Hull Trains’ Hitachi Class 802/3s being readied for November start

All five Class 802/3s for Hull Trains are in various stages of construction at Hitachi’s facility in Pistoia (Italy), and will be delivered by rail to Newton Aycliffe later this year.

The manufacturer is building five five-car bi-mode trains for the open access operator, which plans to put them into traffic from November at a rate of one train per week.

This will allow Hull Trains (HT) to dispense with the four Class 180s it currently uses (180109- 111/113), but which have proven unreliable in recent times. The operator was forced to cancel 199 services in October-December 2018 as a result of unavailable trains.

The £60 million fleet is being funded by Angel Trains. 802301802305 will be moved by rail across Europe, following the same path as their Great Western Railway and TransPennine Express classmates.

Training of staff on the East Coast Main Line is being carried out using TPE 802201/202, while type acceptance will follow on from the GWR and TPE ‘802s’. The ‘802/3s’ will require the same modifications that Hitachi plans for the Azumas, in respect of the inter-car cables that forced the delayed introduction of the LNER fleet ( RAIL 863).

HT gave local passengers a glimpse of the ‘802s’ on March 8, when TPE 802202 was displayed at Hull Paragon station. Managing Director Louise Cheeseman said: “We’ve been informing passengers about them for a while now, and so far have only been able to show artists’ impressions, followed by photographs of them being built.”

The ‘802/3s’ have 30% more seating capacity than the ‘180s’. HT also promises an improvement in reliability, with five trains available to cover three diagrams.

In the meantime, Cheeseman has described the High Speed Train hired from Great Western Railway as “worth its weight in gold”, as it has increased the current HT fleet to five. She confirmed to RAIL that negotiations are under way for a second HST to be leased from GWR.

“Last year was a difficult year for us, but we are in a much better position than we were this time last year,” she said.

“I can understand why some people have fallen out of love with Hull Trains recently.”

HULL TRAINS. On March 8, Hull Trains used TransPennine Express 802202 to showcase the type of train it will introduce from November. The Class 802/2 stands on the right, alongside 43010, which has been leased from Great Western Railway. On the left is an HT Class 180.