LNER has acquired 65 brand new Hitachi trains to run on its East Coast routes and they have been assembled in Japan, Italy and – most of them – at the factory in Newton Aycliffe.
In 2021, when they are all in service, the timetable will be improved to take advantage of the Azumas’ better acceleration.
It now seems likely that another six to eight trains will be needed to meet increased demand and LNER is keen to order them as soon as possible.
But, they can’t just add them to the current fleet, even though it is essential that identical carriages are purchased.
Due to EU procurement rules they must go through the entire process of tendering across all 28 countries.
This will cost a small fortune and may well impact upon employment at Aycliffe.
Just another example of the nonsense we will leave behind on October 31.
D W Lacey, Durham
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