EMR Launches and orders Hitachi bi-modes

摘要

ABELLIO HAS chosen Hitachi Rail to build 33 five-car bi-mode (165 carriages) units as part of its fleet replacement project; the order is valued at £400m, financed by Rock Rail and leased to East Midlands Railway. They will replace the operator's HST and Meridian fleets, inherited from East Midlands Trains, in 2022. The new trains will be used on all services from St Pancras to Sheffield, Leicester, Derby and Nottingham. Most are expected to run in ten-car formations, which will probably require additional on-board catering staff. Each vehicle is 24m long, two metres shorter than the IETs already delivered to GWR and LNER, so as to fit the infrastructure requirements on the Midland Main Line. In orderto satisfy the need forthe bi-modes to equal the performance of the Class 222 Meridians in diesel mode, each unit will be equipped with four generator sets, compared to three on Hitachi's other five-car bi-modes.