London Northwestern operates most reliable electric trains

London Northwestern Railway has won this year’s Golden Spanner award for the most reliable First Generation Electric Multiple Unit in the UK.

The accolade was awarded to the Siemens 350/3 units, which are part of a fleet that operates over 80 services a day to and from London Euston.

The trains were recognised for running an average of 138,000 miles between technical incident over the past year.

London Northwestern Railway also leases Siemens 350/2 and 350/1 units. These came in second and third in the same category respectively. The train operator uses these trains not only on their services to and from the capital, but also to operate services between Birmingham and Liverpool.

Neil Bamford, engineering director at London Northwestern Railway said: “It’s been another fantastic year for our Siemens for our Class 350 trains. We will be keeping the fleet to run alongside the new units ordered for our West Coast Mainline services in future. We are very pleased to win this prestigious award; these trains are comfortable and extremely popular with passengers.”

London Northwestern Railway will continue to operate the 350/3 units alongside new trains that are currently being built to operate on the route. New AVENTRA Class 730 units, currently on order from Bombardier, will significantly increase capacity on the West Coast mainline from 2021.

Over the course of the franchise, London Northwestern Railway will also be providing 10,000 extra seats into London everyday. This will be achieved through a combination of new trains, extra carriages and timetable improvements.

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