09.12.16
Hitachi unveils first UK-built Class 800 train
Hitachi Rail Europe has unveiled the first Intercity Express (IEP) train built in the UK during an event at its manufacturing facility in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham.
The train is one of the 122 Class 800s being built as part of the programme. The first of these was built in the company’s Japan facility, but the majority of the fleet will now be built domestically.
The event was attended by the transport secretary Chris Grayling, Northern Powerhouse minister Andrew Percy and Koji Tsuruoka, the ambassador of Japan in the UK, who were invited to view and board the first of the new IEP trains being built at the facility.
This first train leaving Hitachi’s UK production line marks a major milestone ahead of the introduction of IEP, the £7.5bn government programme designed to modernise travel between UK cities.
In a statement, Grayling said: “We are determined to take the big decisions for Britain and are investing record amounts to modernise the rail network, deliver better journeys for passengers and drive economic growth.
“This first train to roll out of Hitachi's new factory in Newton Aycliffe shows we are open for business and will provide a real economic boost to the north east, not only by providing jobs but also by investing in the skills needed to provide the transport network our country needs for the future.”
Percy also hailed the project’s implications for the Northern Powerhouse, which he said has created 187,000 jobs in the past year alone.
“The high-tech Hitachi trains produced here in the north east will create thousands more jobs along the line and help get the north firing on all cylinders,” he added.
The managing director of Hitachi Rail Europe, Karen Boswell, argued that the trains, which will also be maintained at the facility, are being built by a “proud workforce harnessing the best of Hitachi’s longstanding rail expertise”.
“As our new IEP trains become operational, they will bring UK rail travel firmly into the 21st century,” she continued. “Today's launch comes at an exciting time for UK rail and we welcome the government's recent commitment to further investment in rail infrastructure and the digitisation of Britain's railways.”
The first of Great Western Railway’s (GWR’s) Class 800 fleet took its maiden voyage in July this year, and has since undergone two test runs by Network Rail during a trip between Reading to Didcot.
Hitachi, whose projects director Andy Rogers spoke to RTM in August about the new trains, has also begun testing digital technology on the fleet.
By the end of the IEP, Hitachi will have supplied 122 Class 800s for passengers travelling on the Great Western and East Coast main lines, offering improved levels of capacity, reliability and comfort to passengers. Separately, it will also deliver 36 trains for GWR’s Devon and Cornwall routes, 19 for TransPennine Express, and five for Hull Trains as part of its jam-packed order book.
The managing director of GWR, Mark Hopwood, said that passengers can expect to see the trains operating from next summer and in regular timetable service by autumn.
“The new trains will provide a step change in passenger experience across the Great Western network and will result in more frequent and faster journeys and an increase in the number of seats available,” Hopwood argued. “These, and a range of further passenger benefits, will enable communities and businesses across the Great Western network to prosper.”
(Image: c. Paul Bigland)
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