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Delivery of the 1st Class 777 METRO from the factory in Switzerland

ON 16 January 2020 the 1st of new state of the art trains, Class 777 METRO, a class of electric multiple units arrived on Merseyside.  The new trains are currently due to be be introduced on to the Merseyrail network to replace the current fleet of Class 507 and Class 508, which is around 40 years old. This was the 1st unit of the 52 articulated 4 car units to arrive on the Merseyrail Network. The footage and our photos were taken at Bootle Oriel Road, of the unit made by Swiss rolling stock manufacturer, Stadler Rail, especially for the Merseyrail network, being delivered to the network from the Altenrhein factory, in Switzerland.

The Class 777 METRO is unique, with features customised to the network and based on requests by the public taken during a long consultation period that was held throughout the Liverpool City Region. No other area will have a train like it. Also, unlike the current fleet, which is owned by Angel Trains, the new Class 777 units will be owned by the Liverpool City Region.

The project to provide the trains has to led to around 40 suppliers being used, over ½ of which were from the Liverpool City Region. This means a significant boost to the local economy of around ₤70m a year and will lead to the creation of 1,000 jobs as existing and new businesses and organizations take advantage of trains that can carry more people, more quickly.

The new trains, once in operation, will be able to carry 50% more passengers due to the spacious areas around the doors and wider aisles which create more standing room. Plenty of handrails and grab poles will be available for passengers and there will also be perch seats. Plus there will be plug sockets and USB charging points available at every seat! The design and upgrade of the stations will result in Merseyrail becoming 1 of the most accessible networks in the UK, with the introduction of unassisted access for almost all passengers, at all stations. Stations will thus become fully compliant with all regulations. Plus the train will no longer have a gap between the platform and the train, thanks to a new feature introduced on the trains, making travel safer, including facilitating wheelchair access and pram loading. Mostly, this is expected to allow unassisted boarding, unlike in the situation in the past. Additionally, the inclusion of new signage using information screens and clear public addresses should assist passengers with learning difficulties or visual impairments; and that is just the start!

It might be worth adding that the Class 777 METRO is in good company. Before the introduction of Class 507 and Class 508, between 1940 and 1943, the line was serviced by Class 502 Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) and 503s Units. At the time these 502 and 503s Units were extremely unusual for their time, and they were even equipped with air operated sliding doors! Class 502 and Class 503s, which were unique to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, travelling on the lines from Liverpool Exchange Station to Southport and Ormskirk, along with the Wirral lines. The innovative Class 777 METRO will follow their bogies on the same lines today. The unique design of both the Class 502 and 503s led to them being copied after the war and since virtually every all electric suburban passenger train within Great Britain has followed the same basic layout pioneered by the Class 502 and 503s. So let's hope these new custom built Class 777 METRO will again set a benchmark as did the Class 502s and 503s in their time. Sadly, only 1 of the 502 units remains and is being restored by the Friends of the 502 Group and there is now a move to preserve its replacements, the less iconic Class 507 and Class 508, and save 1 for historical reasons when they finish their service on the Merseyrail network.

For more information about the network these units will be working on, please visit:- MerseyRail.Org and also for information about the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, please visit:- LiverpoolCityRegion.CA.Gov... Also, for Stadler Rail please go to:- StadlerRail.Com.

Below is David Powell, who is the Program Director or the replacement of Merseyrail's fleet, over seeing the delivery of his new train...