60 AVENTRA vehicles will improve the London commute

Bombardier Transportation has signed a contract with Porterbrook and c2c, to supply 60 new BOMBARDIER AVENTRA vehicles for use on the United Kingdom’s c2c rail franchise, together with an eight-year maintenance and support services contract. The addition to the fleet will increase capacity and improve the commuting journey into London.

Rail Minister Paul Maynard said: “We are making the biggest investment in the railways since the Victorian times to be able to meet the growing demand for rail travel and improve both journey times and passenger comfort. 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 Wi-Fi, air-conditioning and plug sockets.”

The overall value of the rolling stock and maintenance contracts are valued approximately at £105 million. The maintenance contract will run from the introduction of the trains until November 2029.  

Ernesto Sicilia, Managing Director, Trenitalia UK said: “We are delighted to announce this deal, which demonstrates our focus on long-term investments, our desire to constantly improve the standing of our trains and deliver visible and valuable improvements on our services. Since our entrance into the UK market the original investment plan, which included a phased delivery from 2019 to 2024, has been accelerated overall and we are extremely proud that the new fleet will be delivered three years earlier than planned.”

Richard Hunter, UK Managing Director, Bombardier Transportation, said, “Our modern AVENTRA trains are proving ever more popular and this order will help transform the travel experience for c2c passengers and deliver almost 20 per cent more capacity to c2c’s fleet.”

Bombardier will deliver and maintain 60 electric carriages by September 2021, made up of 100mph 10 x 6-car trains. Built at Bombardier’s facility in Derby, the AVENTRA product family platform has the flexibility to meet several market segment needs.