The UK Government is inviting bidders to design a fleet of new green intercity trains designed to carry more passengers.
The Department for Transport has issued an invitation to tender for the Intercity Express programme to three short-listed consortiums: Alstom-Barclays Rail Group, Express Rail Alliance (comprising Bombardier, Siemens, Angel Trains and Babcock & Brown) and Hitachi Europe.
Bidders must meet environmental specifications laid out by the government with the new electric trains operating up to 40 percent (and at least 27 percent) more efficiently than the trains they replace.
For self-powered trains, the government demands an improved energy efficiency of up to 35 percent, with a minimum of ten percent.
The first new trains, designed to carry 70 percent more passengers, will begin working trials in 2012 to replace the existing high-speed trains from 2015.
"We're demanding high standards of capacity, environmental performance and flexibility from these new trains because they will benefit passengers for decades to come.
"But it's for the bidders to decide exactly how they will meet those standards - we've set the bar and they have to clear it", says Rail Minister Tom Harris.
By Ozge Ibrahim
