Chamber welcomes £360m investment for London to Cornwall train fleet
Plymouth & Devon Chamber of Commerce has welcomed the Government’s announcement, made today, giving the go ahead to a £360million investment in state of the art trains between London and Cornwall.
The deal comes following a letter written by Plymouth & Devon Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive, Peter Hartland, to Devon MP’s earlier this summer, urging them to reach a positive decision on the First Great Western Franchise award and investment in the new fleet of trains.
The new fleet of 29 long distance trains, agreed to today, will have up to 24% more seats compared to the majority of the trains serving the route today, creating more than 1,000 additional peak time seats into and out of Paddington every day.
The privately funded £360million fleet, which will be manufactured by Hitachi, will also cut journey times from London to Exeter by up to 5 minutes, to Plymouth by up to 6 minutes, and to Penzance by up to 14minutes. The trains, which are more powerful, greener and more efficient than the current fleet, will replace the existing 40 year old trains on the route.
Peter Hartland, Chief Executive of Plymouth & Devon Chamber of Commerce said: “Today’s news is a fantastic positive result for the region. Investment in our rail infrastructure has been a topic which the Chamber, along with our strategic partners, has been lobbying on for some time, and continues to be at the top of our agenda.
"Today’s announcement shows that by working together, with a unified ‘one voice’ lobbying approach across the region we are able to achieve positive results. I would like to congratulate First Great Western on this news and look forward to seeing the fleet in action.
“With additional seats and cuts in journey times to and from London this investment in new Hitachi trains for the region is the first step in our journey to seeing the much needed significant strategic investment in our transport infrastructure.”
The trains, which are capable of operating on both non-electric and electric routes, are similar in design to Hitachi’s new Intercity Express trains, which are due to enter service on the Great Western Main Line between London and South Wales from 2017 onwards.
First Great Western Deputy Managing Director, Andrew Mellors, said: “We warmly welcome the announcement today 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 in the south west, and create an additional 1,000 peak time seats a day for customers on the route.”
To find out more about Plymouth & Devon Chamber of Commerce’s lobbying activities visit www.plymouthanddevonchamber.co.uk
