Passengers travelled on Merseyrail’s new Stadler Class 777 EMU for the first time on 23 January as No 777049 operated the maiden service, the 10.50 Liverpool Central to Kirkby. The £500 million new trains project has been led by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and its transport arm Merseytravel.
Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram told Modern Railways he was anxious for the rollout of the new trains to proceed as quickly as possible. They are replacing Class 507/508 EMUs, which are now more than 40 years old.
Fifty-three ‘777s’ are on order from Stadler, of which 17 have been accepted for service so far. The agreement of a deal with ASLEF on 17 January around the method of operation of the new trains paved the way for them to start carrying passengers, with Merseyrail to ramp up training of drivers and guards over the coming weeks, starting with the two depots on the Northern line.
