Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) and rail investor-developer and asset manager Rock Rail have closed £350 million ($459 million) in financing for a new fleet of Hitachi intercity trains for the West Coast Partnership rail franchise in the United Kingdom.
The fleet will be financed through Rock Rail West Coast and leased to West Coast Partnership, a joint venture between First Group and Trenitalia. First-Trenitalia will take over the franchise starting Dec. 8, operating intercity services as Avanti West Coast.
Based on bullet train technology, the fleet consists of 135 vehicles that are expected to be quieter and greener than the diesel trains they’re replacing and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 61 percent. The trains will traverse the United Kingdom’s busiest rail lines connecting the North-West of England, North Wales, the Midlands and London and are expected to enter service in 2022.
Features aboard will include fast, free WiFi, real-time passenger
