Aberdeen councillor hits out at ScotRail plans to replace high-speed fleet with 'old trains'

An Aberdeen councillor has hit out at ScotRail’s plan to replace its current High-Speed Rail fleet with “old trains”.

Back in March, the national transport firm announced a contract had been awarded to Beacon to provide 22 Class 222 trains.

The more modern fleet of vehicles will run on InterCity routes between Aberdeen, Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

ScotRail revealed the change was needed as the HSTs were “reaching the end of their usable life”, having been in use since 2018.

However, the new fleet will undergo a £67m refurbishment to be paid by the Scottish Government before they begin to take to the tracks next autumn.

Members of the Aberdeen City Region Deal Joint Committee met recently to discuss the Scottish Government’s £200m plan to improve rail links between Aberdeen and the Central Belt.

The project, managed by Transport Scotland, aims to reduce journey times and increase capacity for both passengers and freight.

Under the proposal, signal enhancements will be made, along with improvements to station layouts at Aberdeen, Dundee, Arbroath and Montrose.

Once the works are completed, Aberdeen passengers could arrive in Edinburgh in just over two hours, while a trip to Glasgow would take two and a half hours.

Transport Scotland hopes that the project will help to provide an improved service performance and more reliability for passengers.

The joint committee, made up of councillors from Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils, were also given an update on the replacement fleet.

Members were told that contracts have been awarded to support the replacement InterCity fleet, and were informed about the “significant refurbishment and investment programme” needed before they are brought into service.

Nestrans director Paul Finch told the committee rail improvement work would begin on the Dundee, Arbroath and Montrose end of the line, with Aberdeen to come in future phases as work progresses northbound.

Members were also told the Class 222 fleet would “feel very much like a new train when they arrive”.

As part of the massive revamp, each train will be fully repainted inside and out.

New carpets will be installed too, along with an improved passenger information system, Wi-Fi and CCTV.

Class 222 vehicles are currently operating in London, connecting the capital to Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Sheffield and East Midlands Parkway.

However, city councillor Ian Yuill didn’t seem to be too pleased with the upcoming replacements.

He said: “The departure of the high-speed trains is going to be regretted by many because they are very popular.

“And just confirming that what’s actually happening, despite the refurbishment, is that very old trains are being replaced with old trains?”

But after being told the Class 222 vehicles were “mid-life in terms of rolling stock”, councillor Yuill added: “So maybe the word old was inappropriate, could we settle on pre-loved?”

Meanwhile Ellon councillor Gillian Owen noted: “Any train is probably better than none”.

She explained: “For the northern side, Ellon, Peterhead, Fraserburgh, I think we would love any type of train to be perfectly honest, because the train stops at Aberdeen.”