Hitachi Rail has entered into a contract with FirstGroup plc and Angel Trains Limited to lease 14 new, UK manufactured, five-car Hitachi electric or bi-mode trains.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer visted Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, on Friday to celebrate the significant agreement for the Hitachi Rail Limited factory, which has secured an order to manufacture 70 new rail cars for leading transport operator FirstGroup’s growing open access business, creating certainty for the manufacturing skills base, and the factory’s future.
The agreement will deliver 14 new five-car class 80X Hitachi electric or bi-mode trains (a total of 70 cars), which will not only give FirstGroup a homogenous fleet across its open access operations and provides flexibility and reliability for customers, but also facilitates FirstGroup’s strategic objective of materially increasing its open access capacity. Delivery of the new trains is expected to commence in late 2027. The lease will be financed by Angel Trains, adding to their portfolio of Hitachi assets. The trains will be maintained by Hitachi at their facilities around the country.
The trains will be used on FirstGroup’s open access rail services, including the Carmarthen-London route announced on 5 December, and the existing Hull Trains and Lumo services on the East Coast Mainline.
In addition, the agreement provides FirstGroup the option to invest another £500m, with options on a further 13 five-car trains, should their recently submitted open access applications be successful. These include for a new Lumo service between London and Rochdale via Newton-le-Willows, Eccles and Manchester Victoria, the extension of the Lumo service between Glasgow and Edinburgh, the expansion of the new London-Carmarthen Lumo service to introduce a new Lumo service between London and Paignton, and a new Hull Trains service between London and Sheffield via Retford and Worksop.
Open access rail operators are set up with solely private investment and take full commercial risk and opportunity. The successful open access model, which is supported by Government and its independent regulator ORR, connects under-served places, helping to drive economic growth and providing additional capacity on core routes which can push a modal shift away from carbon-intensive travel.
Jim Brewin, Chief Director of UK & Ireland at Hitachi Rail, said: “This contract is a positive step forward, and just recognition for the hard work and patience of our teams across the Hitachi Rail UK business over recent years. We look forward to once again delivering for Hull Trains and Lumo passengers who will benefit further from our award-winning British built trains.
“We owe a lot to the innovation and creativity shown by our customers Angel Trains and FirstGroup and are excited to work in collaboration to deliver on our combined ambitions.
“Equally, we owe a debt of thanks to the Northeast Mayor Kim McGuiness and other local MPs who have worked tirelessly in support of this private sector investment.”
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