The British Rail Class 730 ''

Aventra The Alstom Aventra (sold as the Bombardier Aventra until 2021) is a family of electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger trains produced in the United Kingdom originally by Bombardier Transportation and later by Alstom, as a successor to the Bombard ...

'' is a type of

electric multiple-unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number ...

passenger train designed by

Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...

and built by

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...

for

West Midlands Trains West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...

. Two separate batches of the fleet will be built; 48 three-car units and 36 five-car units.

History

In October 2017, West Midlands Trains were awarded the franchise to operate both local rail services around

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, suburban services to London Euston, and long-distance inter-urban services operating from both Euston and . At the time the franchise was awarded, the company announced that it would procure more than 100 new trains at a cost of £680m to replace older rolling stock and enhance its fleet. Of these, a total of 81 EMUs were ordered from

from its

product range. They are being built at

Derby Litchurch Lane Works Derby Litchurch Lane Works (formerly Derby Carriage and Wagon Works) is a railway rolling stock factory in Derby, England. It was opened in the 19th century by the Midland Railway. The plant has produced rolling stock under the ownership of the ...

. The first completed train was unveiled in September 2020. In 2022 the order was amended to increase the proportion of three-car units in the fleet, which will result in the delivery of 48 three-car units and 36 five-car units instead of the original plan for 36 three-car units and 45 five-car units.

Testing and introduction into service

The Class 730 was tested in Velim in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, as well as in the UK. They will enter service in early 2023 and will be the second new West Midlands Railway fleet to be introduced, with first being the Class 196 which entered service on 17 October 2022. The introduction of these trains will allow the

Class 323 The British Rail Class 323 are electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger trains built by Hunslet Transportation Projects and Holec. All 43 units were built from 1992 through to 1995, although mock-ups and prototypes were built and tested in 1990 ...

s to be withdrawn with 17 sets being cascaded to

Northern Trains Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT) ...

. It will also ensure the withdrawal of the Class 350/2 units on the

network. Testing of Class 730 units on the

network began in March 2021, and in February 2022 the 36 Class 730/0 units received authorisation for service from the

Office of Rail and Road The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways. ORR regulates Network Rail by setting its ...

. The Class 730/0 units will enter service on

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

services out of London allowing for the withdraw of Class 319s, before being moved to the Cross City line at a later date.

Fleet

The two separate batches will be constructed to operate at different maximum speeds to suit different uses. The three-car Class 730/0 trains—designed for

Cross-City Line The Cross-City Line is a commuter rail line in the West Midlands region of England. It runs for from Redditch and Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, its two southern termini, to Lichfield, Staffordshire, its northern terminus, via Birmingham New Str ...

inner suburban services—will operate at up to and will double capacity on the Cross City Line. The five-car Class 730/1 and 730/2 trains—designed for outer suburban services and long-distance services respectively—will operate at up to .

References

{{British Rail EMU Bombardier Transportation multiple units

730 __NOTOC__ Year 730 ( DCCXXX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 730 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...