Improved trains are on track for first journeys
NEW, bigger and eventually faster trains on the Great Western Mainline between south Wales and London will be pressed into service for the first time today.
The up-to-125mph first bi-mode Class 800 train, of which 57 have been commissioned, will run on the Monday morning 6am Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington service.
On the first journey will be Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns, who will then see the train depart on its first scheduled service to south Wales with the 8.15am to Cardiff Central.
The full-time savings promised will only be realised when work electrifying the line from Paddington reaches Cardiff, which is expected late next year or early in 2019.
At the moment the trains will only be in electric mode between Maidenhead and Paddington – but this is expected to have extended westward to reach Didcot by January.
But once electrification is completed the new fleet will shave nearly 15 minutes off journey times from Swansea and Cardiff to London.
So on the fastest journeys, times will be:
Swansea to London: two hours and 41 minutes.
Cardiff to London: one hour and 45 minutes.
Built by Japanese firm Hitachi at a factory in the north of England, all 57 trains will be operational on the Great Western Mainline (GWML) by December next year.
They will be operated by the current franchise holder for the line, Great Western Railway, as part of the Intercity Express Programme (IEP), which by 2020 will also see bi-mode trains pressed into service on the East Coast Mainline (ECML) and TransPennine Express routes.
They will not be as operationally or environmentally efficient as they would had new all-electric rolling stock been commissioned on a fully electrified line to Swansea.
But it is fair to say they will be far better on both counts compared to the ageing diesel high-speed trains (HST) from Paddington to south Wales.
They will also have the latest RollsRoyce MTU engines fitted, which are better for the environment.
Lighter than HST trains, they can spread their power more evenly across the track, so reducing repair costs. The wear per mile caused by an IEP train is 56% less than a HST.
The IEP fleet will offer up to 24% more seats for passengers compared to the existing fleet – with up to 652 seats (72 in first class) for every full-length train, which is 159 more than the HST trains.
Seating will be maximised by having longer carriages – some 26m compared to 23m for HSTs.
Seats will also have more leg room and personal space for laptops.
The overhead racks will be deeper and transparent, making it easier for passengers to see their possessions.
And there will also be extra storage capacity at floor level, with more stacks at carriage ends.
The toilets will be bigger than HSTs, with wheelchair access. They will also be fitted with baby-changing facilities.
The trains will be fitted with onboard servers that can exchange data using 3G, 4G and high-speed Wi-Fi connections.
There will also better internal and external display screens that provide passengers with real-time information about their journeys.
Modern seat reservation screens will also make finding a seat simpler for passengers.
Screens above every seat will light up either green or red depending on availability and update themselves during the journey.
The train operating companies will cover the cost through passenger fares.
However, the whole IEP programme costs £5.7bn.
That includes 122 trains for both the GWML and the ECML, 27.5 years of maintenance and the construction of new depots along the length of both lines.