UK: ScotRail has confirmed a deal to lease 22 five-car Bombardier Transportation Class 222 inter-city diesel multiple-units from Beacon to enable the replacement of its ageing High Speed Train fleet.
‘More modern trains are a significant factor in encouraging more people to leave the car at home and travel by rail, and this investment will deliver a considerable improvement in the journey experience’, said ScotRail Managing Director Joanne Maguire on March 19.
Refurbishment
Leasing company Beacon has awarded Alstom an £80m contract to overhaul and refurbish the 200 km/h trainsets prior to delivery to ScotRail, supported by £67m from the Scottish government.
The trainsets, currently operated by East Midlands Railway under the name Meridian, will get a full exterior repaint with an updated livery. The comprehensive interior refresh will include new carpets, repainting, reconfiguration to maximise window alignment and luggage storage, and new first and standard class seats and tables with plug sockets, USB-A and USB-C ports at every seat. There will be wheelchair facilities in both first class and standard class, with two spaces in standard and a family-friendly area with space for an unfolded pushchair. There will be space for six bicycles and catering facilities to support at-seat and trolley service.
There will be upgraded cabs, a new passenger information system with multimedia displays and hearing aid announcements, defibrillators on every train and wi-fi with low Earth orbit satellite connectivity. Other features will include voice-over-internet phone capability, an electronic seat reservation system, new CCTV, LED lighting, automatic passenger counting and enhanced cybersecurity.
The trains will also undergo extensive maintenance before they are delivered, including overhauls of critical components such as engines and the installation of an intelligent engine start-stop system to reduce emissions.
Delivery schedule
An initial six Class 222s are to be provided to ScotRail from early 2027 to enable around nine months of staff training. The refurbished sets are expected to enter passenger service between late 2027 and the end of 2028, replacing the ’short set’ HSTs trainsets on inter-city routes between Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness.
ScotRail will maintain the fleet, supported by a comprehensive technical support and spares supply agreement with Alstom which is worth around £250m over the 10 years to March 2036 and has an option to extend up to March 2042.
Initial maintenance and support activities will be delivered across multiple locations, including Polmadie, Haymarket and Inverness/ Alstom will provide technicians, engineers, supply chain support, spares management, specialist tooling and data hosting services. There will also be driver and maintenance ‘train the trainer’ programmes to support fleet introduction.
The remaining five of the 27 Class 222 sets are to be leased by FirstGroup’s Lumo for use on open access services between Stirling and London.
HST withdrawals
ScotRail said the ex-British Rail IC125 diesel HSTs dating from the 1970s are popular with customers, but they are the oldest trains in its fleet and reaching the end of their usable life. This presents operational challenges and makes them ‘considerably more expensive’ to operate and maintain. Unions have also raised concerns that the HSTs do not meet modern safety standards.
The last HST is expected to be withdrawn from service by December 2028.
