WALES AND BORDERS SPECIAL
TfW’s Rolling Stock Strategy Manager ANDREW GAINSBURY updates PHILIP SHERRATT with progress on the operator’s fleet upgrade
Transport for Wales’ train fleet is about to undergo its biggest change for generations. Over the next few years new fleets from CAF and Stadler will be introduced, and by the middle of the decade 95% of TfW journeys will be on new trains. Compared to the incremental change which has been a hallmark of recent times, it will be quite a transformation.
By the end of this year, the first of the new fleets from both manufacturers should be in service: CAF Class 197 DMUs in North Wales and Stadler Class 231 DEMUs in South Wales. But with a range of old fleets to cascade out of the business, the position remains very complicated, at least in the short-term. TfW’s Rolling Stock Strategy Manager Andrew Gainsbury emphasises that while the new fleets promise a significant improvement right across the network, there is a need in the shortterm to manage expectations as the rollout of the new trains proceeds.
‘197s’ AND ‘231s’ FIRST
First to enter service will be the CAF Class 197s, with 51x2-car and 26x3-car units ordered, all built at the manufacturer’s Newport fact…
