Company type | Private |
---|---|
Founded | 2008 |
Headquarters | , England |
Website | www.agilitytrains.com |
Agility Trains is a consortium that presently comprised the Japanese rolling stock manufacturer Hitachi, multinational insurance and investment company Axa UK, and the infrastructure fund GLIL Infrastructure.
The consortium, which originally comprised the Japanese rolling stock manufacturer Hitachi and the British infrastructure specialist John Laing, was created in June 2008 to collectively bid for the Department for Transport's Intercity Express Programme (IEP), which sought to procure a new fleet of high speed trains, initially to replace the aging InterCity 125. The consortium's bid was centered around the Class 800 and 801 high speed trains, which provided more seats, reduced journey times, and superior environmental performance than the Intercity 125 sets.
The bid submitted by the consortium was successful, leading to the finalising of a £4.5bn contract in mid 2012 to produce and sustain trains for both the Great Western Main Line (GWML) and East Coast Main Line (ECML). Infrastructure built to fulfil the contract included a new manufacturing site at Hitachi Newton Aycliffe and multiple new depots to maintain the fleet. In October 2017, the first train went into service on the GWML.
Agility Trains was formed in response to the Intercity Express Programme (IEP), launched by the Department for Transport (DfT) in 2005 with the initial goal of procuring a replacement for the aging Intercity 125 fleet on both the Great Western Main Line and East Coast Main Line. [1] [2] [3]
During June 2008, three companies, these being the British infrastructure specialist John Laing Group, the Japanese rolling stock manufacturer Hitachi and the British investment firm Barclays Private Equity, created the Agility Trains consortium for the purpose of jointly bidding for the contract to design, manufacture, and maintain a fleet of long-distance trains for the IEP. [4] [5] [6] On 16 November 2007, the DfT issued an Invitation to Tender for the IEP to three shortlisted entities: Alstom-Barclays Rail Group; Express Rail Alliance (Bombardier, Siemens, Angel Trains and Babcock & Brown); [7] [8] and Agility Trains. [9] [10]
Shortly after Alstom's decision to withdraw from the bidding in February 2008, [11] British investment firm Barclays Private Equity opted to re-enter the IEP on 26 June 2008, four days before the end of the bidding process, as a partner of Hitachi and John Laing, in Agility Trains. [12] On 12 February 2009, the British Government announced that Agility Trains was the preferred bidder for the contract, with the Siemens-Bombardier consortia as reserve bidders – the value of the contract was then estimated at £7.5bn, including replacements for both Intercity 125 and Intercity 225 train sets. [13] [14] [15]
The finalised £4.5bn contract for trains for the GWML and ECML was announced in July 2012. [16] [17] Assembly of most of the trains took place in the UK, using Japanese-built bodyshells, [13] [18] [19] with a new factory being established at Hitachi Newton Aycliffe. [20] [21] [22] Additionally, new depots to maintain the new train fleet were also developed. [23] [24]
The first IEP train left the Kasado factory on 7 January 2015 for shipping via Kobe, [25] In October 2017, the first train went into service on the Great Western Main Line. [26] In May 2019, the first train entered service on the East Coast Main Line between London King's Cross and Leeds. [27]
Several ownership changes took place during the late 2010s and early 2020s. [28] in March 2018, Axa announced that it would purchase half of John Laing Group's shareholding in the consortium. [29] In September 2020, John Laing Group announced that it was selling its remaining stake in Agility Trains to AIP Management in exchange for £421 million in cash. In November 2021, GLIL Infrastructure purchased a 30% stake in Agility Trains from Hitachi; as a result, Hitachi's stake dropped to 40 percent while GLIL and AIP owning a 30% stake each. [28]
The Great Western Main Line (GWML) is a main line railway in England that runs westwards from London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads. It connects to other main lines such as those from Reading to Penzance and Swindon to Swansea. The GWML is presently a part of the national rail system managed by Network Rail while the majority of passenger services upon it are provided by the current Great Western Railway franchise.
Connex Melbourne was a train operator in Melbourne, Australia. Formed in July 1998 as Hillside Trains, a business unit of the Public Transport Corporation, it was privatised in August 1999 becoming a subsidiary of Connex.
SNC-Lavalin Rail & Transit, formerly Interfleet Technology, is an international rail consultancy company. Headquartered in Derby, England, it is a subsidiary of AtkinsRéalis
John Laing Group plc is a British investor, developer and operator of privately financed, public sector infrastructure projects such as roads, railways, hospitals and schools through public-private partnership (PPP) and private finance initiative (PFI) arrangements. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index prior to its acquisition of the company by the American private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR).
North Pole depot is a railway and maintenance depot built for Great Western Railway's AT300 units from the Hitachi A-train family. Located in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, the depot was partially redeveloped by Agility Trains from 2013 as a maintenance site when they were awarded the Intercity Express Programme.
