Prototype notes
The Class 390 EMUS are the principal express trains employed by Virgin Trains on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston, North West England and Scotland. They are part of the ‘Pendolino’ family of tilting trains developed by Fiat Ferroviaria/alstom. Richard Branson’s Virgin Group’s competitive offers for both the Intercity West Coast and Cross Country franchises included the total replacement of the existing fleet of Class 86, 87 and 90 locomotives and Mk 2 and Mk 3 coaches. North of Carlisle, the WCML is infamously twisty, so a condition of the new franchise was that the majority of the new fleet of trains must tilt. Two groups bid to construct Virgin’s planned fleet of tilting trains, with Alstom and Fiat Ferroviaria eventually signing the £1.2 billion contract in February 1999, with financing provided by rolling stock operating company Angel Trains. The deal, for 44 eight-car and nine ninecar sets (53 in total), also included the maintenance of the new fleet. They would be assembled at Alstom’s Washwood Heath plant in Birmingham, from ‘kits’ provided by Alstom’s Savigliano plant in northern Italy. A Pre-series ‘Pendolino Britannico’ was unveiled to the rail industry and press by Virgin and Angel Trains at Alstom’s Midlands Test Centre at Asfordby in July 2001. Two Pre-series trains were built, PS01 and PS02, with the latter named Red Revolution and utilised for demonstration runs. This included speeds of 125mph and up to six degrees of tilt with the train running at 110mph. By the time the first production Class 390 arrived at Euston station in April 2002, the West Coast Route Modernisation was in disarray. The complex moving block signalling system was cancelled, meaning a top speed of 125mph only, while the innovative TASS (Tilt Authorisation & Speed Supervision) system would be a year late in being commissioned. Having had to shelve its ambitious schedule for introduction, Virgin was at least able to meet its commitment to officially launch a ‘Pendolino’ into service ahead of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Set No. 390010 was given the honour and operated a special Birmingham International-manchester Piccadilly diagram from July 23-August 4, for which it was named Commonwealth Games 2002. Services to Glasgow Central started in 2004. It wasn’t until the autumn that the full 125mph timetable could be rolled out, celebrated with a record-breaking run between London and Manchester on September 20, when No. 390038 City of London completed the journey in just 1 hour and 53 minutes. By this point, 42 sets had been delivered. During construction it became obvious that additional capacity would be required, so from set No. 390035 all trains were delivered with an additional coach. The first 34 trains were then cycled through Longsight to gain their additional Standard Class vehicles. Despite the fleet of extended trains, within a few years Virgin was suffering capacity issues. In August 2008, a £255 million contract was awarded to provide four new 11-car trains along with 62 Standard Class coaches. This would allow 31 existing ‘Pendolinos’ to be lengthened to 11 cars. As Washwood Heath closed in 2004, all new vehicles would be constructed at Savigliano in Italy. The new 35-strong fleet of 11-car trains, delivered from December 2010, was classified 390/1. Lengthening of sets was completed in July 2013.