There’s more good news for South West rail commuters to London, who are already benefiting from the refurbishment of the sleeper service carriages. As of 2018, regular train passengers are set to get up to half an hour of their lives back each week. The government has take a little time out from plans for HS2 to give the go-ahead for a brand-new fleet of trains running between London and Cornwall. The deal allows Great Western Railway to buy 29 new long-distance trains to serve the South West from 2018. The privately funded £360 million fleet will be manufactured by Hitachi and will cut journey times from London to Exeter by up to 5 minutes and to Penzance by up to 14 minutes.
Frequent Penzance commuters could potentially get a day of their lives back each year. The trains will also have up to 24% more seats compared to the majority of the High Speed Trains serving the route today, creating more than 1,000 additional seats at peak times across the route every day.
The trains, which are more powerful, greener and more efficient than the current fleet, will replace the existing 40-year-old trains on the route. They are similar in design to Hitachi’s new Intercity Express Trains, which are due to enter service on the Great Western Main Line between London and South Wales from 2017 onwards.