Alstom, Bombardier Transportation and Hitachi are among the groups competing for a £1.4 billion Government order for 380 Thameslink trains.

In bidding for the contract to be sole supplier of trains on the Bedford to Brighton service, the manufacturers will also be hoping to impress Transport for London, which will have to begin ordering rolling stock for the east-west Crossrail route in the next couple of years.

The Thameslink trains will run through St Pancras, Blackfriars and London Bridge. While the 1,100 carriages are introduced, platforms will be extended at Blackfriars, Farringdon and London Bridge. Ruth Kelly, Transport Secretary, said: “This will mean 14,500 more seats on some of the most overcrowded commuter routes into London, improving journeys for passengers on the line from Brighton to Bedford and other Thameslink routes.”

The £5.9 billion project will see the number of services running through Central London increased significantly and reduce the number of trains that terminate in the capital. The competition for the trains will lead to a shortlist of manufacturers being produced by the beginning of next year, with the final contract awarded in the summer. The first trains are scheduled to be available for testing in the autumn of 2011, with passenger services running in the spring of 2012.

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