UK’s Transport Secretary last week approved a major contract with Agility Trains (a consortium made up of Hitachi and John Laing) to supply Britain with the next generation of intercity trains, a project that Steer Davies Gleave has been supporting the Department for Transport on since 2006.
The Intercity Express Programme (IEP) was conceived to provide the next generation of rolling stock to replace Britain’s aging long distance express passenger train fleet.
Steer Davies Gleave has supported the DfT from the outset of the project as their economic advisors, developing the investment case and also playing a key role in the tender evaluation and project governance processes.
Gordon Bird, Project Advisor at Steer Davies Gleave said: “This is great news for the UK, but also for Steer Davies Gleave, given our long standing involvement. We assisted DfT in many areas of the project, including the value for money case which was demonstrated by evidence prepared by Steer Davies Gleave.”
The IEP train fleet will be comprised of electric and bi-mode (diesel and electric) trains. These new trains will offer faster journey times and more seats than the trains they will replace. They will serve two main line corridors: Brunel’s Great Western (serving London Paddington, Oxford, the Cotswolds, Bristol and south Wales) and East Coast (serving London King’s Cross, north east England and Scotland). Hitachi will assemble an intercity fleet of nearly 100 complete train sets at a new purpose-built factory in Newton Aycliffe in County Durham.
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