Solihull and Birmingham trains to get new look

Commuter trains serving Solihull, Birmingham and the West Midlands are to get a striking new look later this year.

The new purple, yellow, white and grey livery has been unveiled by West Midlands Rail, a group of 14 councils, which will be overseeing services, including on the busy Cross-City line, from October.

The fresh lick of paint will herald the arrival of the new franchise which has already promised extra carriages, more frequent services and free wi-fi across the network.

Two companies, Abellio and Govia, are bidding for the eight-year-contract to run the services on behalf of West Midlands Rail and the Department for Transport – with the winning bid due to be announced in the summer.

They will take over services currently operated by London Midland in the region.

The finer details of the new livery will be agreed with the franchise winner but the design is expected to be closely modelled on the images released today.

West Midlands Rail chairman, Cllr Mark Winnington, said: “We felt it was important to have a distinct brand and identity for local trains and we are extremely pleased the DfT feels the same way.

“We believe that having this level of involvement in the management of our local network will bring real benefits not just for passengers but also for local businesses.

“It means we can help ensure we have a network that can support economic growth and it is for these reasons that the local authorities of the wider West Midlands have come together on this.”

As well as extra capacity and trains, the new operator has also been told to bring Sunday services up to the same frequency as Saturday services, and put more trains on in the evening.

Read more: http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/birminghams-trains-getting-new-lick-12531386