Viva Class 230 Variants Approved for Passenger Service
18/09/2020
The Office of Rail and Road has given authorisatoin for battery and diesel-battery versions of Vivarail's Class 230 D-Train multiple-units to be used in passenger service.
The TfW Rail D-Trains feature restyled front ends. They are the first Class 230s to have open gangways and have a higher specification interior than previous batches.
At the launch of the TfW Rail operating contract, it was stated that the trains would be introduced on the Wrexham - Bidston, Conwy Valley and Crewe - Chester lines during 2019, but technical development and testing took longer than anticipated. It has now been decided to restrict sets to the Wrexham - Bidston Borderlands line.
Looking to the future, Vivarail says that the time taken from receiving an order to delivering a train can be as little as 12 months. It is also looking to sell completed trains as a manufacturer, rather than becoming involved in leasing them to operators.