Alstom says delivery has begun ahead of schedule and it will deliver 11 of the trains by May 2017, as stipulated in the contract. The remaining batch of 19 sets will be delivered between March 2018 and January 2019.

The 160km/h trains have capacity for 510 passengers and are intended to meet increasing demand for services in the region, with traffic projected to grow by 5-6% per year over the next few years.

The trains are built at Alstom’s plant in Salzgitter, Germany and the order with Alstom takes the total fleet size to 99 units.