Porterbrook has finalised a deal to acquire a fleet of 404 vehicles from Corelink Rail Infrastructure Limited.
The fleet, which consists of 324 Class 730 Aventra electric and 80 Class 196 diesel units, are currently operated by West Midland Trains (WMT), and serve passengers on a number of regional and long-distance services between London, Birmingham and Liverpool.
The 5-car Aventra trains will be both stabled and maintained at the Bletchley Train Maintenance Depot, which last year was upgraded with modern sidings, inspection facilities, new electrified overhead lines and gantries following a 66 million GBP investment from Porterbrook.
Mary Grant, Porterbrook CEO, said:West Midlands Trains has been one of our largest customers for over 15 years and this latest transaction solidifies that partnership for the future. It also completes a programme of more than £1bn of capital deployed during the last five years in new trains, fleet upgrades, traction innovation and rail infrastructure.
Corelink is a joint venture formed between Infracapital and Pan-European Infrastructure II – a fund predominately managed and advised by GWS Group GmbH & Co KGaA.
Tom Crawley, Managing Director at Infracapital, said:We are proud to have established Corelink with DWS, delivering a modern and energy-efficient fleet that provides a reliable commuter experience across the West Midlands rail network.
We believe Porterbrook is well-positioned to continue supporting Corelink’s mission to deliver dependable and sustainable rail transport in the UK.
