Eversholt Rail to finance new AT300 fleet for the south west

Eversholt Rail has signed a contract with First Great Western to finance the £361 million fleet of Hitachi AT300 trains for the London to Penzance route.

The announcement follows the government’s decision to approve the contract between First Great Western and Hitachi Rail Europe, delivering 29 high speed trains for services between London Paddington, Plymouth and Penzance.

The fleet of the AT300 bi-mode vehicles will comprise of 22 five-car and 7 nine-car trains. The fleet is scheduled to enter service by December 2018.

Mary Kenny, Chief Executive Officer of Eversholt Rail Group said: “We are delighted to be working with First Great Western and Hitachi to deliver these new trains to the passengers of Great Western.

This investment represents a very exciting opportunity for Eversholt Rail. With this deal we continue to grow our fleet and our relationship with First Great Western and once again partner with Hitachi and build on our successful introduction of the Class 395 fleet for HS1.”

Andrew Mellors, First Great Western Deputy Managing Director said “We warmly welcome the announcement that our recommendations to introduce a new fleet of trains to serve customers between Devon and Cornwall and London have been approved by the Department for Transport.

We know how important the railway is to the economies and communities of the South West,and today’s agreement is fantastic news for the region and the rail industry as a whole. These trains will help us deliver faster, more frequent services into the South West, and create an additional 1,000 peak-time seats a day for customers on the route.”