PHILIP SHERRATT VISITS LIVERPOOL FOR AN UPDATE ON THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW STADLER EMUs ON THE MERSEYRAIL NETWORK
New train, new shed: Nos 777008 and 777010 in the new facility at Kirkdale, built by Bam Nuttall under contract to Stadler; the road on the right has a roof access gantry.
ALL PHOTOS BY PHILIP SHERRATT
New trains are coming to Merseyside’s urban rail network. At the time of writing at the end of April, Stadler had delivered 13 four-car Class 777s from a fleet ordered by Merseytravel to replace the 40-year-old Class 507 and 508 EMUs currently deployed.
The first train, No 777003, was delivered to the UK and unveiled by Merseytravel in January 2020. The arrival of the pandemic threw planned timescales for testing, commissioning, training and entry into service out of kilter, but the first sets were due to begin fault-free running during May, which once successfully completed will trigger acceptance by Merseytravel.
