Azuma production to start at Newton Aycliffe
VEHICLES for Hitachi’s first LNER Azuma to be assembled at Newton Aycliffe have started to arrive at the County Durham site.
Deliveries for nine-car bi-mode 800102 began on July 9. The bodyshells are fabricated in Kasado (Japan) before being shipped to the UK for assembly.
Hitachi spokesman Nina Harding confirmed that Azuma production would start in July at the site (as this issue of RAIL went to press). The trains will enter traffic from next year.
LNER Azumas already in the UK are all products of Kasado, with 800101 having arrived in 2015. Others in the UK are 800103/ 105/107, 800201/202, 801101/ 102, 801201. The Class 800s are bi-mode trains, with the ‘800/1s’ nine-car sets and the ‘800/2s’ five-car. The Class 801s are electric multiple units, with ‘801/1s’ the five-car and ‘801/2s’ the nine-car trains.
They are due to enter traffic with LNER from December 4, with driver and crew training under way. The first routes served will be to Hull and Leeds.
Azumas from Japan will be 800102/104/106/108-113, 800203-210, 801103-112, 801202-230.
For Great Western Railway’s Intercity Express Trains, there are only five nine-car Class 800/3s still being assembled at Newton Aycliffe (800301/318-321), while a further four (800314-800317) are undergoing testing at the site.
Hitachi has moved 800309/310/ 313 to Doncaster Carr for testing and commissioning. They join 800311/312 that were delivered direct to the south Yorkshire depot.
GWR has 800304-800308 in traffic, while 800302/303 are being used for testing purposes.
As for the five-car IETs, GWR has still to put 800001-800004 into traffic. The five-car pre-series trains were used for testing, although 800001 has been vinyled and sent to North Pole, while 800002 remains at Doncaster Carr.
The other two sets (800003/004) are used by Hitachi to test upgrades planned for the ‘800s’, but will enter traffic later this year.