Bombardier Transportation has won a contract for new rolling stock from Southern Railway, which provides services in London and the south east of England.
A Spares Supply Agreement has also been signed which will allow Bombardier to support the new trains when they enter service. The contracts have a total value of approximately £180 million.
The vehicles will initially be used on the Thameslink route and in the longer term will be cascaded onto other routes. The rolling stock contract includes an option for 140 additional vehicles which, if exercised, would bring the total number of vehicles ordered to 256 and the total value of the order to approximately £385 million.
Bombardier will supply southern with the latest version of the Bombardier Electrostar family of electrical multiple units, capable of 110 mph operation.