New Alstom Pendolino Train to Enter Service With Virgin Trains Next Week
By Virgin Trains Alstom Transport And Angel Trains, PRNEWednesday, July 13, 2011
LONDON, July 14, 2011 -
- With Photo
A new 125mph Pendolino train, which will enter service next
week, has been formally handed over to Virgin Trains by train
builder Alstom. Leased by Virgin Trains from rolling stock owner
Angel Trains, the train will enter service next week.
Virgin Trains’ Chief Operating Officer Chris Gibb accepted the
train from Alstom Transport UK Managing Director, Paul Robinson and
Malcolm Brown, Angel Trains’ Chief Executive, at Alstom’s Edge Hill
Traincare Centre in Liverpool on 12 July. The new train has
undergone extensive testing over the last few months and will now
be used to boost capacity of the busy West Coast Main Line, where
passenger numbers have doubled to over 28 million in the past six
years alone - making it the fastest growing franchise.
Its use on the West Coast Main Line is a result of close
co-operation between Virgin Trains and the Department for
Transport. The agreement means that the 439-seat train will run on
Virgin Trains’ busiest routes, and enable more capacity to be
provided on other routes.
The new train will allow additional seats to be provided on the
busy Birmingham-Scotland and London-Glasgow routes, which have seen
growth of more than 30% in the last two years. It will provide 183
more seats than are currently available on the Super Voyagers that
serve the Birmingham-Scotland route.
A five-carriage Super Voyager will then be transferred to
services between London and North Wales, meaning that some of the
busiest trains on the route will now have ten carriages.
Transport Minister Theresa Villiers said: “Tackling crowding and
reducing the cost of our railways are two of the biggest challenges
facing the rail industry at the moment. I am delighted that we have
reached agreement to bring these carriages into service ahead of
schedule.
“But this is just part of the Government’s plans to increase
capacity for the West Coast main line - when all the new Pendolino
vehicles and trains are in service in December 2012, there will be
106 new carriages in operation on the line.
“Across the rail network we plan to deliver more than around
2,700 new carriages by 2019. These carriages are already beginning
to arrive.”
Chris Gibb, Chief Operating Officer of Virgin Trains, said:
“This is exactly what our customers want - more seats and space for
their journeys. We are delighted to accept this train into
our fleet and from next week our passengers will be able benefit
from more seats each day on some of our busiest trains.”
Paul Robinson, Managing Director of Alstom Transport UK added:
” Thanks to our teams in the UK and Italy and close
cooperation with our customers, we are able to deliver this train
for passenger service ahead of the original schedule; a great
achievement.”
Malcolm Brown Chief Executive at Angel Trains adds : “We are
delighted to have been able to work with Alstom and Virgin to
enable the introduction of this new train which will significantly
improve the travel experience for passengers on the West Coast Main
Line. Angel Trains has always been supportive of extending the
Pendolino fleet and we are delighted that this deal has come to
fruition. We hope to play an active role in providing further
investment to expand the number of fleets in operation on our
railway lines.”
This train is part of the Pendolino extension programme to
deliver four new 11-car Pendolino trains to the current fleet
operating on the West Coast Main Line, in order to increase
capacity. It will enter service initially as a nine-carriage set.
As well as supplying these new trains, Alstom will lengthen 31 of
the 52 existing trains operating on the West Coast Main Line from
nine to eleven cars by the end of 2012, providing over 7,000 extra
seats in all.
The trains were manufactured at Alstom’s site in Savigliano
Italy, its UK Preston site specialised in traction engineering,
parts and modernisation, supplying the power modules.
The DfT has ordered four 11-carriage Pendolino trains from
Alstom along with an additional 62 new Standard carriages,
which will be added to 31 existing nine-carriage trains.
Notes for editors
About Alstom‘s Pendolino
Alstom’s Pendolino has been a genuine success story since its
launch in the 1970’s, with more than 400 trains sold in the world
which have covered over 500 million kilometres in commercial
service. The Pendolino operates in 11 countries: Italy, Germany,
the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovenia, the United Kingdom,
Portugal, Spain, Finland, China and Russia.
About Angel Trains
Angel Trains owns and maintains more than 4,400 passenger and
freight rail vehicles in the UK, about 37% of the nation’s rolling
stock. Its customers include 18 of the 19 franchised train
operating companies (TOCs) and two open access operators. Since
1996 it has invested over £3 billion in new trains and the
refurbishment of existing trains, and is one of the largest private
investors in UK rail.
About Alstom Transport
A promoter of sustainable mobility, Alstom is the only
manufacturer in the world to offer a complete range of high
performance products: rolling stock, infrastructures, information
systems, services and turnkey solutions. Mindful of operators´ ever
more stringent profitability objectives and of their growing need
for sustainable mobility solutions, we propose ecologically and
economically efficient products and services to our customers.
Alstom transport recorded sales of 5.6 billion euros in the fiscal
year 2010-2011. Alstom Transport is present in 60 countries and
25,500 people.
About Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains is the brand name of Virgin Rail Group (VRG),
which is owned 51 percent by Virgin Group and 49 percent by
Stagecoach. We have operated the West Coast passenger train
franchise since 1997. The current franchise runs to March 2012 and
the Secretary of State for Transport announced on 19 May 2011 that
the Department for Transport will seek to agree acceptable terms
with VRG for an extension to the current contract to December 2012.
Virgin Trains has been short-listed for the new franchise that will
start in December 2012.
Pictures accompanying this release are available through the PA
Photowire. They can be downloaded from
or viewed at
or
For further information contact the Virgin Trains Press Office on +44(0)845-000-3333 or Alstom Transport: Helen Connolly tel: +44(0)1788545602, mob: +44(0)7801-776884, email: helen.connolly at transport.alstom.com Or Angel Trains: Jenny Wilkinson +44(0)113-220-0661, j.wilkinson at brassagency.com
Tags: July 14, London, United Kingdom, Virgin Trains Alstom Transport And Angel Trains
