Stadler has delivered the first bi-mode Flirt to Greater Anglia.
The four-carriage train arrived into Norwich on November 15 after being pulled by a locomotive.
A programme of testing the train on the East Anglia network will now commence over the next few months to ensure it passes strict regulations to carry passengers in the UK. This will see its pantograph, passenger information system and automatic selective door opening system – for when the train is longer than a station platform – tested further.
Technicians have already conducted tests covering the train’s brakes, pantographs, noise levels, emissions, operational safety and automatic train protection systems in Europe.
After a period of classroom-based training, which will include sessions on new multi-million pound simulators, Greater Anglia train drivers will then undertake test runs using the new trains on routes across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.
Greater Anglia expect to receive more Stadler Flirts, which will run between Norwich and Cambridge, Sheringham, Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth; Ipswich and Cambridge, Lowestoft, Felixstowe and Peterborough; and Marks Tey and Sudbury, over the next few weeks.
Stadler’s UK sales director Ralf Warwel was delighted to have reached this milestone and said the company has made it no secret that it is “keen to make headway in the UK market”.
Greater Anglia has ordered 38 bi-modes (24 four-carriage and 14 three-carriage trains) as well as 20 electrical multiple units (all in 12-carriage configuration) from Stadler. It has also ordered 111 Aventra EMUs from Bombardier.
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