New Trains for c2c Arrive Early, Increase Capacity
Commuters using c2c are to benefit from 13,000 extra seats at peak times every week, thanks to a new deal that will deliver 24 brand-new additional railcars in 2016 – three years earlier than previously planned.
c2c and the Department for Transport have reached agreement for the 24 new railcars, being built by Bombardier in Derby, to operate on the c2c route for the next three years. The new railcars will start entering passenger service from October, subject to the final signing of contracts, with all the new trains delivered by the end of the year.
The new trains will be leased until 2019, and will increase the total size of c2c’s fleet to 320 railcars. This will address the unprecedented growth in local rail passengers in the past six months, with around 8% more passengers now travelling into London during the morning peak.
From 2019, c2c has existing plans to introduce 68 new railcars to the route. The formal procurement process for the first tranche of these new trains started earlier this month, with the manufacturer expected to be appointed in the summer.
As a further part of these changes, in the short term c2c will be making amendments to the timetable from Sunday 15 May, including:
- Some evening services combined, to provide longer trains and reduce the number of four-railcars services at peak times
- Changes to the stopping pattern for a number of services, including:
- Additional services to West Horndon in the morning peak
- Additional services to Upminster in the evening peak
- Additional free seats at Basildon and Laindon on the most crowded service of the day, which will now no longer stop at Benfleet or Barking
- Limited other peak services no longer stopping at Barking. While this is a result of overcrowding, c2c is still providing Barking passengers with a significant increase in the total number of peak services over the past six months
These timetable changes will be reviewed again in December once the additional railcars are in service.
The extra capacity provided by new railcars augment the existing extra capacity provided by c2c’s timetable changes in December and January, which increased the number of seats at peak times by 1,400 and provided room for 3,000 more passengers.
c2c Managing Director Julian Drury said, “Extra carriages are absolutely vital for c2c to meet the surge in demand from passengers who want to travel. This agreement is hugely important, as we will now get new carriages on c2c within six months when they normally take years to be delivered. Combined with the other changes we are making in both the short- and long-term, this is the most significant increase in capacity for c2c passengers for over a decade. Thank you to all our passengers for bearing with us while we have been working so hard on getting these new trains. We have heard loud and clear that a number of peak-time services are very busy, and now we will be able to address the issues that our passengers have raised.”
Rail Minister Claire Perry MP said, “I have asked c2c to speed up the process of getting new trains for their customers and it is great to see this happening. This confirms c2c’s well-deserved reputation for customer care. These extra carriages will make a huge difference, allowing passengers to benefit from longer trains, more seats and better journeys along the busy c2c routes.”
Earlier this year c2c provided compensation to season ticket holders as a cash apology for the disruption they had faced following changes made to timetable in January.
