Central takes second-hand route

Central is taking on second-hand trains to boost its ageing fleet

A rail operator has leased a fleet of second-hand trains to use on routes to and through the Midlands.

Central Trains (CT) has leased 13 Turbostars from Midland Mainline, which has just brought in brand new ones to replace them.

CT said the Derby-made Turbostars are better than its old stock, as it was once using decades-old trains.

Ged Burgess from CT said the trains were "babies" compared to some of its old stock in previous years.

He said the "new" trains have all been built since 1999. But when Central took over the franchise in 1997, it was using trains that were 30 or 40 years old.

He said of the Midland Mainline trains: "They are second hand, but they are babies to compared to some of the trains we used to run around years ago."

Central will use the 13 Class 170 Turbostars on its long-distance services. They can reach 100 mph and feature air-conditioning.

They will be used on these Citylink services:

• Birmingham, Leicester, Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport
• Nottingham, Birmingham, Gloucester, Newport and to Cardiff
• Birmingham, Stafford, Crewe and Liverpool
• Norwich, Peterborough, Nottingham, Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool

CT deputy managing director Steve Banaghan said: "I am delighted that we have been able to introduce more modern trains on our Central Citylink services.

"We will only achieve our goal of being a comfortable and reliable alternative to the private car by continually improving the journey experience for our passengers."

The extra trains comes as CT operates emergency timetables, with Aslef members declining to work voluntary overtime leaving the operator scrapping 10% of its trains, and putting some passengers on buses.