First look at new rail franchise's freshly-branded trains
Here is the first newly-branded train which will be part of a franchise operating in the Black Country from this Monday.
West Midlands Rail Ltd, which is made up of companies Abellio, JR East and Mitsui, takes over the West Midlands franchise from London Midland.
Routes include Birmingham to Liverpool, through Wolverhampton, and Wolverhampton to Walsall, through Birmingham.
As part of the takeover, the rail carriages are being rebranded, starting with the one pictured at Smethwick Galton Bridge this month. The new operator has promised a £1bn investment into the network over the next nine years.
It will see 413 new carriages, coming into service from 2021.
From Monday, passengers can expect to see staff wearing West Midland Rail Ltd ‘accessories’ to their uniform.
A ‘deep cleaning programme’ of the existing carriages will also take place with litter cleared and engrained dirt washed away.
They will then be repainted and re-signed over the coming months.
Timetables are also to be reviewed with changes expected from December next year.
