First IETs Enter Service

Hitachi Class 800s have started passenger diagrams with Great Western Railway.

AN Intercity Express set entered service for the first time on October 16, when five-car bi-modes Nos. 800005+800006 formed the 1A03/06.00 Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington.

The event was marred by a 26 minute late start due to coupling issues between the sets, while during the journey an air conditioning failure resulted in water leaking into one of the vehicles. The switch to electric power also suffered due to a malfunction with the pantograph, with the train ultimately switching back to diesel power to complete the journey.

A second 10-car train formed of units Nos. 800008+800009 formed the first service from Paddington with the 1C03/07.00 to Temple Meads that day. This trip ran to plan, operating on electric power as far as the current wiring limit at Maidenhead, where a switch was made to diesel traction. The diagrams also take in a return trip from Paddington to Swansea.

Great Western Railway is due to receive a total of 369 Class 800 vehicles, which will be formed into 36 five-car and 21 nine-car sets. They will replace High Speed Trains on routes to Swansea and Bristol by early 2019. The original plan that the routes would be electrified has since been curtailed, with all units now being delivered as bimode trains to allow through trains to operate beyond the wiring boundaries at Cardiff and Chippenham.

VALUE FOR MONEY?

The need to replace the HST fleet was identified by the Strategic Rail Authority during its short existence in the early 2000s, and this led to the Department for Transport (DfT) taking authority for procurement.

The DfT negotiated the financing, but the procurement process ultimately led the National Audit Office to ask why the Government took this on without having any previous experience in the sector.