European Investment Bank backing for UK’s East Coast Main Line trains

Europe’s long-term lending institution, the European Investment Bank has, as part of a consortium of international banks, agreed to finance the deployment of 65 new Hitachi super express trains to be used on the East Coast Main Line between London and Scotland. This new fleet will replace the Intercity 125 and 225 trains currently in use on the line. The new East Coast Main Line trains will be financed under the Department for Transport’s Intercity Express Programme, which includes the financing, desig
April 17, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Europe’s long-term lending institution, the 4270 European Investment Bank has, as part of a consortium of international banks, agreed to finance the deployment of 65 new 2213 Hitachi super express trains to be used on the East Coast Main Line between London and Scotland. This new fleet will replace the Intercity 125 and 225 trains currently in use on the line.
 
The new East Coast Main Line trains will be financed under the 1837 Department for Transport’s Intercity Express Programme, which includes the financing, design, manufacture and maintenance of trains over a 27.5 year operating period. The order for the East Coast Main Line is for 497 new train carriages and the total contract value is US$4.5 billion, which is the total value of lease payments train operators will make over the life of the contracts.
 
New trains on the line will include both bi-mode trains, electric trains that can also operate at line speed using diesel engines, and electric trains. The programme will also include the construction of a new maintenance deport in Doncaster.
 
The first new trains are expected to enter service in September 2018, with the remainder being delivered progressively until February, 2020. The trains will be manufactured in Britain by 7427 Hitachi Rail Europe at a new purpose-built factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham where 730 new jobs will be created.

The European Investment Bank is financing the new East Coast Main Line trains alongside Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Bank of Tokyo 4962 Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), Development Bank of Japan (DBJ), HSBC, Lloyds, Mitsubishi Trust, Mizuho, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Société Générale and Crédit Agricole.

Related Content

  • Electric vehicles in construction are the future, say researchers
    December 20, 2016
    The industrial and commercial sector is the largest part of the electric vehicle value market and that will continue to be the case according to analysis in the IDTechEx report, Industrial and Commercial Electric Vehicles 2017-2027. Buses are the largest part of that and they are mainly made in China for China, where typical orders are ten times the size of orders elsewhere. Less dramatically, construction, mining and agriculture do not see 70 per cent grants for EV versions yet they are steadily becomin
    Read More
  • Multilateral development banks join forces to ramp up climate action in transport
    December 4, 2015
    Eight multilateral development banks have issued a joint statement, committing to accelerate their efforts to mitigate transport emissions and recognizing the need for more action on the resilience of transport to climate change. The sector accounts for about 60 per cent of global oil consumption, 27 per cent of all energy use, and 23 per cent of world energy-related CO2 emissions. In their statement, the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, European
    Read More
  • UK's Hindhead tunnel pushes the boundaries of traffic management
    January 23, 2012
    The new Hindhead Tunnel is the first in the UK to use radar-based incident detection. Paul Arnold, project manager with the Highways Agency, talks about the project. The comparatively remote location of the A3 Hindhead Tunnel has resulted in it becoming one of the most sophisticated in the UK in terms of monitoring and control systems, according to Paul Arnold, project manager for the Highways Agency (HA), which manages strategic roads in England and Wales. It is the first tunnel in the UK to use radar for
    Read More
  • Bombardier supplies 60 Aventra vehicles for London Rail Structure
    December 19, 2017
    Bombardier has signed a contract with Porterbook and C2c to supply 60 of its Aventra vehicles to be used on the C2c rail franchise from September 2021 with the intention of increasing capacity and improving journeys for commuters into London. The overall value of the rolling stock and maintenance and support services contract is valued £105m ($139m) and will run until November 2029.
    Read More

Highlighted Content