A Technical Support and Spares Supply Agreement (TSSSA) has been signed by Alstom and Great Western Railway.
The agreement will assist with the introduction of 26 Class 175s into service.
The £75 million agreement will run for 8 years, with Alstom delivering maintenance support from GWR’s Laira depot in Plymouth.
The first Class 175s are expected to enter passenger service later this year, operating on key routes such as those between Exeter St Davids, Penzance, Barnstaple and Okehampton.
The trains were built by Alstom between 1999 and 2001 and ran on Transport for Wales routes until last year.
A lease was signed by GWR for the fleet in March this year.
The 175s will boost GWR’s fleet and allow for some of their oldest trains to be removed from service. This will also boost their efforts towards decarbonisation.
“We are delighted to be partnering with Great Western Railway and Angel Trains to bring the Class 175 fleet back into service. With our extensive expertise as the original manufacturer and long-standing maintainer of these trains, we are well placed to ensure their smooth reintroduction and continued reliability,”
Peter Broadley, Business Development Director at Alstom.
Responses
The Class 175 are ideal to run on the branch lines in Devon and Cornwall and even used on other branch lines in Somerset and Bristol to increase more extra capacity on local routes in the West of England and Southwest England.