Published on: Friday, 26 January 2018
Last updated: Monday, 29 January 2018
These are the first pictures of new train carriages that will arrive in East Anglia from 2019.
These completed body shells, being painted in Greater Anglia livery, are the first off the production line.
They will eventually form part of one of Greater Anglia’s regional trains and will run on many local routes in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and North Essex from 2019 onwards.
The shells were manufactured by Stadler at their factory in Hungary and have been transported to its Bussnang factory in Switzerland where they will now be fitted with seats, lighting and other electrical equipment, air conditioning systems, wifi, plug and USB sockets and large picture windows.
As other carriages are completed, they will gradually be grouped together to form entire trains together with the bogies.
Stadler will build 58 trains in total which will operate on Greater Anglia’s Intercity, Stansted Express and Regional services. The rest are being built by Bombardier in Derby.
Greater Anglia is spending £1.4 billion on 169 new trains - a total of 1,043 new carriages - which will start to come into service from 2019.
All of the new trains will have air conditioning, USB and plug points and free fast wifi.
Greater Anglia Managing Director Jamie Burles said: “We’re very excited about our new trains. When you see photos like this it’s possible to imagine what an amazing change to our customers’ journeys these brand-new trains will make. There will be more seats. Everyone will be able to plug in their mobile phones or laptops, and with fast free wifi on every train, people will even be able to Facetime their friends and family while they travel, making the most of every minute.
“This is part of the transformation of the railway in East Anglia. By introducing high quality new trains, offering more convenient and more reliable journeys, we hope to make train travel even better and our customers’ lives a little easier.”
Hein van der Schoot, managing director of Stadler, UK and the Netherlands, added: “This is a significant milestone in the process of manufacturing 58 new trains for Greater Anglia, bringing us one step closer to delivering the new fleet, over the next couple of years. Building Stadler trains typically takes place in at least two locations, to take advantage of regional expertise and skill. The bodyshells will now transfer from Hungary to Stadler’s headquarters in Bussnang, where internal fittings will be installed. They will then be attached to bogies and moved to the commissioning site in Erlen in Switzlerland ahead of final completion.”
