Rail company Greater Anglia has shown off mock-ups of the inside of its new InterCity trains for the main line between the region and Liverpool Street station.
The new trains, which are being built by Swiss company Stadler, are due to enter service on the main line in 2019 – and should take over all the InterCity services on the route by the end of the following year.
A mock-up of a Stadler FLIRT train – which will operate between Norwich and London, on the Stansted Express, and on regional routes – is currently at the train operator’s Crown Point depot in Norwich.
Although the InterCity and regional trains will be different – inside the layout will look similar and they will all have wi-fi access and sockets to charge phones and tablets.
Rail users from the Greater Anglia Customer Panel, stakeholders and staff from across the Greater Anglia network have seen the mocked-up train first-hand and were able to give feedback on the design.
The mock-up is designed to illustrate all the different elements of a train, and includes both first and standard class seating, cycle storage area, a café bar, toilet and vestibule area.
More staff, customer and stakeholder groups will be able to visit the train over the coming months and give feedback on the design.
Mike Kean, Deputy Managing Director for Greater Anglia, said: “We are very excited to be replacing every single one of our trains and very pleased to be able to offer stakeholders and rail user groups a glimpse of what’s to come by showing them the mock-up.
“Views from our colleagues, customers and stakeholders are very important, which is why we launched a public consultation process, seeking feedback which will inform the final design and specification of the new trains.
“Replacing all of our trains represents the biggest ever investment in trains in East Anglia.”
Greater Anglia is buying 378 new carriages from Stadler: 10 electric 12-carriage InterCity trains, 10 electric 12-carriage trains for the Stansted express.
And 38 bi-mode trains (which can operate as diesel and electric) as 24 four-carriage trains and 14 three-carriage trains, for Marks Tey to Sudbury, and Ipswich to Felixstowe, Lowestoft, Cambridge and Peterborough.
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