Steve Double, Member of Parliament for St Austell and Newquay has welcomed today’s announcement that the Department for Transport and First Great Western have signed the deal for a new £360 million fleet of long distance trains for the South West, to be introduced to routes between Cornwall and the capital by 2018.
The 29 state of the art Hitachi trains will improve journey time and increase capacity by 24% – creating more than 1,000 additional peak-time seats.
They will also be capable of operating on both non-electric and electric routes, and will cut the average travelling time between Penzance and London cut by 14 minutes.
Commenting, Steve said:
“This announcement shows that the Government’s rail improvements for the south west are on track. As a regular rail user I know that this will benefit many commuters to and from Cornwall, as well as the multitude of visitors who come to our beautiful Duchy by rail. I look forward to seeing the new fleet of train put into service, and will continue to work with colleagues and stakeholders both here and in Westminster to make sure we get the maximum value from our rail network.”