2011-12-28 Southern carriages announcement (DfT Department for Transport)

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date 28 December 2011
source Southern Railway
type Press release

note No. 93

Southern has today Wednesday 28 December 2011, announced a contract with train manufacturer Bombardier for 130 new Electrostar carriages to provide more capacity on its busy network.

The £188.8 million order will augment Southern’s existing fleet of Electrostars and allow Southern to lengthen trains on some of its busiest Metro routes into Victoria, including routes via Gipsy Hill, Norbury and Hackbridge at the end of 2013 .

The new trains will be manufactured in the UK with production starting in the latter half of 2012.

Southern opened the competition to build the new trains in September, when it became apparent that the trains Southern had leased to First Capital Connect for the Thameslink programme would not be returned in time for Southern to fulfil its capacity commitments.

There will be a financial competition in the New Year to provide the capital funding for the trains.

Southern Managing Director, Chris Burchell said: “Following a competitive tender process, we found that the Bombardier bid could meet our challenging delivery timetable, was affordable and also offered compatibility with our existing fleet. We are delighted that we have found a way forward that will enable us to provide vitally needed extra capacity for so many of our passengers.”


Ends

Notes to Editors

The Electrostar train is used by a number of UK train operators, including c2c, Southeastern, National Express East Anglia and London Overground on the East London and North London Railway.

About Southern

Southern provides services in south London and between central London and the south coast, through east and west Sussex and Surrey and parts of Kent and Hampshire.
Some fast facts about Southern:
We have over 4,000 employees
The service is provided by a fleet of 300 new and refurbished trains
We provide 2,284 train services on weekdays, 2,076 on Saturdays and 1,242 on Sundays
447,000 passenger journeys are made each day on Southern services
Southern manages 157 stations, 117 of which have secure stations status
For more information about Southern, visit southernrailway.com

About Govia

Southern is owned by Govia, the partnership between the Go-Ahead Group and Keolis. Govia is the most enduring partnership between transport operators delivering rail franchises in this country. Govia is the UK’s busiest rail operator, responsible for almost 30 per cent of UK passenger rail journeys through its three rail companies, Southern, Southeastern and London Midland. Govia has retained the South Central franchise which commenced on Sunday 20th September and runs until July 2015. Further information on Govia is available at govia.info

Southern also operates Gatwick Express. For more information, log on to gatwickexpress.co.uk

Railhub Archive ::: 2011-12-28 SOU-001