Overcrowding on West Coast Main Line trains passing through Birmingham will be eased after the Department for Transport signed a £1.5 billion deal to provide 106 extra Pendolino carriages.
Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly announced the successful conclusion of negotiations between the DfT, Angel Trains and Alstom.
The deal means that Alstom will produce four new 11-car Pendolino trains and lengthen 31 existing Pendolino trains by two carriages.
READ MORE: {}
The carriages, with a total of 7,420 extra seats for passengers, are set to come into full service by December 2012 and will be used on the busiest routes at peak times.
The extra seats are part of plans to improve rail services on the West Coast Main Line, with £8.8 billion of upgrading works nearing completion.
Lengthening of the existing trains will take place at Edge Hill in Liverpool and investment is planned at four other depots in Wolverhampton, London, Manchester and Glasgow to accommodate the longer trainsets.
The agreement also contains an option to purchase in 2010 a further 42 carriages to be delivered and maintained from early 2013 to meet rising
passenger demand.
Most Read
This would mean lengthening the remaining 21 nine-car trains from nine to 11 carriages.
Mrs Kelly said: “This is one of the busiest rail routes in Europe, linking some of our most important cities. It is vital that we carry on meeting growing demand for rail travel and give people a better, reliable and greener way to make their journeys.
“Passengers will see thousands of extra seats because of this deal. This is on top of the extra services and faster journeys our £8.8 billion
investment in the West Coast Main Line modernisation is already delivering.”