Summary

The IEP is an innovative scheme that covers the finance, design, manufacture, delivery into daily service and maintenance over 27.5 years of a fleet of 122 state-of-the-art Super Express trains for the Great Western Main Line (GWML Phase 1) and the East Coast Main Line (ECML Phase 2). Among other things, the scheme brings guaranteed availability of the trains to the operating company. The trains, offering significantly increased capacity and higher service levels compared to the current fleet, will be manufactured by Hitachi Rail Europe in a new UK factory and maintained in facilities around the country.

With a total contract value (across the two phases) of £5.8billion it is one of the largest public private partnerships (PPPs) to be awarded and easily the largest in 2012.

See below to view a time lapse video of the Hitachi Stoke Gifford Train Maintenance Centre.

Partnering

IEP - Hitachi Super Express Train (CGI)

Agility Trains is the contract partner for the DfT for the delivery of trains, maintenance and daily service delivery, with Hitachi Rail Europe as sub-contractor in charge of supplying the trains and ensuring that they reliably perform day in and day out. The contract guarantees 27.5 years of usage of the trains, ensuring long-term reliability for UK passengers.

Given the size of the project, the transaction has been split into two phases. In July 2012, Agility Trains West and the DfT achieved financial close for the GWML project. Agility Trains East and the DfT achieved simultaneous commercial close for the ECML project with financial close achieved in April 2014.

As part of the contract, Agility Trains’ sub-contractor Hitachi Rail Europe will provide 866 carriages of electric and bi-mode trains for the Great Western Main Line (Phase 1) and the East Coast Main Line (Phase 2). The fleet of 122 trains will be maintained in a number of new-built and upgraded maintenance facilities, including new depots in Swansea, Bristol, west London and Doncaster.

Project Completion

The final train, marking delivery of both IEP West and East, was delivered in June 2020.

IEP West was fully realised by John Laing in 2018

IEP East sale was announced in September 2020

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