British Rail Class 800

British Rail Class 800 IET/Azuma
A Great Western Railway Class 800 at Norton Fitzwarren
The standard-class interior of a Great Western Railway Class 800 unit
The standard-class interior of a Great Western Railway Class 800 unit
In service16 October 2017 – present
ManufacturerHitachi Rail
Built at
Family nameA-train
Replaced
Constructed2014–2018
Entered service
  • 16 October 2017 (GWR)
  • 14 May 2019 (LNER)
Number built80
(36 × 800/0, 13 × 800/1, 10 × 800/2, 21 × 800/3)
Formation
  • 5 cars per 800/0 and 800/2 unit:
  • DPTS-MS-MS-MC-DPTF
  • 9 cars per 800/1 and 800/3 unit:
  • DPTS-MS-MS-TS-MS-TS-MC-MF-DPTF[1]
Fleet numbers
  • 800/0: 800001–800036
  • 800/1: 800101–800113
  • 800/2: 800201–800210
  • 800/3: 800301–800321
Capacity
  • 800/0: 326 seats
    (36 first class, 290 standard)
  • 800/1: 611 seats
    (101 first class, 510 standard)
  • 800/2: 302 seats
    (48 first class, 254 standard)
  • 800/3: 650 seats
    (70 first class, 580 standard)
OwnersAgility Trains[2]
Operators
Depots
Lines served
Specifications
Car body constructionAluminium
Train length
  • 5-car units: 129.7 m (425 ft 6 in)
  • 9-car units: 233.7 m (766 ft 9 in)[1]
Car length
  • Driving vehicles:
    25.850 m (84 ft 9.7 in)
  • Intermediate vehicles:
    26.000 m (85 ft 3.6 in)[1]
Width2.7 m (8 ft 10 in)
Doors
  • Single-leaf pocket sliding
  • (2 per side per car)
Maximum speed125 mph (200 km/h)[5]
Weight
  • 5-car units: 243 tonnes (239 long tons; 268 short tons)
  • 9-car units: 438 tonnes (431 long tons; 483 short tons)[6]
Axle load
  • Motor cars: 15 tonnes (14.8 long tons; 16.5 short tons)
  • Trailer cars: 13 tonnes (12.8 long tons; 14.3 short tons)[7]
Traction systemHitachi IGBT[1]
Prime mover(s)3 or 5 × MTU 12V 1600 R80L[8]
(3 per 5-car unit, 5 per 9-car unit)[1]
Engine typeV12 four-stroke turbo-diesel with SCR[9]
Displacement21 L (1,284 cu in) per engine[9]
Power output
  • Per engine:
  • GWR: 700 kW (940 hp)
  • LNER: 560 kW (750 hp)[note 1]
Acceleration0.7 m/s2 (1.6 mph/s)[1]
Deceleration
  • Service:
  • 1.0 m/s2 (2.2 mph/s)
  • Emergency:
  • 1.2 m/s2 (2.7 mph/s)[1]
Electric system(s)25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead
Current collector(s)Pantograph
UIC classification
  • 5-car units: 2′2′+Bo′Bo′+Bo′Bo′+Bo′Bo′+2′2′
  • 9-car units: 2′2′+Bo′Bo′+Bo′Bo′+2′2′+Bo′Bo′+2′2′+Bo′Bo′+Bo′Bo′+2′2′
Braking system(s)Electro-pneumatic (disc) and regenerative
Safety system(s)
Coupling systemDellner 10[12]
Multiple workingWithin subclass
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge

The British Rail Class 800, branded as the Intercity Express Train (IET) by Great Western Railway (GWR) and Azuma by London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a type of bi-mode multiple unit train built by Hitachi Rail for GWR and LNER. The type uses electric motors powered from overhead electric wires for traction, but also has diesel generators to enable trains to operate on unelectrified track. It is a part of the Hitachi AT300 product family.

The Class 800 was developed and produced, alongside an electric-only Class 801 variant, as part of the Intercity Express Programme (IEP) to procure replacements for the InterCity 125 and InterCity 225 fleets of high speed trains.[13][14] The trains were manufactured by Hitachi between 2014 and 2018, being assembled at Hitachi's Newton Aycliffe Manufacturing Facility using bodyshells shipped from the company's Kasado Works in Japan.[15] Similar bi-mode units have also been produced by Hitachi as Classes 802, 805, and 810.

The Class 800 trains came into service on the Great Western Main Line on 16 October 2017, while the first examples on the East Coast Main Line were put into service on 15 May 2019. Early operations have been troubled by fatigue cracking and corrosion on the aluminium vehicle body shells, particularly on the yaw dampers.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Rogers, Andrew; Robinson, Chris; Agatsuma, Koji; Iwasaki, Mitsuo; Inarida, Satoru; Yamamoto, Takahisa; Konishi, Kenta; Mochida, Toshihiko (2014). "Development of Class 800/801 High-speed Rolling Stock for UK Intercity Express Programme" (PDF). Hitachi Review. 63 (10): 646.
  2. ^ "GWR HSTs to go in December". Modern Railways. No. 892. January 2023. p. 98.
  3. ^ Hale, Robert (16 May 2017). "Rail watchdog welcomes news of hourly train services linking Worcestershire, Cotswolds and London". Malvern Gazette. Newsquest. Retrieved 18 January 2018. new InterCity Express Trains will provide us for the first time with a regular hourly service between Worcester and London
  4. ^ Abbott, James (February 2018). "Electrics reach Didcot". Modern Railways. Vol. 75, no. 833. Key Publishing. pp. 8–9. ISSN 0026-8356. ...and services on the Cotswold line
  5. ^ "Speed limiters for Hitachi fleets". Traction & Stock. The Railway Magazine. Vol. 168, no. 1457. August 2022. p. 92.
  6. ^ "Table 1: Inter City Express classes 800, 801 and 802" (PDF). RailEngineer. October 2017.
  7. ^ Ford, Roger (May 2015). "INFORMED SOURCES e-Preview". Informed Sources.
  8. ^ MTU Rail Power for the UK & Ireland (PDF). MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH. September 2018. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  9. ^ a b MTU Diesel Engine 12V 1600 for Railcar Applications (EU Stage IIIB) (PDF) (01/19 ed.). Friedrichshafen: Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG. 17 December 2020. 32310481. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  10. ^ Pritchard, Robert (February 2016). "The Future for Intercity Travel". Today's Railways. No. 170. Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing. pp. 40–43.
  11. ^ Fender, Keith (27 December 2018). "Maintaining the bi-modes". Modern Railways. Stamford: Key Publishing. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  12. ^ Pritchard, Robert (2021). British Railways Locomotives & Coaching Stock 2021. Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing. p. 390. ISBN 978-1-909431-86-7.
  13. ^ IEP Master Availability and Reliability Agreement - Schedule 1, Appendix A: Train Technical Specification, Issue 5 (PDF). Department for Transport. February 2013. IEP-TECH-REQ-35. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  14. ^ "AT300 - Intercity High Speed". London: Hitachi Rail. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  15. ^ "Government gives green light for more state-of-the-art intercity trains" (Press release). Department for Transport. 18 July 2013.


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