News

ANGEL TRAINS’ HST UPGRADE IS COMPLETED ON TIME AND TO BUDGET

17 March 2009

The industry-wide HST re-powering project led by Angel Trains has been successfully completed, on time and to budget.

Angel Trains invested £74million in the upgrade of its fleet of high speed trains which included the re-powering and refurbishment of 56 HST power cars, currently on lease to National Express East Coast (23), First Great Western (28) and Arriva Cross Country (5).

Re-powering the HSTs and replacing the 30-year old Paxman Valenta engines with new MTU 16V4000R41 engines was necessary to extend the life of the HST power cars until the delivery of the Government-procured second generation of high speed trains, which are expected to be delivered after 2012.

The new engines are more reliable, economical, efficient and environmentally-friendly. They are also quieter with significantly fewer exhaust emissions, no visible smoke, and less noise and vibration to comply with new European legislation.

The re-powering programme, which started with an in-service trial in 2005, was pioneered, developed and implemented by Angel Trains. The rest of the industry has since followed Angel Trains’ lead, resulting in other HSTs not owned by Angel Trains also benefitting from the installation of new, greener engines.

The upgrade work also included an interior refurbishment and other reliability modifications.

Rob Verrion, CEO of Angel Trains Limited said:“We’re delighted to see the completion of this programme, which was on time and on budget. The results achieved for passengers and the industry alike are plain to see – more environmentally-friendly engines which are more reliable for customers and more cost-efficient for train operators. Angel Trains’ engineering expertise and experience has allowed continued service operation of these trains which combined with an interior refurbishment will ensure that the existing HST fleet can continue to operate reliably and cost-effectively until their successor is introduced”

The new engines, which were installed in Britain by Brush Traction of Loughborough, have helped to deliver the best train performance since the HSTs were introduced thirty years ago.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

· Besides the £74 million investment, Angel Trains has also spent £30 million on enhancements to its HST fleet over the last seven years.

· Angel Trains Limited is a leading lessor of railway rolling stock in the UK. It has its group headquarters in London a subsidiary office in Derby.

· Angel Trains is owned by a consortium of private equity investors, mainly comprising pension funds and insurance companies

Contact Details:

Angel Trains Limited

Portland House

Bressenden Place

London

SW1E 5BH

Jane Vincent