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Angel Trains and Northern Rail, in cooperation with the DfT, announced
on 14 March that they have entered into a long term leasing agreement
for 30 Class 158 DMUs. These trains supplement the six Class 158s,
which were
leased to Northern Rail by Angel Trains in 2006.
This multi-operator cascade takes in units which come off lease from
at least four other train operators and will facilitate some of the
extra capacity required by Northern Rail, a Serco-NedRailways joint
venture. The trains will be used to support growth on the Northern
Rail franchise.
Six of the units have been acquired in partnership with Merseytravel
enabling strengthening of City Line services. In addition to supporting
franchise growth a number of Class 142 Pacer units will be stored.
Heidi Mottram, Managing Director, Northern Rail, said: “This
is a fantastic result for our passengers. It will strengthen our services
and bring a range of benefits including a step change in ride quality
and train environment. I am delighted at the outcome of this deal,
which validates the customer-focused and partnership driven approach
that Serco-NedRailways have brought to the Northern Rail franchise.
Since taking over the franchise in 2004, we have been committed to
working in partnership with all our stakeholders to seek new ways
of improving the network and providing additional capacity where it
is most needed. Passenger journeys are now up to over 75 million annually,
which is a 19 per cent increase since the start of the franchise.
This latest initiative will help ease crowding on some of our busiest
services.”
Haydn Abbott, Managing Director, Angel Trains added: “This cascade
has achieved a real answer to capacity issues and helps address the
19% passenger growth experienced since Northern Rail’s franchise
began in 2004. We are delighted to be able to improve the quality
and reliability of train rolling stock, offering greater benefits
to passengers”.
Delivery of the 30 Class 158 DMUs will begin immediately with Northern
Rail introducing them as soon as possible.
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