THE Class 350/2 variant of the Siemens ‘Desiro’ train has been named as the country’s most reliable EMU in the recent Golden Spanner awards, promoted by Modern Railways magazine.
It has been operated by London Midland since its introduction in 2008.
The units are assessed under a ‘miles per technical incident moving annual average’ basis, with the 350/2 averaging 164,481 miles between technical faults.
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The ‘Desiros’ are now part of the fleet of new franchisee Abellio West Midlands (under the brand of London Northwestern Railway), but there are plans to hand them back to the leasing company Porterbrook in 2021 after Abellio ordered 45 five-car ‘Aventra’ trains from Bombardier for outer suburban and
long-distance work.
Read more News and Features in January’s issue of The RM – on sale now!