ALL existing trains on the Greater Anglia rail route will be replaced within the next four years.

Abellio, which was recently awarded the new nine-year franchise to run the network, starting later this month, has confirmed it has finalised two contracts worth nearly £1.5billion for more than 1,000 new carriages.

The carriages will be introduced to the route between spring 2019 and autumn 2020 and will eventually result in a fleet size ten per cent larger than today.

The total of 1,043 carriages will consist of 665 built by Bombardier in Derby and 378 built by Stadler in Switzerland.

A contract with Stadler, worth £600million, was finalised by Abellio today.

The 58 trains, totalling 378 carriages, will include air conditioning, wi-fi and power points.

Dominic Booth, managing director of Abellio UK, said: “Our ambitious plans for the new franchise are centred on the largest-ever privately-funded train procurement in the UK to give the people of East Anglia high quality trains as part of a transformation of the region’s railway.

"They will be the centrepiece of many other improvements including more frequent services, faster journeys and more capacity with 55 per cent more seats into London in the morning peak."

Dutch rail operator Abellio originally took on a short-term deal to run the East Anglian network in 2012, but it was selected earlier this year ahead of two other bidders to take on the long-term franchise.

The new deal will start on Sunday, October 16.