On board the brand new trains that will soon be running between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton
It won't be long until new trains are running between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury.
West Midlands Railway showed off an example of its new Class 196 on Friday. A total of 26 will replace the existing 20-year-old units running along the route linking the Black Country and Shropshire, with the first expected to enter service in the coming weeks.
The new trains will give passengers a better chance of sitting down during busy periods with each four-carriage train containing 311 seats as opposed to the two-carriage Class 170s which have 122 seats or 244 when two are coupled together.
Other features on the new trains, photos of which are found below, include:
More seats and tables with improved under-seat storage
Improved accessibility, including at least one accessible toilet per train
More bicycle storage, enabling up to three bikes to be carried
Clear luggage racks to avoid passengers leaving items behind
Smart new digital screens featuring live journey information
Plug and USB sockets at every seat
Intelligent air-conditioning which reacts to the carriage environment
Free WiFi
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said: “The experience for rail passengers is going to be considerably better. First of all, there’s 25 per cent more seats than there were before, We know that sometimes this line is very heavily used and people can struggle to get a seat, so that’s a major improvement.
“At every seat there is WiFi use and with the new advanced air conditioning there is much more comfort. For disabled passengers there are accessible toilets throughout the trains, and all these key factors guarantee a better travel experience for everyone.
“We are sticking to a commitment that was made five years ago which will now hopefully draw people back onto the trains so they are not in their cars, which of course is better for the environment."
Orders for two fleets of the trains were initially made in 2017 with construction beginning in Newport, Wales, in 2018. However, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic caused inevitable delays in production.
At first the trains will run between Birmingham and Shrewsbury, via Wolverhampton, but will eventually be used on West Midlands Railway's route from Birmingham to Hereford as well.
Ian McConnell, managing director of West Midlands Trains which runs West Midlands Railway services, said the company has invested £690m in total with the new trains and related infrastructure.
He said: "We're going to be rolling out the new fleet over most of the network and we wanted to start somewhere in the centre to the region – and this route is really important to us.
"These (the new fleet) will be replacing the 20-year-old trains and you can imagine what that would be like, especially if it was a 20-year-old car. There's more space, it's more accessible for wheelchair passengers and it's got all the mod-cons you would expect.
"We've invested this sum not just in the trains but also in the infrastructure, so our depots and facilities and some operational changes behind-the-scenes."
At a special unveiling event on Friday at Wolverhampton railway station, which included a trip to Shrewsbury and back, it was revealed the first train in the fleet has been named Charles Darwin – in honour of the Shrewsbury-born naturalist.
