A rail operator has started high speed testing of brand new commuter trains built by Derby’s Bombardier.
The Litchurch Lane firm is currently building a total of 111 trains for Greater Anglia, which will run into London Liverpool Street, from Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.
But before they start passenger services, each train has to go through a series of safety and performance tests.
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Testing has now started, with the first of the newly-built trains being put through its paces at 110 mph at the Railway Innovation and Development Centre test track at Old Dalby, in Leicestershire.
Greater Anglia said that although the new trains will only ever run at a maximum speed of 100 mph on its network, testing runs go up to 110 mph for “contingency purposes”.
The acceleration and braking systems of the train are being tested, as well as a number of safety systems.
Other tests underway include an extreme sway test, which checks physically how much a train may sway when travelling around curves to check no infrastructure or part of the train is damaged.
Ian McConnell, Greater Anglia franchise and programme director, said: “It’s good to see one of our new Bombardier trains running at full speed on the test track. I can’t wait to see it doing 100 mph in East Anglia.
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“These trains are going to transform our customers’ experience of rail travel in this region as we replace old trains with brand new state-of-the-art modern trains.”
The train that Bombardier is supplying to Greater Anglia is the Aventra - a product designed and built in Derby.
In total, the Litchurch Lane firm is supplying 665 carriages to Greater Anglia, which is owned by Abellio - the company that was recently awarded the East Midlands rail franchise.
Bombardier was awarded the contract to build and maintain the new trains back in 2016. At the time, the part of the deal covering the building of the new rolling stock was valued at £869 million.
The new Greater Anglia trains will all have USB and plug points, wifi, air conditioning, improved passenger information systems and accessible seating areas and toilets.
They will also have underfloor heating – a first for 海角视频 trains – which will work with an overhead heating and ventilation system to improve passenger comfort and increase foot room for passengers sitting at window seats.
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Andy Derbyshire, 海角视频 chief operating officer at Bombardier Transportation, said: “This is an exciting time for our Aventra platform and our product for Greater Anglia.
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“We are looking forward to completing the tests and seeing the new trains in passenger service.”
The first of Greater Anglia’s new Bombardier trains is expected to come into service at the end of this year and all of them should be in service by the end of 2020.