British Rail Class 800
The British Rail Class 800, branded as the Intercity Express Train by Great Western Railway and Azuma by London North Eastern Railway, 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 variant, as part of the Intercity Express Programme to procure replacements for the InterCity 125 and InterCity 225 fleets of high speed trains. 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. Similar bi-mode units have also been produced by Hitachi as Classes,, and.
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.
Background
As part of the UK Government's Intercity Express Programme, the Class 800 units were built as partial replacements for the InterCity 125 trains, which at the time operated services on the Great Western Main Line and the East Coast Main Line, as well as the InterCity 225 trains, which currently operate services on the East Coast Main Line. The scheme drew heavily upon the preceding British Rail Class 395 high speed trains produced for Southeastern. A total of 80 train sets have been constructed, comprising 36 five-car and 21 nine-car units intended for operation with Great Western Railway, along with 10 five-car and 13 nine-car with London North Eastern Railway.In March 2016, Virgin Trains East Coast announced that its trains would carry the brand name Azuma, a Japanese word for "East". During June 2016, GWR announced that its trains would be known as Intercity Express Trains. However, due to the early demise of Virgin Trains East Coast, they would not operate the new trains, which entered service with successor London North Eastern Railway. Even so, the Azuma brand has been retained by LNER.
In July 2016, it was revealed that GWR's intended fleet of units were to be converted from pure EMU to bi-mode due to delays in the electrification. Subsequently, these were reclassified as Class 800/3. As a part of this reconfiguration, the original fuel tanks were replaced with larger capacity tanks.
Design
The Class 800 train is a high speed bi-modal multiple unit. The traction system comprises electric motors that are alternatively capable of drawing power from electrified overhead lines where available, or of using electricity produced by onboard underfloor diesel generators when travelling beyond the current electrified network. As per the train specification, the changeover between modes can occur at line speed for minimal service impact. As part of the Great Western Main Line order was originally for Class 801s, all Great Western franchise units have the possibility to be converted to electric-only operation by removal of the diesel engines.Hitachi designed the rolling stock for conformance with the latest European standards as of 2014, including the Technical Specifications for Interoperability, and UK railway standards. A high level of flexibility was pursued in order to allow the type to be operated on numerous lines with different infrastructure, both in the present and the foreseeable future, such as variable passenger demand and the rollout of electrification. The front-end cars, which feature a collision safety structure compliant with the latest European standards, incorporate an automatic coupling system along with measures to reduce both air resistance and noise.
The driving cab of the Class 800 is provisioned with a variety of physical switches and monitors, the design of which is not only compliant with relevant standards at the time of design, but also shaped by feedback received from drivers as part of Human Factors engagement, in order to provide a usable and reliable cab design. The train crew are assisted by the Train Control and Management System, which runs on an ethernet-based communication system. Amongst other functions, it provides onboard information systems such as the seat reservation system, public address, and passenger information system, as well interfacing with the cab displays, on-train data recorder, and 3G/4G communications.
It has been outfitted to work with various signalling systems, including the European Train Control System level 2, which satisfies safety integrity level 4 requirements. For compatibility with legacy signalling systems, it is also provisioned with apparatus for the Train Protection & Warning System, Automatic Warning System, and Automatic Train Protection system. Train information can be shared between ETCS, TCMS, and the GSM-R wireless communication system to simplify data entry. The train communicates in realtime with wayside systems, transmitting from the data recorder and receiving timetables and seat allocation data, amongst other material. Location tracking via GPS is used to automatically control selective door operation, guide drivers in efficiently operating the train to best suit the route, and provide information to passengers.
The Class 800 is capable of driver-only operation when required, although virtually all services have a guard on board. One exception is the Oxford and Bedwyn services operated by GWR, where drivers use the in-cab monitors to close the doors without a guard. When a guard is on board, door releases are still controlled by the driver, while the guard is responsible for closing the doors using the control panels in the vestibule areas; the driver will then carry out a secondary check of the side of the train before departure using the in-cab monitors.
Traction and generator units
Despite their underfloor positioning, the generator units feature a V12 engine. Incorporated as a single package, the GU includes the diesel engine, generator, radiator, and other subsystems, such as exhaust cleaning measures compliant with the Stage IIIB European Union exhaust emission standard. Elements external to the GU include the traction converter, fuel tank, automated fire protection system, and braking. The auxiliary power system is powered directly from the direct current stage of the traction system. They are operated in parallel to provide greater redundancy. The power supply converter is designed to work with both sources of power, avoiding the need for a separate converter for each mode, thus reducing weight and complexity.The GU is installed on vibration-isolating mountings, and fitted with side-mounted cowls to reduce external noise. Heat management measures include thermal insulation around key areas such as cable ducts. According to Modern Railways magazine, the limited space available for the GUs is responsible for them being prone to overheating. It claimed that, on one day in summer 2018, "half the diagrammed units were out of action as engines shut down through overheating".
The Class 800 and Class 802 bi-mode are equipped with three GUs per five-car set and five GUs per nine-car set; a five-car set has a GU situated under vehicles 2/3/4 and a nine-car set has a GU situated under vehicles 2/3/5/7/8. In comparison, the electric-orientated Class 801 features a single GU for a five- to nine-car set, which provides emergency power for limited traction and auxiliaries if the power supply from the overhead line fails. By adding or removing GUs, a Class 800 can be converted into a Class 801 and vice versa.
Active limiters are present that prevent the train from exceeding its peak service speed of.
Introduction into service
The Class 800 trains came into service on the Great Western Main Line on 16 October 2017, under the brand name Intercity Express Train. Teething problems surfaced on the inaugural service, the train not only ran late but one of the carriages suffered an air conditioning unit failure that discharged water into the passenger area. Following further issues, the units were withdrawn from service on 19 October for the rest of the day, re-entering service during the next day.At one point, the type were due to enter service on the East Coast Main Line from December 2018. The launching operator on the East Coast became London North Eastern Railway following Virgin Trains' decision to return the franchise to the government; the introduction was postponed by six months on account of the train's electro-magnetic emissions, which had reportedly caused problems with signals and other elements of lineside equipment.
On 30 June 2016, GWR's test unit ran from Reading to London Paddington carrying invited dignitaries.
On 14 June 2017, GWR unit 800003 was named Queen Elizabeth II by the monarch herself in a ceremony held at Paddington Station. The Queen had arrived at Paddington on the unit, travelling from Slough on the 175th anniversary of the first ever train journey by a reigning monarch, made on the same route by Queen Victoria. The name is carried in the form of a decal, rather than the more traditional cast metal plate; the name Queen Victoria is borne on the other end of the unit.
On 15 May 2019, the first Class 800 came into service on the East Coast Main Line under the brand name 'Azuma'. The type was initially worked on Leeds, Hull, and Newark services. On 1 August 2019, the first Class 800 performed the Edinburgh to King's Cross run on the Flying Scotsman service.