ScotRail unveils new class 385 EMU interior

ScotRail Alliance managing director Phil Verster and Transport Minister Derek Mackay

A life-size model displaying the interior of new electric trains for ScotRail has been unveiled at Edinburgh Waverley station.

ScotRail Alliance managing director Phil Verster and Transport Minister Derek Mackay

Transport Minister Derek Mackay unveiled a full size model of the new Hitachi class 385 EMU for ScotRail on 10 February 2015.

The model showcases a standard and first class saloon, with some of the actual seating and tables that will be used in the trains when they are introduced into passenger service from autumn 2017. The display will be open to the public until 04 March 2016.

The 70 new trains form part of a £475 million train improvement programme that will see 90 percent of Scotland’s fleet either new or refurbished.  The £370 million contract with Hitachi gives the Scottish Government the option to buy the full fleet for £1 after 25 years.

90 percent of ScotRail fleet either replaced or refurbished

The new electric vehicles will offer thousands of extra seats, faster journeys, improved accessibility, at-seat power points and better wifi. Customers who travel on the line between Edinburgh and Glasgow via Falkirk High will be the first to benefit.  

Other routes to receive the new trains between 2017 and 2019 include:

• Glasgow/Edinburgh – Stirling / Dunblane / Alloa
• Edinburgh – North Berwick
• Glasgow Central – Neilston /Newton /Cathcart Circle
• Edinburgh – Glasgow Central via Shotts

From left to right, ScotRail Alliance managing director Phil Verster, Karen Boswell, managing director of Hitachi Rail Europe and Transport Minister Derek Mackay.

Transport Minister, Derek Mackay, said:  “These brand new 100mph electric trains are being custom made for Scotland’s railways. They will be larger, faster and greener and will allow passengers to travel in greater comfort than ever before when they are rolled out across central belt routes later next year. Once fully in service, there will be more ScotRail trains on the network than ever before.

“They will enable ScotRail to deliver its franchise contractual commitments to significantly increase capacity on the main Edinburgh-Glasgow route by providing much more seating on peak services from late 2017.”

Faster, longer, greener trains

Phil Verster, managing director of the ScotRail Alliance, said: “This model gives our customers a glimpse into a future that, by next autumn, will be a reality.  These faster, longer, greener trains will mean more seats, and shorter journey times with less impact on our environment. When we have them in service, they will transform travel between our two biggest cities.

“This is all part of our largest ever train improvement programme. Over the next few years we will be spending £475 million on these new trains, refurbishing most of our existing fleet and introducing great benefits like enhanced wifi and at-seat power sockets.

“In just a few weeks our engineers will start work at Queen Street station that will allow us to run these amazing new trains. We are doing everything we can to give people the information they need to keep moving while we complete this work. I know that when people see this model of their new train, they will understand the huge benefits that are heading their way.”

Dominic Booth, managing director of Abellio UK, said: “We commenced the official procurement process for this new fleet of trains in August 2013 which was 19 months before we took over the ScotRail franchise. The arrival of the Hitachi Class 385 is a major milestone and a testimony to the hard work that has gone into this by all parties. “

Karen Boswell, managing director of Hitachi Rail Europe, said:  “It’s fantastic that fare-paying customers are able to experience at first-hand the on-board improvements that Hitachi’s new trains for Scotland will deliver to their daily commuting lives.

“Hitachi is proud to have such an important role in a long-term partnership with ScotRail and Transport Scotland in boosting rail services in Scotland, and we are equally delighted that the Class 385s will be made at our new manufacturing facility in Newton Aycliffe, boosting jobs in the North East of England and the wider UK supply chain.”