Intercity Express Programme
[2] The final decision on the contact's awarding, as well as its value and composition, which was originally expected by early 2009, was delayed by several years.
One key cause of delays was the preparation of plans to electrify parts of the railway network, which would affect the final order.
During March 2011, the final decision was taken to proceed with the IEP and to electrify the Great Western Main Line.
An initial £4.5 billion order for 596 carriages for use on the East Coast and Great Western main lines was announced in July 2012.
One year later, a £1.2bn option for a further 30 nine-car electric trains to replace the Intercity 225 on the East Coast Main Line was also taken up.
The planned introduction of the IEP, more specifically its lack of guards and reduced catering facilities, led to industrial action being taken by members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT).
[5][6] In March 2007, the DfT published an OJEU notice (2007/S 48-059536,[7][8][9] contract title: Intercity Express Programme (IEP), previously referred to as HST2)[10] announcing its intention to seek an organisation to finance, build, construct facilities (depots) for, and maintain over a period of around 30 years a new set of high-speed trains for the UK rail network, to be used by train operating companies.
[22] The specification required significant improvements in energy efficiency over InterCity 125 trainsets that were fitted with MTU engines and electric Intercity 225 trainsets; regenerative braking on both self-powered and electric versions was expected to form part of the solution to increase efficiency.
[2] The decision was criticised for not awarding the contract to the Bombardier/Siemens offer which was expected to have resulted in work for Bombardier's Derby factory.
The DfT was also accused of 'spin' in describing the Agility trains consortium as a 'British led consortium'[31][32][note 3] and Hitachi's manufacturing plans attracted concern for reasons such as balance of payments issues, the Japanese domestic railway market being largely closed to foreign entrants, and the extent to which jobs would be safeguarded or created in the UK.
[note 5] The full- and half-length trains were to be approximately 260 and 130 m (850 and 430 ft) respectively – the 26 m carriages were to be of aluminium construction, with the power cars of steel.
[51] On 23 July 2009, the DfT presented plans to electrify the Great Western Main Line from London to Bristol and from Swindon to Swansea.
[52] Following the Comprehensive Spending Review in October 2010, it was announced the lines from London to Didcot, Oxford and Newbury would be electrified in the following six years.
[55][56] Network Rail's commitment to electrify the main line between London and Bristol meant that the original assumptions used when formulating the procurement plan had changed; furthermore, passenger transport figure increases had not met expectations.
[53] On 1 March 2011, the government announced it was to continue with the programme with Agility Trains as the preferred bidder together with plans to electrify the Great Western Main Line as far as Cardiff;[54][65][66] the order, reduced to £4.5bn in value was for approximately 500 carriages.
[74][77] Financial closure on the second phase of the contract (total 65 ECML trains, 497 carriages) was reached in April 2014; the value of the contract was £2.7bn over a 27.5 year lease, including design, manufacture, and maintenance; financing was through a number of Japanese, British, and French financial institutions, and the EIB.
[44][76] During 2014, the National Audit Office reported on the handling of IEP and Thameslink rolling stock projects by the DfT.
The report also questioned the DfT's attempt to take leadership in the project, contradictory to general policy, without any prior experience of large scale rolling stock procurement.
[79][80] The NAO also gave its opinion that the DfT had handled communications with bidders poorly, increasing the likelihood of a legal challenge to their decisions.
[96]) site in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham,[97][98] close to Heighington railway station and adjacent to the Tees Valley Line.
[note 8] Hitachi announced its intention to proceed with construction of the facility in July 2012, after financial closure was achieved for the part of the train order that concerned the GWML.
[4] The first train left the Kasado factory on 7 January 2015 for shipping via Kobe,[103] and arrived at Southampton, England, on 11 March 2015.
[104] At a speech given to the welcoming committee, rail transport minister Claire Perry requested that a new name be found for the trains.
[117] During March 2015, First Great Western agreed to acquire 29 bi-mode (Class 802) trains as HST replacements on services in and to the southwest of England.
Differences with the original design included more powerful diesel engines more suited to steeper graded line in Devon and Cornwall, as well as larger fuel tanks.
[118] A £361M contract between FGW and rolling stock leasing company Eversholt Rail Group was signed in July 2015.
The trains, which will enter service in 2020, are specified to have seating for 320, and an ultimate top speed of 225 km/h (140 mph) once in-cab signalling infrastructure is in place.
[123] During January 2016, it was announced that Hitachi's successful tender for the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme consisting of new Class 385s that would be primarily assembled at Newton Aycliffe.
The design was closely related to the Class 800, but modified with the inclusion of higher power output diesel engines for the steeply graded lines, as well as larger fuel tanks and braking resistors.
[140][141] The new sets were ordered to increase capacity as well as to replace the existing Class 221 Super Voyagers used on the West Coast Main Line services.
