Bombardier and CAF to make 413 carriages for new West Midlands franchise

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Future operator West Midlands Trains has made a £680 million order with Bombardier and CAF for 413 carriages.

Bombardier will manufacture 36 three-car and 45 five-car Aventra trains at its Derby site, while CAF will produce 12 two-car and 14 four-car Civity trains. In total, 107 new trains will be delivered.

The electric three-car Aventras will operate on metro services, the electric five-car units for outer suburban and long distance, while CAF’s DMUs will run on dedicated services to the towns and cities around Birmingham.


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The first trains will enter passenger service in 2020 with the full fleet expected by 2021.

All of the new rolling stock will feature air conditioning, free Wi-Fi and in-seat power sockets.

The new franchise under West Midlands Trains – a joint venture between Abellio, Japan East Railway Company and Mitsui – will begin on December 10.

Abellio said that the new trains will provide space for an extra 85,000 passengers on rush hour services into Birmingham and London and improve journey times.

The new trains will be branded with new West Midlands Rail livery.

It confirmed that some of franchise’s Siemens Desiros will be replaced but some will remain.

The rolling stock investment – which is financed by Infracapital and Deutsche Asset Management – is part of a wider £1 billion investment that the three companies will be making in the franchise in the coming years.

By the end of West Midlands Train’s franchise 58 per cent of the rolling stock will be new and all of the remaining carriages will be renovated.


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