New 140mph rail link to London as Hull Trains invests £68m please log in to view this image HULL Trains is investing £68m in a new high-speed fleet that will cut journey times to London and carry 50 per cent more passengers. It will introduce five new Hitachi trains able to run on both diesel and electricity at speeds of up to 140mph. The company is also seeking a ten-year extension to its deal with Network Rail, which will allow it to continue operating Hull to London services until 2029. Chief executive Will Dunnett said: "The new units will bring an even higher quality environment for passengers with new interiors, enhanced catering, air-conditioning and a quieter environment due to electric traction – all areas that we know are important to passengers." Hull Trains – which is part-owned by national transport giant FirstGroup – has been pushing for rail electrification from Hull to Selby, but the work is unlikely to happen until the first half of the 2020s at the earliest. The new Hitachi "bi-mode" engines will mean passengers can benefit as soon as possible. They will run on diesel from Hull or Beverley to Selby, before switching to electricity on the East Coast Mainline to London King's Cross. The trains are due to be introduced in 2020 and will replace the existing four Class 180 vehicles built by Alstom, which have a top speed of 125mph. Mr Dunnett said: "In a nutshell, the bi-mode units deliver the benefits of electrification now. "But as a result of their bi-mode capability, they also ensure we can continue to serve stations such as Beverley after electrification of the Hull to Selby track is completed. "The dual-function of the units also means we can keep passengers on trains during disruption, which we would not be able to do in fully-electric units." Hull Trains topped an independent study of rail quality for the second year running in June. It scored 96 per cent for satisfaction in The National Passenger Survey. The firm is experiencing annual journey growth of 24 per cent, ahead of the 9.7 per cent industry average. Mr Dunnett said an increase in capacity would allow that trajectory to continue. Each new train will have up to 320 seats, compared with the current maximum of 266. He said: "Our plans will generate additional permanent job creation for the region as well as growth in the local economy through improved connectivity and journey times and ensuring that East Yorkshire and Humberside continues to benefit from a high-speed, first-class rail service. "We have topped independent leagues for passenger satisfaction for two successive years and we know that to maintain this we have to continue to improve." The news of the upgrade has been welcomed by city leaders. Lord Haskins, chairman of economic leadership group the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership, said its benefits would be felt across East Yorkshire.. He said: "Hull Trains is a great success story for the city and wider region. "This latest investment is very welcome and will help to sustain an important part of the area's connectivity into the future. "We continue to work closely with FirstGroup and Hull City Council to progress the Hull to Selby electrification project." http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/New-...tory-27725549-detail/story.html#ixzz3kezXWI6q
Me mam and dad had a Hitachi tele once. Was very fancy with buttons you just touched to turn the channel over. One annoying aspect of that was if a fly landed on the buttons, it turned the tele over. Regarding the trains, it would be frigging great if they stopped at Peterborough on the East Coast line.
The vagaries of rail privatisation prevent an "open access" operator like Hull Trains - who don't operate a Government franchise but simply run the trains for profit - stopping where they want. If seems crazy to Joe Public - well, there's a reason for that...!
Screw them. In this instance I would be a noisy minority! Was just saying, for me personally it'd be frigging awesome. I get why it wouldn't happen
Yeah you'd think at least one of them would stop there. Are people really that desperate for that extra 2/3 mins in London. It'd be good for the world to slow down a Tad so I'm with you on this one
The ****s have knocked us back for the electrification from Selby, citing significant upheaval/inconvenience and no real extra benefits to existing planned improvements as the reasons. and we are still getting the ****ty end of the stick when it comes to transport infrastructure investment. No planned M way to Hull just existing 2 lane A road. Sleepy backwater, know your place.
I'm furious about this. More so that it would be privately financed. They have no justifiable reason to knock it back in my opinion. I suspect this isn't the end of it though. Those electric trains are duel electric and diesel, but in the long term, I think the idea was just electric when the Hull line is electrified. As for the a63, I never realised how busy it is until I started using it last month for my new job. It's really not fit for purpose!
I would rather arrive safe than trying to get there quicker and spending all that money to gain minutes on something that is more useful like the NHS, defence that is being ripped to shreds ......total waste of money imo....
Maybe the NHS should try harder to recover the approx £2 billion per annum debt caused by foreign health tourists.... Northern Powerhouse? You're having a Steffi. It's like Trevor Brooking and his Sport England cronies all over again. Hal? Where's that?
