£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.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Prospects for intercity transport technology
    February 6, 2012
    Magnetic levitation has been dismissed as unproven, too costly, or pie in the sky. It's time to reappraise it
    Read More
  • Sweden plans major infrastructure investments 2014-2025
    April 9, 2014
    The Swedish government has presented planned investments as part of its national transport plan 2014-2025, which is based on an infrastructure proposal from 2012. A total of US$80.32 billion is to be invested in the transport network, US$23.7 billion in the operations and maintenance of roads, US$13 billion in the operation and maintenance of railways, and US$43 billion will go towards developing the transport system. The government is to invest US$30.6 billion in new railway infrastructure, including
    Read More
  • Smoothing out city freight movements
    May 28, 2014
    David Crawford welcomes a national first. Urban freight movements, while commercially and socially vital, are a growing logistical headache for planners and people alike. Figures from France’s Lyon Laboratory of Transport Economics indicate that goods transport in major urban areas accounts for: 20% of traffic; 35% of CO2 emissions made by all urban trips; and 50% of the diesel used; while final km delivery runs account for 20% of the total cost of the transport chain.
    Read More
  • First pan-London Car Club Action Plan launched
    May 21, 2015
    Around 85 per cent of UK car club members already based in London New plan will help reach new joint target of one million London car club members by 2025 Future growth of car clubs will help improve London’s air quality and reduce congestion in the Capital A new ‘strategy for car clubs’ in London has been launched today (21 May), to encourage residents and businesses across the capital to sign up to car club schemes as an alternative to direct car ownership. The new action plan, jointly developed b
    Read More

Highlighted Content