 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2008 |
| Headquarters | , England |
| Website | www.agilitytrains.com |
Agility Trains is a consortium that presently comprised the Japanese rolling stock manufacturer Hitachi, multinational insurance and investment company Axa UK, and the infrastructure fund GLIL Infrastructure.
The consortium, which originally comprised the Japanese rolling stock manufacturer Hitachi and the British infrastructure specialist John Laing, was created in June 2008 to collectively bid for the Department for Transport's Intercity Express Programme (IEP), which sought to procure a new fleet of high speed trains, initially to replace the aging InterCity 125. The consortium's bid was centered around the Class 800 and 801 high speed trains, which provided more seats, reduced journey times, and superior environmental performance than the Intercity 125 sets.
The bid submitted by the consortium was successful, leading to the finalising of a £4.5bn contract in mid 2012 to produce and sustain trains for both the Great Western Main Line (GWML) and East Coast Main Line (ECML). Infrastructure built to fulfil the contract included a new manufacturing site at Hitachi Newton Aycliffe and multiple new depots to maintain the fleet. In October 2017, the first train went into service on the GWML.