One of Greater Anglia’s brand-new intercity trains has successfully completed a daylight test run between Norwich and Liverpool Street.
Technicians on board the 12-carriage electric train — built by Swiss company Stadler (
www.stadlerrail.com) — were checking the train’s energy consumption levels by putting it through its paces at different speeds and braking levels.
Martino Celeghini, project manager for Stadler, said: “This trip made during daylight hours is yet another small but significant step, bringing us closer to passenger roll-out of the new fleet.
“We are now in the final stages of testing, and we feel confident that customers will share our enthusiasm for these ‘state of the art’ trains.”
The new intercity trains have 12 carriages of seats, as opposed to nine on the existing trains.
They also have power and USB sockets, free Wi-Fi, air conditioning, a cafe bar, a dedicated area for bikes and passenger information screens.
Greater Anglia has ordered 10 of these trains from Stadler and has so far taken delivery of three.
The first train is due to come into passenger service this autumn.