THE WELSH Government is considering leasing Class 230 D Trains from Vivarail as it grapples with the difficulties of meeting the 2020 PRM-TSI deadline.
At an inquiry into the next Wales and Borders franchise, Assembly Member Mark Isherwood said he had received a letter from Vivarail stating that the company had, in principle, sufficient stock to produce 70 three-car trains for Wales and now had battery as well as diesel versions available.
Welsh infrastructure secretary Ken Skates responded: ‘That’s a solution that actually is not as undesirable as some have presented in the past, I think. When they are modernised they look and feel like brand new carriages.’
Simon Jones, the government’s director of transport, said: ‘It’s something which is being looked at.’
