£680 million investment for West Midlands Trains

A £680 million ($897million) order for new trains has been welcomed by West Midlands Rail (WMR), a consortium of 16 local councils set up to manage the regions rail services. The order, made up of 413 carriages, comes from West Midlands Trains (WMT) who will run local services on behalf of WMR and Department of Transport (D0T) from December onwards to help increase capacity and improve journey times. WMT will operate local services until March 2026.
October 19, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
A £680 million ($897million) order for new trains has been welcomed by West Midlands Rail (WMR), a consortium of 16 local councils set up to manage the regions rail services. The order, made up of 413 carriages, comes from West Midlands Trains (WMT) who will run local services on behalf of WMR and Department of Transport (D0T) from December onwards to help increase capacity and improve journey times. WMT will operate local services until March 2026.


WMT is made up of Abellio, JR East and Mitsui and the order is part of a near £1 billion ($1,319 million) investment into the franchise.

513 Bombardier Trains and Construcciones y Auxilar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) will manufacture 107 new trains for the next West Midlands franchise. CAF will also produce 80 diesel carriages to provide dedicated services for journeys to towns and cities around Birmingham.  

A total of 333 of the new trains will feature air conditioning, free Wi-Fi and in-seat power sockets provided as standard – produced by Bombardier in Derby.

Cllr Roger Lawrence, chair of WMR and transport lead on the West Midlands combined authority, said: "This is a very significant investment in new trains that will bring more space, more services and improved comfort for passengers.  

"We know a key issue for passengers is overcrowding at peak times so we are pleased that these new carriages will provide space for an extra 85,000 passengers on rush hour services into Birmingham and London.”

Related Content

  • April 10, 2013
    Traffic Technology retains West Berkshire data collection
    Buckinghamshire-based Traffic Technology has successfully retained its traffic data collection contract with West Berkshire District Council. The company will carry out permanent traffic surveys from around thirty-three sites in West Berkshire, as well as ad hoc traffic and parking surveys, pedestrian crossing studies and journey time studies on behalf of the Council for the next two years, with an option to continue for a further two years. Data from parking surveys is used to inform future parking strateg
    Read More
  • September 15, 2015
    EIB backing for London transport
    The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to provide US$1.5 billion for investment in the London transport network. The 35 year loan from Europe’s long-term lending institution will support major projects, including significant upgrades by Transport for London (TfL) at Victoria and Bank Tube stations, which will transform passenger access at two of the busiest stations in the capital. The new support was announced by Jonathan Taylor, vice president of the European Investment Bank and Steve Allen, ma
    Read More
  • June 11, 2019
    Mott Macdonald JV completes Sydney Metro Northwest
    Mott Macdonald and its joint venture partners have completed the Sydney Metro Northwest, an autonomous train service available for commuters in the Australian city. Delivering 36km of new metro rail, the AUS$8.3 billion (£4.5bn) project is expected to improve travel times and increase the reliability of trains. It also comprises eight new stations from the Epping suburb to Tallawong railway station, five upgraded stations and 4,000 commuter car parking spaces. Mott Macdonald worked with engineering compan
    Read More
  • August 15, 2019
    USDoT’s NETT is welcome – but Toyota unhappy at V2X development
    The US Department of Transportation has announced a new council to champion emerging mobility tech – but one car manufacturer is currently not feeling that such support is everything it might be The announcement of a brand new body to champion autonomous vehicles (AVs) - among other innovations – is a potentially welcome development for mobility and transit providers. Elaine L. Chao, US secretary of transportation, says that the newly-created Non-Traditional and Emerging Transportation Technology (NETT)
    Read More

Highlighted Content