A new Hitachi Rail Europe Class 385 electric multiple unit ran from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street in the early hours of November 1, repeating the trips last night.
This follows a successful trial of the infrastructure between Edinburgh and Linlithgow in the early hours of October 18.
Full testing of the trains and the infrastructure along the route will continue for several weeks.
When the new trains enter passenger service they will deliver faster journeys, more seats and better services for customers travelling between Scotland’s two biggest cities, and will then be rolled out to other routes in the central belt according to the operator.
ScotRail Alliance Programmes and Transformation Director Ian McConnell, said: “This morning’s trial was a massive step towards the introduction of electric passenger trains on the newly electrified Edinburgh to Glasgow mainline. Having a train run successfully along the full route shows real progress."
Hitachi Rail Europe Programme Manager Andy Radford, said: “We are really pleased that our new trains can now be tested on the newly electrified Edinburgh to Glasgow routes. We will continue to work closely with the ScotRail Alliance to ensure the trains deliver the benefits to future passengers as soon as possible.”
- For more on the first tests, read RAIL 839, published on November 8, or on Android/iPad on November 4.
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AndrewJGwilt1989 - 02/11/2017 12:28
The Class 385’s should start passenger service at the end of 2017 or in early 2018. Once the Glasgow-Edinburgh Line via High Falkirk electrification is finished. Then these new trains will soon start operating on the electrified line that will provide much quicker journey times between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
FrankH - 04/11/2017 14:02
The OHLE via Falkirk High is finished, that's how the 385 got to Glasgow. As you say they will be faster but not by more than a few minutes. Quicker acceleration will be the only advantage.