Bombardier Transportation today announced that it has secured an additional order for 130 Bombardier Electrostar cars for Southern. The contract is valued at £189 million (approx € 227 million euro / $ 296 million US).

“We are delighted to be awarded this contract by Southern. This is a significant project which emphasises the performance of Bombardier’s products in the UK,” said Paul Roberts, Chief Country Representative and President of Bombardier Transportation, Services UK and Passenger Fleet Management Service Line. “ The new trains will be manufactured in the UK with initial production commencing in the latter half of 2012.”

ELECTROSTAR-type trains have also been purchased by Transport for London to provide the "London Overground" services on East London Line and North London Railway and by National Express East Anglia to provide services to and from Stansted Airport.

Chris Burchell, Southern Managing Director said, “The contract with Bombardier supports our commitment to the Department for Transport’s High Level Output Specification for railways (HLOS) enabling us to provide additional capacity, performance and safety to all our passengers.”

“Following a competitive tender process, we found that the Bombardier solution could meet our challenging delivery timetable, was affordable and also offered compatibility with our existing fleet.”