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New trains testing steps up to the next level
Testing of the new, state of the art trains for the Liverpool City Region is moving to the next level as they are due to head out onto the Merseyrail network during normal service hours from today, Thursday, 1 July.
The £500m fleet will be will the greenest and most accessible in the country and will be the only
trains in the country to be publicly owned.
They are a key part of Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram’s plans for a London-style transport network that seeks to make it as quick, easy, and reliable for people to travel around the region by taking greater local control of public transport and linking different modes of transport together.
This is the first-time local people may catch sight of the trains in action as up until now test runs have been taking place overnight.
With more than 17,000 hours already on the clock, a further 7 trains already at Kirkdale depot will be put through their paces with dynamic testing taking place on the Northern Line, while the current trains are also running. All the new trains will be dynamically tested before they enter service.
Although the new trains will be stopping at every station, passengers are strongly reminded that they can’t board and should stand clear on platforms for safety reasons.
The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority is replacing the current 40-year old fleet with new trains being purchased from Swiss manufacturer Stadler.
The publicly owned trains have been designed specifically for the Merseyrail network and are required to undergo a rigorous testing programme both here in the UK and at Stadler’s manufacturing plants in Switzerland and Germany.
Thousands of safety and performance tests are carried out to make sure the trains are ready for service covering every aspect of their design from the power supply and braking systems to digital passenger information boards and CCTV cameras.
As part of the testing programme:
Markus Bernsteiner, Head of Division Switzerland and Deputy Group CEO for Stadler,
Andy Heath, Managing Director at Merseyrail, said:
Marcus Barnes, senior sponsor for Network Rail, said:
Although this phase of testing marks the next milestone in the wider programme, details regarding the phased introduction of the trains into service are yet to be confirmed.
The Combined Authority and partners are still assessing the full impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the programme and will provide more information regarding the roll out as soon as it has been agreed.
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