ScotRail will introduce 200 additional services to its timetable from 2018 after extending its lease on 13 Class 170 diesel multiple units.
Additional funding from the Scottish government will allow ScotRail to retain 39 Class 170 carriages beyond 2018.
The deal, which was announced yesterday (March 15), represents 20,000 extra seats daily.
From 2018, Abellio ScotRail will run additional services for Tayside, Stirlingshire, Perthsire, Aberdeenshire and Borders.
Transport Minister Derek Mackay said: “The retention of these units will complement the arrival of our new High Speed Trains, which will allow for new and improved intercity connections.
“They will also make our rail network more resilient, creating opportunities to run faster services on key commuter routes and offering better connectivity for regional areas.
“This funding is in addition to the £475 million investment in Scotland’s rolling stock over the lifetime of the franchise, meaning Scotland’s rail passengers have never been better served, both in terms of the quality of the trains they travel on, and the number of services running on the network.”
Phil Verster, managing director of Abellio ScotRail, added: “I really cannot overstate just how big a change to our service that this announcement represents. This is not a slight amendment to the way we do business, it is a fundamental change.
“These new trains will allow us to completely recast our timetables, meaning more regular, local services combined with a high speed intercity offering.
“This transformation means that we can set about delivering on our vision of a railway that connects people with jobs, businesses with customers and communities with the opportunity to grow and prosper.
“A railway that delivers for Scotland – not just because of what it is, but because of what it allows our country to do.”
Makes quite a change from the originally planned “cost-cutting measures” to remove all Class 170s – which of course are ScotRail’s youngest diesel units…
So 13 Class 170’s could be cascaded to Southern to be re-classified as Class 171’s or it could be cascaded to Great Western Railway or Crosscountry or East Midlands Trains.
Or Cascaded to Abellio Greater Anglia.
13 Class 170s ARE BEING KEPT.
NO NEED TO USE CAPITAL LETTERS THEN! CALM DOWN.
Unfortunately I can’t underline the key point that I was trying to get across.
Well ignore me then.
Or Abellio ScotRail to keep the Class 170’s that will run additional services for Tayside, Stirlingshire, Perthshire, Aberdeenshire and The Scottish Borders and also on Outer Suburban services in/out of Glasgow Queen’s Street.
A lot of the services currently operated by Class 170s are going to be changed once the refurbished HSTs come into service.
Sounds about right.