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First Nova 3 Train Accepted Ahead of its Rollout Across the North of England

First Nova 3 train accepted ahead of its rollout across the North of England
Written by Amy
  • The first of TransPennine Express’s (TPE) Nova 3 fleet has now completed testing and been accepted from manufacturer Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF)
  • The Nova 3 will initially come into service in the coming months between Liverpool Lime Street and Scarborough
  • The train company is delivering an investment of £500million by 2020 including 220 brand new carriages and 13 million extra seats introduced across the North and into Scotland

On Friday 12 April, TransPennine Express (TPE) accepted the first of their new Nova 3 trains from Spanish manufacturer Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) after it completed its fault free running.

The acceptance of this first Nova 3 train will allow TPE to begin its mobilisation including training for drivers and conductors ahead of its introduction into service in the coming months.

The 13 state of the art, five carriage trains each have 291 seats compared to 181 on the current Class 185 trains operated by TPE on the route. They will initially come into service on the Liverpool to Scarborough route, before its deployment on the Manchester Airport to Middlesbrough service.

Each train features high quality, comfortable spacious interiors with more luggage space, plug and USB charging points, free on-board Wi-Fi in both standard and first class and entertainment system, Exstream featuring the latest TV shows, news and films. Modern display screens that will provide real time reservation information have also been installed, which will make life easier for customers.

Chris Nutton, Major Projects Director for TransPennine Express said: “This is a key milestone in our new trains project, which will allow us to bring in these fantastic trains in the coming months.

“Although there have been a few bumps on the way, it’s brilliant that our plan is now coming together and our customers will be able to travel in comfort on modern trains with more seats later this year.”

The new trains have been manufactured by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) and financed by Beacon Rail. They will be pulled by Class 68 locomotives which will also be owned by Beacon Rail, leased by Direct Rail Services and maintained at Alstom’s facilities at Longsight (Manchester).

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Amy