New Aventras
c2c orders six ten-car Aventras in a £105m deal with Bombardier, with the 100mph EMUs due in traffic by September 2021.
A fleet of six ten-car Aventras has been ordered by c2c in a £105 million deal.
The 100mph electric multiple units will be built by Bombardier at Derby Litchurch Lane, with all due to be in traffic by September 2021. An eight-year maintenance deal is also included - this will run until the end of the franchise in November 2029. Porterbrook will fund the trains.
Announcing the deal, Rail Minister Paul Maynard said: “These British-built Bombardier trains, which are coming into service earlier than planned, will provide much-needed extra capacity for thousands of passengers across London and Essex, and also come with facilities such as WiFi, airconditioning and plug sockets.”
Ernesto Sicilia, managing director of c2c owner Trenitalia UK, said: “Since our entrance in the UK market, the original new trains investment plan, which included a phased delivery from 2019 to 2024, has been accelerated overall. We are extremely proud that the new fleet will start to be delivered from summer 2021, three years earlier than originally planned.”
Bombardier Transportation UK Managing Director Richard Hunter said: “This order will deliver almost 20% more capacity to c2c’s fleet.”
The trains will run alongside c2c’s existing fleet of 74 Class 357 Electrostars (delivered by Adtranz/ Bombardier from 1999-2002) and six Class 387/3 Electrostars (delivered in 2016, and ordered speculatively by Porterbrook before being leased by c2c).
The operator is still negotiating for more EMUs from December 2019. They would be used to boost capacity until the Aventras are delivered.
These Aventras take the number of vehicles on order for the UK to 2,618, following orders for Crossrail Class 345s (630), Greater Anglia Class 720s (665), London Overground Class 710s (180), South Western Railway Class 701s (750) and West Midlands Trains’ new fleet (333). The Aventra design replaces the Electrostar, of which the 2,805th vehicle was unveiled in late November ( RAIL 841).
The first Class 345s have entered traffic with TfL Rail, while the first ‘720s’ will be delivered to GA next year ahead of a 2019 passenger debut, with construction having started.
The first LO Class 710 is undergoing testing at Derby Litchurch Lane ahead of an expected February launch, while the first ‘701s’ for SWR are due for delivery from 2019, with WMT’s fleet from 2020.