The west London suburban rail network is set to benefit from a £895 million order for 90 new trains.

FirstGroup and MTR, which takes over the running of the south western rail network on August 20, announced the order on Tuesday (June 20).

It says the new trains will operate on the Windsor, Reading and west London suburban routes.

The group says the 90 new AVENTRA trains will provide a 46% increase in peak capacity, and will comprise of 750 new carriages in five and 10 car formations.

The trains will be manufactured by Bombardier Transportation in Derby and will come into service from mid-2019, and will all be in place by December 2020.

A statement from FirstGroup and MTR said the new trains will provide "much needed extra seats for suburban rail services into London Waterloo".

It said: "The new trains will enhance the travelling experience for customers with free reliable Wi-Fi, at-seat charging points, real time information screens, air conditioning, wide gangways and wide doors to improve ease of boarding and alighting."

The trains will be fully in service by December 2020

It added: "They will be capable of 100mph, be highly energy efficient and will contribute to reduced journey times."

Steve Montgomery, managing director of First Rail, said: "We have exciting plans for the south western rail franchise and these new trains are an important step on the way to delivering an improved journey experience for our passengers.

"We know from listening to passengers and stakeholders that alongside improved performance, what they want to see is additional seats and we will deliver this via these state-of-the-art trains."

FirstGroup, which runs the Great Western Railway, and MTR, which operates the Hong Kong Metro, were awarded a seven-year contract to run the franchise by the Department for Transport in March.

They will start running the franchise in the midst of the extensive upgrade works at Waterloo, which will cause widespread disruption to the network.

The new Aventra range of trains from Bombardier

The works are scheduled to run from August 5 to August 28.

Transport Minister Paul Maynard said: “We are delivering the biggest rail modernisation programme for over a century and this franchise will provide more frequent trains, faster journeys and a more reliable service that passengers across the South Western network expect.

“This multi-million pound investment in a new fleet of British-built trains is excellent news for South Western passengers and the British economy. This investment reflects our commitment, and that of train operators, to put passengers at the heart of everything we do, and will improve journeys and target congestion.”

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