Story perspectives

Alstom launches first £220.5 m Elizabeth Line train.

6/6/2026

Summary

Alstom Tests Train

Alstom moved the first of ten Class 345 Aventra trains onto Derby Litchurch Lane Works test track before 2026 service.
The Department for Transport provides £220.5 million for ten nine-carriage trains that will extend the Elizabeth line to ten miles and add 120,000 seats.
Each train includes five miles of welding, 50 miles of cabling, 47,700 screws and 31,700 bolts, which have contributed to the line logging over 850 million journeys since May 2022.

Summary

Alstom Safeguards Jobs

The £370 million 2024 contract protected about 1,300 jobs at Alstom’s Litchurch Lane factory in Derby.
Andy Butters said the deal safeguards the asset and ensures UK rolling-stock production.
The fleet underpins a supply chain that involves nearly 40 UK companies.
Transport for London granted Alstom a maintenance contract that runs until 2046.
No compulsory redundancies have been issued despite the open voluntary consultation.

History

Historical Context

In 1994 Queen Elizabeth II and President François Mitterrand opened the Channel Tunnel, the UK’s first major cross-border rail link built by Eurotunnel under a 55-year concession. The 1996 Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act split the project into phases and spurred private-financed high-speed rail, a model echoed today by Alstom’s £370 million Derby contract for Class 345 Aventra trains funded by the DfT.

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Alstom Tests Train

Alstom moved the first of ten Class 345 Aventra trains onto Derby Litchurch Lane Works test track before 2026 service.
The Department for Transport provides £220.5 million for ten nine-carriage trains that will extend the Elizabeth line to ten miles and add 120,000 seats.
Each train includes five miles of welding, 50 miles of cabling, 47,700 screws and 31,700 bolts, which have contributed to the line logging over 850 million journeys since May 2022.

1 / 3