Eversholt Rail Group is a British rolling stock company (ROSCO). Together with Angel Trains and Porterbrook, it is one of the three original ROSCOs created as a result of the privatisation of British Rail.
The Intercity Express Programme (IEP) was an initiative of the Department for Transport (DfT) in the United Kingdom to procure new trains to replace the InterCity 125 and InterCity 225 fleets on the East Coast Main Line and Great Western Main Line. These new trains were designed and produced by Hitachi as part of their A-train family, classified as Class 800 electro-diesel units and Class 801 electric multiple units. Hitachi categorises the units as ta part of the AT300 family and has referred to them as the Hitachi Super Express Train.
London Overground Rail Operations Limited was a train operating company contracted to operate the London Overground train service on the National Rail network, under the franchise control of Transport for London. The company was a 50/50 joint venture between Arriva UK Trains and MTR Corporation.
The British Rail Class 700 is an electric multiple unit passenger train from the Desiro City family built by Siemens Mobility. It is capable of operating on 25 kV 50 Hz AC from overhead wires or 750 V DC from third rail. 115 trainsets were built between 2014 and 2018, for use on the Thameslink network, as part of the Thameslink Programme in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, they are operated by Govia Thameslink Railway.
The Hitachi A-train is a family of rail rolling stock built and designed by Hitachi Rail using a common base and construction techniques. The stock is designed to facilitate a number of product life-cycle improvements including ease of manufacture, increased energy efficiency, and recyclability.
In the 2010s Network Rail modernised the Great Western Main Line, the South Wales Main Line, and other associated lines. The modernisation plans were announced at separate times but their implementation overlapped in the 2010s.
Greater Anglia is a British train operating company owned as a joint venture by Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co. It operates the East Anglia franchise, providing the commuter and intercity services from its Central London terminus at London Liverpool Street to Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and parts of Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire as well as many regional services throughout the East of England.
The British Rail Class 800, branded as the Intercity Express Train (IET) by Great Western Railway (GWR) and Azuma by London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a type of bi-mode multiple unit train built by Hitachi Rail for GWR and LNER. The type uses electric motors powered from overhead electric wires for traction, but also has diesel generators to enable trains to operate on unelectrified track. It is a part of the Hitachi AT300 product family.
The British Rail Class 801 Azuma is a type of electric multiple unit (EMU) built by Hitachi Rail for London North Eastern Railway. The units have been built since 2017 at Hitachi's Newton Aycliffe Manufacturing Facility and have been used on services on the East Coast Main Line since 16 September 2019. As part of its production, the Class 801 units were ordered as part of the Intercity Express Programme and are in the Hitachi AT300 product family, alongside the closely related Class 800 units. LNER have branded the units as the Azuma, just like on their Class 800 units.
Stoke Gifford depot is a railway depot built for AT300 units from the Hitachi A-train procured under the Intercity Express Programme. The depot is situated between Filton and Stoke Gifford at a junction intersection of the Cross Country Route, South Wales Main Line and the Filton to Avonmouth Docks line. It is operated by Agility Trains as part of its contract to maintain the Class 800 fleet operated by Great Western Railway.
The London Underground 2024 Stock, known as the New Tube for London (NTfL) during development, is a London Underground train being built by Siemens Mobility at its facilities in Goole, United Kingdom and Vienna, Austria. It is part of the Siemens Inspiro family of metro and rapid-transport trains.
Doncaster Carr rail depot is a railway vehicle maintenance depot located alongside the East Coast Main Line in Doncaster, England. It is presently operated by Hitachi as part of their contract to maintain the AT300 units for London North Eastern Railway and TransPennine Express.
The British Rail Class 802 is a type of high-speed bi-mode multiple-unit passenger train designed and produced by the Japanese manufacturer Hitachi Rail. It has been operated by Great Western Railway, TransPennine Express, and Hull Trains; each of these train operating companies has given its own units a unique brand: Great Western Railway's units are branded Intercity Express Trains (IETs), TransPennine Express units are branded Nova 1s and Hull Trains' units are branded Paragons.
Hitachi Newton Aycliffe is a railway rolling stock assembly plant owned by Hitachi Rail Europe, situated in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, in the North East of England. Construction started in 2013 at a cost of £82 million, with train assembly commencing in 2015. It was the first factory that Hitachi built in Europe, as a result of it winning the Intercity Express Programme tender. Originally on opening, no actual manufacturing operations took place at the site; it assembled components built elsewhere into completed trains. However, for the later classes, some manufacturing took place on site. By October 2017, the plant employed over 1,000 members of staff.
Siemens Goole is a train factory located in Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Siemens Mobility assessed several sites in the United Kingdom before settling on Goole with an intent to build the plant if it were successful in gaining orders for new rolling stock. After a June 2018 announcement that Siemens had won the bid to build 94 London Underground New Tube for London trains for the Piccadilly line of the London Underground, Siemens confirmed it would go ahead with building the factory, though this was then subject to further delays as other rolling stock companies objected to Siemens being given the contract.