Burges Salmon has joined a trio of City firms advising on the £1.5bn agreement between Angel Trains and French train manufacturer Alstom for new trains for the West coast mainline track.

Allen & Overy (A&O), Norton Rose and Denton Wilde Sapte as well as Burges Salmon all played integral roles on the deal, which will see Angel Trains purchase four new trains and lengthen 52 existing Pendolino trains for £1.5bn, which includes a 10-year maintenance package.

Burges Salmon advised Alstom on the deal, with rail chief Nick Olley taking the lead role on the transaction which will take the West Coast mainline fleet to 35 11-carriage trains.

A&O, meanwhile, took the lead role for longstanding client Angel Trains, fielding a team under transport counsel Russell Clifford with commercial and finance litigation partner Andrew Denny providing regulatory advice.

Norton Rose advised the Department for Transport under asset finance partner Tom Johnson.

The existing trains are run by Virgin West Coast, which turned to longterm adviser Dentons where the team included energy and infrastructure chief Ian Hodgson, as well as energy and infrastructure partner Dominic Spacie, finance partner Greg Khan and real estate partner Virginia Glastonbury.

Clifford said: "With the ongoing credit crunch, it is a big investment in new trains and shows continuing investment by Angel Trains and the Department for Transport – that is significant."

Olley said: "This major transaction will bring much-needed additional capacity to the West Coast main line."