Claycross

UK-based rail operator ScotRail has unveiled the first of 40 new-look trains, which will come into service over the next three years.

Part of a £14m modernisation project, the two-carriage, 137-seat trains will have improved seating, better lighting and power sockets for passengers.

ScotRail and rolling stock leasing company Porterbrook are jointly managing the modernisation project.

The Class 158 trains will be equipped with new CCTV systems, automated passenger-counting systems and will have revamped interiors with modern toilets and carpets.

Knorr-Bremse RailServices is undertaking the refurbishment work at it Springburn facility in Glasgow, where 14 new staff have been recruited for the purpose.

"These refurbished trains will further improve the travel experience."

ScotRail Alliance managing director Phil Verster said: "We’ve listened to customers, and that feedback is reflected in the upgrades being made.

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"Seats are better aligned alongside windows, interiors are brighter and more modern, and people can charge phones and laptops during their journeys."

The first train is being delivered today in time for the opening of the new Borders Railway.

The refurbished trains will be rolled out at a rate of about one a month until April 2018 on routes across Scotland.

Scotland Minister for Transport and Islands Derek Mackay said: "We are investing record amounts in Scotland’s railways and, with passenger numbers increasing by more than six million last year, these refurbished trains will further improve the travel experience."

Borders Railway will run trains between Tweedbank and Edinburgh, and have four stations in Midlothian and three in the Scottish Borders.

Said to be the longest domestic railway to be constructed in the UK in the past 100 years, Borders Railway will be officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 9 September.


Image: A total of 40 Class 158 trains are being refurbished by ScotRail Alliance. Photo: courtesy of Phil Sangwell via Wikipedia.