Britain will delay a 7.5 billion- pound ($11.4 billion) contract to replace its main express-train fleet with a design from Hitachi Ltd. pending a review of whether the program offers sufficient value for money.

The plan to replace 30-year-old ‘High Speed Trains’ that operate out of London’s Paddington and Kings Cross stations will be put on hold until after a general election that must be held by June 3, Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis said Thursday.

“There has been a reduction in the capacity of the debt market to support the transaction as originally envisaged, and passenger growth has also slowed,” Adonis said in a statement. The review will examine the contract and look at alternatives.

Agility Trains, a group comprising Hitachi and John Laing Plc, was selected last February as preferred bidder for the contract, with initial deliveries slated for 2013. The 125 mile- per-hour trains would link London with cities including Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds and Newcastle upon Tyne.

Final negotiations with Tokyo-based Hitachi would not have been completed until mid-March at the earliest, and the contract would run for 30 years, making it inappropriate to commit to the order so close to an election, Thursday’s statement said.

Agility is “disappointed” that the program will be delayed, the group said in a statement on its Web site.

“We will continue our ambitious planning for production and maintenance facilities in the U.K. to support the program in anticipation of concluding the contract under the next Parliament,” it said.

The program will also need modifying to allow for electrification of the Great Western main line out of Paddington from 2016, Adonis said. Hitachi’s proposal would provide a mix of diesel, electric and hybrid versions of the same model to permit operation both under electric wires and on more remote, diesel-only tracks in locations such as Cornwall and west Wales. (Bloomberg)