TransPennine Express (TPE) has announced a £230 million deal for 25 new trains.

The new fleet, which will be maintained by Alstom at Longsight depot, will consist of 12 five-car Civity EMUs from CAF – financed by Eversholt Rail – and 13 five-car loco-hauled intercity trains.

The announcement follows an order placed earlier this year with Hitachi for 19 bi-mode train sets. Both fleets of new trains are due to be delivered between 2018 and 2019.

TPE’s managing director Leo Goodwin said: “This is great news for our customers and we are delighted to have concluded the deals that will bring much needed and much wanted extra carriages across our network.

“This will enable us to transform the customer experience over the life of our franchise and our three new train fleets will form a key part of this improvement.

“Whether travelling to work, for business or leisure, our services are going to offer more seats, improved connectivity and a higher standard of comfort.

“The on-board experience will be second to none and we will provide customers with a real alternative to the car and congested road network.”

The 12 new electric trains being built by CAF, which is already contracted to supply 98 trains for the neighbouring Northern franchise, will operate services connecting Manchester and Liverpool with Glasgow and Edinburgh.

In addition to the new CAF trains and carriages, Beacon Rail-owned Class 68 locomotives will be leased from Direct Rail Services to operate intercity services between Liverpool and Newcastle.

More to follow