Northern Rail plans to introduce the remaining trains to serve more parts of the country. Credit: Northern

Arriva UK train subsidiary and rail operator Northern Rail announced that 33% of its new fleet has begun service on various routes.

Northern Rail said that 33 of the new 101 Class 195 and Class 331 have started operations. The trains were purchased with a £500m investment from Eversholt Rail Group.

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In June last year, the first vehicle of the new Class 195 train fleet arrived in the UK from Spain.

The Class 195 trains feature air-conditioning, power sockets near the seats, free Wi-Fi services, customer information screens and an electronic seat reservation system. They also offer more space, as well as better accessibility for people with reduced mobility and passengers with bikes.

These trains currently operate in Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cheshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. Northern Rail plans to introduce additional trains to service Bolton, Blackburn, York, Sheffield, Barnsley, Lincoln and Nottingham by the end of this year.

Northern Rail managing director David Brown said: “The Northern network is busier than it has been for a generation – more than 100 million customer journeys will be made on Northern services in 2019 – and the introduction of new trains is at the heart of our transformation for customers.

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“We are delighted, therefore, that even more customers travelling across the north are now served by brand new trains –more than one million customer journeys have already been made on the new trains.”

Last month, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps reportedly said that German state-owned Arriva-operated firm Northern Rail could be nationalised.

In July, Northern Rail introduced the first nine trains into service for operations across routes between Doncaster and Leeds, Cumbria and Manchester Airport, and Liverpool to Manchester Airport.