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Bombardier win £188million EMU order

The Derby-based train manufacturer has won an order worth £188million to build 130 Class 377 Electrostar EMU carriages that will operate with franchisee Southern.

    The Department for Transport (DfT) will provide £80million towards the cost, and both the DfT and and Southern have agreed to vary the franchise agreement to support this procurement.

   Transport Secretary Justine Greening said: "This deal for more than a hundred new carriages is great news for rail passengers and brilliant news for Bombardier and Derby.

"It lands Bombardier with a crucial train order and I look forward to Bombardier workers in Derby being among the winners of this important deal.

"This deal, helped along by my department, shows my determination to invest in Britain's railways: our support for Southern will boost capacity while helping British jobs. I can't think of a better outcome."

    The first of the new carriages will enter service in December 2013, with production beginning in late 2012.

   The news of the order being awarded to Bombardier as opposed to a rival is no real surprise considering large percentage of Southern’s existing rolling stock are Class 377s, and the new trains will augument the existing Electrostars.

A competition for who will finance the new carriages will be held early in 2012.

   Agreement has been reached between Southern and the DfT about the expiry date of the franchise, which has now been fixed at July 25, 2015. This change provides clarity to any parties that may be interested in the new Thameslink franchise that commences in September 2013, with services that Southern currently operate being amalgamated into the Thameslink franchise in July 2015.