NORTHERN has issued a tender notice as it searches for a manufacturer to supply up to 450 new multiple units.
The company, owned by Northern Trains Ltd, a subsidiary of the Department for Transport’s Operator of Last Resort, is inviting industry interest in a framework agreement regarding the construction and supply of the trains, spare parts and technical support. It says this will enable replacement of“significant quantities of its ageing fleet” and avoid“escalating costs” associated with keeping those existing trains in service.
It is anticipated that orders would be placed in phases, although it would enter into the first contracts at the same time as the framework agreement.
Northern says it requires “multi-mode multiple units, including options to order further units and/or additional centre-vehicles and/or a mix of multi-mode and electric multiple units.”