Porterbrook Leasing Company Limited, a subsidiary of Abbey National plc has signed a contract to purchase 37 x 4 Car Siemens Class 350 Desiro Electric Multiple Units for the new West Midlands franchise.
The new franchise to be known as London Midland was awarded to Govia on 21 June 2007 and will run from 11 November 2007 to 19 September 2015.
The new vehicles will be built by Siemens and deliveries are expected to commence in October 2008. The units will be capable of 100mph and will operate the London to Birmingham services on the West Coast Main Line.
Paul Francis, managing director of Porterbrook said: “Porterbrook is delighted to have completed this £164 million transaction to purchase the Siemens Class 350 EMUs to operate on the London Midland franchise. Introducing this new rolling stock will give us an opportunity to build on our already excellent relationship with Govia. Porterbrook has already worked successfully with their project team to deliver 700 new vehicles to the Southern franchise and these trains are now providing reliable, comfortable services to Southern’s passengers. In London Midland, we have the opportunity to work with another proven manufacturer in Siemens to deliver a high quality train into the UK to enhance the travelling experience for passengers on this franchise.”
Christian Roth, managing director of Siemens Transportation Systems said:” This gives Siemens the opportunity to grow its UK Desiro fleets and we are very pleased to be working with Porterbrook and Govia. The West Coast Main line is a strategically important route and Siemens intends to build upon the proven reliability of its existing Desiro Class 350’s with the introduction of this new order for 37 trains.”
Tom Smith, Govia’s managing director - rail development said: “We are looking forward to taking delivery of these new trains. They will transform the travelling experience of passengers using the longer-distance routes on the new London Midland franchise and play a key part in enabling us to meet our targets for continuous improvement in punctuality and reliability.”
Rail Minister Tom Harris said: "Delivering new rolling stock was a key element of the new West Midlands franchise and I'm sure these new Desiros will prove very popular with passengers. The other benefit of this agreement is that it will free up existing rolling stock so that we can employ it elsewhere on the network, thereby boosting capacity across the country."
The parties are now working together on a contract to maintain the trains at the Siemens train care facility at Northampton.
Mr. Alison Emery
Head of Communications
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Tel: 01530 258204