ROLLING STOCK
Trains for the
21st Alistair Dormer, executive chairman and chief executive offi cer of Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd, outlines progress on the IEP. A
project nearly a decade in the making is fi nally coming together as Hitachi
prepares to build Super Express trains for the East Coast Main Line and the Great Western Main Line.
The contract has now reached commercial close for the former and fi nancial close for the latter.
Speaking at the Project Update Theatre at Railtex 2013, executive chairman and chief executive offi cer of Hitachi Rail Europe, Alistair Dormer, set out the latest progress on the InterCity Express Programme.
Dormer began by praising the contribution High Speed Trains (HSTs) have made and their years of successful operation on the GWML, and he said Hitachi had “a big challenge to replace them”.
A substantial fl eet
Agility Trains, 70% owned by Hitachi and 30% by John Laing, will provide the trains for services along the routes on a build and maintain basis. The company is involved with
a number of operators, disabled groups and Passenger Focus to “make sure this train is fi t for the 21st century”, Dormer said.
The Super Express trains order comprises 36 fi ve-car bi-mode trains and 21 nine-car electric trains for operation on the Great Western Main Line, and (on provision of fi nancial close) for the East Coast Main Line, an additional 13 nine-car bi-mode trains, 12 fi ve-car electric trains and 10 fi ve-car bi-mode trains.
Future-proof trains
Each carriage is three metres longer than the existing HST cars, allowing Agility Trains to carry the same number of passengers in a nine-car train as a HST can carry in a ten-car.
700 seats per nine-car set provides greater capacity and the trains will carry the latest intelligent systems and wi-fi .
“ We value your business, but we value you even more if you’re based in the north east.”
“All in all it’s a substantial fl eet of trains,” Dormer said. As well as rolling stock, Hitachi will upgrade depot facilities on both lines and provide maintenance services for 27.5 years.
“It’s a very long contract, but it gives us the opportunity to recruit heavily to provide the right level of engineering skills into our workforce to look after these trains.”
Hitachi has aimed to make the interior environment “future-proof” for passengers, he said, with a modular design to allow refreshes throughout the train’s lifespan.
The train’s interior was designed in Warwick by DCA. Work has involved mock-ups to determine the optimum seat and luggage storage arrangements, as well as how to fi t in toilets and make the best use of the space.
“We are confi dent we have a very good, ergonomic design for the drivers’ cab; it’s a very comfortable environment and much different to the HSTs they enjoy today,” Dormer added.
Enabling electrifi cation
The bi-mode trains’ diesel engines give a secondary advantage: they allow internal systems such as lights, heating and air conditioning to continue operating regardless of failures with overhead wires, and to transport passengers to the next station in the event of OLE failure.
Above: Dormer shows rail minister Simon Burns the model for the Newton Aycliffe factory. 60 | rail technology magazine Jun/Jul 13
Hitachi has signed a deal worth more than €200 million with MTU (which also supplied engines and maintains them for the current generation of InterCity 125s) for 250 Powerpacks with Series 1600 rail engines.
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