following formal acceptance from the Office of Rail and Road.
The operator will receive 19 five-car Nova 1 trains manufactured by Hitachi Rail and financed by Angel Trains. Each train has 342 seats, an extra 161 compared to its current trains. The trains will run across the North and Scotland, on routes between Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, York, Newcastle, Morpeth and Edinburgh and will start to be phased into service, as planned, before the end of the year.
Rigorous testing of both the Nova 3 and Nova 2 fleets is currently ongoing and three Nova 3 trains have now been accepted, however as a result of further faults that have emerged, the first of the Nova 3 trains will now enter service towards the end of summer 2019. The operator says that it is working closely with CAF to resolve the issues but the delay has had a significant impact on staff training and more time will now be required to complete this.
“The acceptance of the first Nova 1 train is a key step towards the introduction of more trains and more carriages for customers. Together with our partners, we are working hard to get each of our Nova fleets into service as soon as possible. By the end of this year, trains from all three fleets will be operating across the North and into Scotland providing 13 million extra seats,” Chris Nutton, Major Projects Director for TransPennine Express said.
Nova train features spacious, comfortable seating, free Wi-Fi in both First and Standard Class, plug sockets and USB charging points, improved information systems and access to complimentary Exstream entertainment.
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