22.12.15
GTR orders new fleet of Siemens Class 700 variants for Great Northern
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has chosen Siemens to provide a new £200m fleet of modern air-conditioned carriages for Great Northern suburban services to and from Moorgate.
Siemens will produce 25 six-car units (150 vehicles total) of a variant of the Class 700 Desiro City train currently being built for the Thameslink routes.
The fleet will replace 40-year-old Class 313 trains by the end of 2018 on routes to and from Welwyn and Hertford, Stevenage and Letchworth.
GTR’s fleet director, Gerry McFadden, said: “Coupled with the seven-day-a-week service to Moorgate that we started this month, these new trains will give our passengers a superior, modern comfortable journey with more capacity, improved reliability, air conditioning and passenger information systems that can be remotely updated to provide real-time information.
“This is just one of four new train fleets we’re bringing in, introducing almost 1,400 new train carriages to the network, and we’re delighted to be appointing Siemens as our preferred bidder.”
Features requested as a result of consultations with businesses and passenger groups include a fixed length with full-width inter-vehicle gangways to create more space for passengers on board, with no intermediate cabs.
As well as air-conditioning, the trains will have the latest passenger information systems with real-time displays, be fully accessible and compliant with disability legislation, and boast power points throughout.
To fund the massive order, worth over £200m, GTR will run a financial competition.
According to the CEO of Siemens’ Mobility Division, Dr Jochen Eickholt, the contract will be finalised next year.
Separately, GTR’s Class 700 fleet, also built by Siemens for the Thameslink programme, has recently performed its first test run on the mainline between the operator’s depot at Three Bridges and Brighton.