The Class 800 Story - It’s a Cracker! This story is not one of just today’s problems. Indeed, it is a story that has been fraught with problems and hiccups for more than 15 years. Without wishing to bring politics into this story, which is already complicated enough, this is a story that began in the last days of the last Labour government when it launched with a great fanfare, the Intercity Express Programme (IEP) at a cost, then, of £7.5 billion.
The Initial Programme
This programme was an initiative of the Department of Transport, going back to 2005 and 2007, to replace the ageing InterCity 125 and 225 fleets on the East Coast Main Line and the Great Western Main Lines. On 16 November 2007, the Department for Transport (DfT) issued its IEP Invitation to Tender to three shortlisted entities: Alstom-Barclays Rail Group; Express Rail Alliance (Bombardier, Siemens, Angel Trains and Babcock & Brown); and Hitachi Europe. After Alstom withdrew from the bidding in February 2008, Barclays Private Equity re-entered the project on 26 June 2008, four days before the end of the bidding process, as a partner of Hitachi and John Laing, in Agility Trains Ltd. Lord Adonis selected Agility Trains as the preferred bidder for the IEP on 12 February 2009. The first trains, Hitachi’s A-train family, classed as Class 800 electro-diesel units and Class 801 electric multiple units, were scheduled to come on track in 2013. The value of the contract at that time was estimated at £7.5 billion. Initial estimates were for an order of between 500 and 2,000 vehicles. The decision was criticised for not awarding the contract to the Bombardier/Siemens offer which was expected to have resulted in work for Bombardier's Derby factory. The DfT was also accused of 'spin' in describing the Agility trains consortium as a 'British led consortium’ and Hitachi's manufacturing plans attracted concern for reasons such as balance of payments issues, the Japanese domestic railway market being largely closed to foreign entrants, and the extent to which jobs would be safeguarded or created in the UK. In addition to replacing trains on the ECML and
GWML, a role was found for the design to replace other 'intercity' trains such as on long distance services from London to places including Cambridge, Oxford, Hull, and Weston-Super-Mare
The 800 Class Units
In the initial specifications of November 2007, there were to be three versions: • An electrically set powered by 25kV Hz overhead line. • A self-powered version • A bi-mode version. In the specification, the maximum train length was to be 312m and the minimum (half-length) 130m. Trainsets were to be available in half-length, full-length (260 m), or intermediate-length versions, with the ability to lengthen and shorten trains in a time which would minimise that spent out of service. Also specified was the ability for multiple working within any vehicle of the class (two units), with the time taken to couple or uncouple being 180 seconds or better and the ability convert a bi-mode or selfpowered train to an electrically powered version in the future. Bi-mode trains were required to be able to switch between power sources both while stationary and at speed. AWS, TPWS signalling was to be fitted dependent on route as well as ETCS Level 2 equipment. The tender contained proposals for trains to enter service at the beginning of 2013, with complete introduction in the first phase on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) by late 2016 and on the Great Western Main Line (GWML) by 2017. The trains were to be used on both, with, additioanlly, possible use on the southern part of the West Coast Main Line (WCML), the Fen Line, and other long distance intercity services. Phase 1 of the tender specified an operational fleet of 24 full- and 13 half-length electric, and 10 full- and 12 half-length trains for the ECML, 24 fulllength trains (self-powered), and 38 half-length bimode trains for the GWML. Additional trains were expected for Phase 2 of the order: around 15 full-, 14 half-, and 10 intermediate-length trains for the ECML, WCML, GWML and Cross Country routes, as
The GWR (left) and LNER Azuma (right) units
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GREAT WESTERN STAR MAGAZINE
Spring 2021
