Grand Central has announced that, immediately following the launch of its new direct rail services between Sunderland and London it is preparing to place an order for new rolling stock.

The new stock will be a direct replacement for Grand Central’s iconic HST fleet that has served the UK rail industry so well over the past 25 years, and will be capable of 140 mph operation to ensure it can take advantage of any future line speed increases on the East Coast Main Line (ECML).

Stock will be made available by Grand Central’s sister company Sovereign Trains, and the “Polaris” train sets will be procured from China and delivered to the UK for final testing in 2010.

Ian Yeowart, Managing Director of Grand Central states: “The delivery of the re-built HSTs is of course the first target, but the discussions that have taken place over many months on the new-build trains gives us confidence that they will be an exceptional replacement for the HST – and of course will meet all the regulatory and safety requirements for trains introduced to the UK rail network”

Giles Fearnley, Chairman of Grand Central, adds: “We are delighted that this exciting project can continue to move forward, and of course the new trains will eventually be deployed on our Bradford services as well. The actual procurement process is very much tied in to the length of our Track Access Contract, and we are confident our colleagues at Network Rail will see the benefit of this significant investment when reviewing its terms”.

David Shipley, Director of Engineering of Sovereign Trains comments: “A great deal of effort and resource has been made in preparing Grand Central for operation, and we are sure passengers will be impressed not only by the new trains but also by the re-built HSTs when they come into operation. The Polaris units will be very much focused on passenger requirements and expectations and we look forward to working with colleagues at Network Rail to ensure the trains meet their expectations on reliability, weight and operational capability”.

Grand Central will begin operating three daily services between Sunderland and London later this year, and is seeking to run a fourth service - and has already made a timetable request to Network Rail.

In addition Grand Central has long standing plans to operate direct trains between London and Bradford via Halifax.