Designers press full steam ahead on greener trains
Nov 17 2007 by Peter McCusker, The Journal
BIDDERS have been asked to start designing a fleet of new inter-city trains which will be lighter, greener and carry up to 70% more passengers.
The Department for Transport has issued its Invitation to Tender for the Inter-city Express programme (IEP) to three consortiums which have been short-listed for the project.
The first new trains will start working trials in 2012 and begin to replace the existing High Speed Trains from 2015. In the first phase they will be introduced on the East Coast and Great Western main lines.
Bidders will decide how many carriages they need to supply to provide the service the Government is asking for. Indications are that this may be around 850 in the first phase, possibly rising to approximately 1,500 if options to extend IEP to other routes are taken up.
The Government’s specification for the new trains demands they meet the environmental challenge by improving their energy efficiency. The new electric trains will need to be up to 40% (and at least 27%) more energy efficient than the trains they replace.
For self-powered trains, the Government is requiring an improved energy efficiency of up to 35%, with a minimum of 10%.
As well as the increased capacity on board, the new trains will allow operators to run longer and more frequent services. Combined, this will see an increase of between 15 and 70% more seats on the initial routes.
Trains must be lighter, to help increase energy efficiency and reduce wear and tear on tracks, but meet all present and future safety standards.
They must also have the flexibility to operate on inter-urban and commuter routes as well as long-distance journeys, and be adaptable enough for different train operators to fit them out according to their needs. Rail Minister Tom Harris said: “We’re demanding high standards of capacity, environmental performance and flexibility from these new trains because they will benefit passengers for decades to come.
“All three consortiums bidding for this project have the ingenuity, expertise and strong financial backing to produce the very best in modern train design.”
Proposals will be received in summer 2008, with the contract awarded in winter 2008/09.
