The first of Greater Anglia's new
The five-carriage electric train, designed and built at
A group of Greater Anglia train drivers have been for test drives on the new
Seven drivers have taken one of the new trains for a spin, checking out all of the features in the hi-tech driver's cab, so that they can start testing them on the Greater Anglia network.
The new trains are all longer, with more seats, plug and USB sockets, air conditioning, better passenger information screens and improved accessibility features.
The new trains are greener too: powered by electricity, 40% lighter than previous trains and feature regenerative braking which delivers energy back into the electrical supply network rather than waste the energy, through heat, as in conventional systems.
As new trains arrive on the Greater Anglia network, the team of test drivers will have to put them through their paces in a series of safety and performance tests, to make sure the trains are safe and reliable before they go into passenger service.
The train's hi-tech features include underfloor heating, real time passenger information and improved passenger door anti-drag safety features previously only seen on underground trains.
'Our test drivers have been very impressed with them. They said it was like going from a bottom of the range small car to a Rolls Royce compared to driving our old trains.
'We're confident our customers will be equally pleased with the quality of the new trains, as they should greatly improve their journeys with us.
'The drivers will now spend many hours in the cab of the new trains as we test how the trains interact with the overhead wires, signals and points, their performance at different speeds, double-checking them at platforms in stations across the network to make sure new signage is in the right place.'
The
'This project, one of the largest private investments into rolling stock in the last 20 years, reiterates our ongoing commitment to creating the railway of the future that modern
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