UK: Southeastern has shortlisted five bidders for a contract to supply a fleet of 750 V DC third rail electric multiple-units for use on its ‘Metro’ network of suburban services in southeast London and Kent.
They are:
Announcing the shortlist on May 15, the state-run operator said this ‘could be the largest investment in Southeastern for decades’. It hopes the fleet replacement would reduce subsidy requirements by cutting energy, maintenance and repair costs and encouraging more people to travel by train.
The invitation to negotiate covers the supply of new, refurbished or cascaded rolling stock, with details, numbers and timescales to be developed during the next stage of the procurement process. Southeastern expects the EMUs will be financed through a leasing company, and wants deliveries ‘as soon as possible’.
The operator’s ambitions include better accessibility to maximise unassisted travel, brighter and more spacious interiors, air-conditioning, improved passenger information, better reliability, faster acceleration and braking and onboard batteries to keep trains running in the event of power supply failure as well as enhancing safety in stations, depots and sidings.
Southeastern Managing Director Steve White said ‘we will continue to provide toilets onboard our rolling stock, because we know that is important to our customers’, and acknowledged that the provision of level boarding would require working with Network Rail to address varying platform heights and curvatures on the network.
White said ‘we are pushing forward with our plans to develop our Metro operation into a high-performing railway’, and ‘we want to boldly go where other operators have already gone to provide modern trains for a modern network’.
He said ’we are working at pace, with our partners at Network Rail, to improve performance, expand our timetable, enhance our stations and increase staffing levels. The final piece of the jigsaw will be the replacement of our aging Metro fleet.
‘Despite the sterling work of our people to keep our current Metro fleets in service, our customers will know only too well that many of the trains are tired and, in terms of accessibility and customer facilities, have fallen behind what is available elsewhere on the Southeastern network and across the country.’
