OPERATORS have been introducing new trains in recent months and years, with others beginning to unveil their new fleets.
Many have also been delayed as the pandemic continues to lurk over the rail industry, with its impact being felt across various aspects, one being training staff on new trains.
On June 30, West Midlands Trains (WMT) unveiled three-car Aventra No. 730018 at Milton Keynes Central (RE327). The electric multiple unit is one of 48 Class 730/0s ordered for WMT’s West Midlands Railway operations and will eventually be used on the Lichfield-Birmingham-Redditch/ Bromsgrove Cross City Line, the Walsall-Birmingham-Wolverhampton and Rugeley-Birmingham International routes. Alstom at Derby Litchurch Lane is building them, with 42 sets so far released.
The order, originally placed in October 2017, was for 36 three-car Class 730/0s, 29 five-car Class 730/1s and 16 five-car Class 730/2s. While the ‘730/0s’ would be used by WMR, the five-car EMUs were destined for London Northwestern Railway (LNWR) which is part WMT. This has subsequently been altered and now Alstom will deliver 48 three-car ‘730/0s’ and 36 five-car Class 730/1s, with the Class 730/2s abandoned. Overall, this is a reduction of nine vehicles in the order.
According to the document published by the Department for Transport (DfT), the Class 730s were due to enter traffic from May 3, 2020. The agreement, published on the DfT website,
