News Front
C2C HAS ordered 6x10-car 100mph Aventra EMUs from Bombardier. The operator was required to procure new trains as part of its 15-year franchise, which runs until 2029.
Porterbrook will finance the fleet in a £105 million deal, which also includes an eight-year maintenance contract covering the fleet until the end of the franchise in 2029. The trains will be built at Derby and delivered by September 2021; the operator says the original plan for a phased delivery until 2024 has been accelerated since the acquisition of c2c by Trenitalia.
The fixed-formation trains will include over 900 seats, air conditioning, Wi-Fi, plug sockets and three toilets. c2c says each 10-car train will provide capacity for 15% more passengers than a current 12-car Electrostar formation.
c2c has been struggling for capacity since it overhauled its timetable in December 2015. In 2016 it introduced 6x4-car Class 387s as a short-term measure, and it says these units will remain until the new fleet arrives. It adds that it remains in discussions for leasing additional carriages from December 2019 until the new trains arrive, with an update expected during 2019.
The order is the sixth for Bombardier’s Aventra platform, following on from those for London’s Elizabeth Line, London Overground, Greater Anglia, South Western Railway and West Midlands Trains.
