Published on: Thursday, 26 January 2017
Last updated: Friday, 23 June 2017
Greater Anglia has announced that it is leasing additional trains to improve service reliability for commuters in Essex, while others are being refurbished.
The £8 million investment will see the operator lease an additional 10 Class 321 trains, eight of which will be retained and refurbished as part of the train operator’s permanent fleet.
The investment will help to ensure that trains operate with the right number of carriages and maintain service reliability while other Class 321 trains are undergoing a significant programme of refurbishment which includes:
- New, more comfortable seating throughout
- Air-conditioning fitted throughout (which has not previously been available)
- New heating systems
- Larger vestibules for improved boarding and alighting
- Wi-Fi facilities enabled throughout
- Power sockets installed throughout
- New, energy efficient lighting
- Improved space allocation for wheelchairs, buggies, bicycles and luggage
- New flooring, ceiling panels and windows
- Upgraded equipment monitoring systems to improve train reliability
Greater Anglia’s Managing Director Jamie Burles said: "I’m pleased to announce that while we continue the major upgrade of our Class 321 fleet, the procurement of ten additional trains will help to maintain service reliability and ensure that peak time trains have the correct number of carriages, and therefore seats, to help ensure that commuters in Essex experience a comfortable journey.”
Once the refurbishment programme is complete, the additional trains will be used to provide extra seats at peak times.
These enhancements will then be followed by Greater Anglia’s transformation programme to replace its entire train fleet with brand new, state of the art trains during 2019/20.