Northern will not be able to introduce its new CAF trains until the spring.

Originally, the operator planned to have the first three three-car diesel multiple units in service before the end of 2018. A phased introduction was then planned to put them into traffic ahead of May’s new timetable.

However, spokesman Glyn Hallam told RAIL on December 14 that this was no longer happening, with the trains delayed due to various issues with on-board integration found during testing.

He did not go into detail regarding the delays, but said testing was continuing with the trains. So far nine DMUs (two-car 195001-003 and three-car 195103/105/107/109-111) and three electric multiple units (three-car 331001 and four-car 331102/105) are in the UK having been delivered from Spain, where they are being built by CAF.

They are the third CAF fleet due to have entered traffic in 2018 but which have been delayed, following Caledonian Sleeper’s Mk 5 stock and TransPennine Express’ Mk 5A vehicles.

However, Hallam said this will not present a problem for Northern until May, when it was always planned that the CAF trains would be used to launch new services - including Northern Connect routes.