British train
InterCity 225
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Specifications
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Configuration:
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?
UIC
| Bo′Bo′+2′2′+...+2′2′+2′2′
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Length
| 245.23 m (804 ft 7 in)
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Performance figures
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Maximum speed
| 125 mph (201 km/h)
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Power output
| 6,300 horsepower (4.7 MW)
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Career
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Operators
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Disposition
| In service
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The
InterCity 225
is an electric
push-pull
high speed train
in the
United Kingdom
, comprising a
Class 91
electric locomotive
, nine
Mark 4 coaches
and a
Driving Van Trailer
(DVT). The Class 91 locomotives were built by
British Rail Engineering Limited
's
Crewe Works
as a spin-off from the
Advanced Passenger Train
project,
[3]
[4]
which was abandoned during the 1980s, whilst the coaches and DVT were constructed by
Metro-Cammell
in
Birmingham
and
Breda
(under sub-contract) in
Italy
, again borrowing heavily from the Advanced Passenger Train. The trains were designed to operate at up to 140 mph (225 km/h) in regular service, but are limited to 125 mph (200 km/h) principally due to a lack of
cab signalling
and the limitations of the current
overhead line equipment
. They were introduced into service between 1989 and 1991 for intercity services on the
East Coast Main Line
(ECML) from
London King's Cross
to
Leeds
,
York
and
Edinburgh
.
History
[
edit
]
Background
[
edit
]
The origin of the InterCity 225 is closely associated with the
East Coast Main Line
(ECML) that it has been primarily operated upon. During the 1950s,
British Rail
had considered electrification of the ECML to be of equal importance to the
West Coast Main Line
(WCML), but various political factors led to the envisioned electrification programme being delayed for decades; as an alternative, high-speed diesel traction, including the
Deltic
and
InterCity 125
, was introduced upon the route during the 1960s and 1970s.
[5]
During the 1970s, a working group of British Rail and
Department for Transport
officials determined that, out of all options for further electrification, the ECML represented the best value by far. Its in-house forecasts determined that increases in revenue and considerable reductions in energy and maintenance costs would occur by electrifying the line.
[6]
Accordingly, between 1976 and 1991, the ECML was electrified with
25 kV AC
overhead lines
. The electrification was installed in two phases: The first phase between London (King's Cross) and
Hitchin
(including the
Hertford Loop Line
) was carried out between 1976 and 1978 as the
Great Northern Suburban Electrification Project
, using Mk.3A equipment,
[7]
covering 30 miles in total.
[6]
[5]
In 1984, the second phase commenced to electrify the Northern section to
Edinburgh
and
Leeds
. During the late 1980s, the programme was claimed to be the longest construction site in the world, spanning more than 250 miles (400 km).
[6]
During 1989, the InterCity 225 was officially introduced to revenue service.
[8]
[9]
That same year, the ECML had been energised through to
York
;
[6]
two years later, electrification had reached Edinburgh, allowing electric services to begin on 8 July 1991, eight weeks later than scheduled. The ECML electrification programme was completed at a cost of £344.4 million (equivalent to £1,468 million in 2023), a minor overrun against its authorised expenditure of £331.9 million. 40 per cent of the total cost was on new traction and rolling stock and 60 per cent for the electrification of the line.
[6]
Options and selection
[
edit
]
The electrification of the ECML necessitated the procurement of new high speed electric traction. The options and requirements for this trainset were hotly deliberated for a number of years. On 7 June 1978, the electric-powered prototype
Advanced Passenger Train
(APT) was unveiled; it was at one point intended for the APT to be the next major intercity express train.
[10]
However, due to various factors including technical issues, the APT programme was curtailed during the summer of 1989. Shortly thereafter, two alternative options were explored, an electrified version of the
InterCity 125
(known as the
HST-E
), and the
Class 89
mixed-traffic locomotive; these were both intended to a peak service speed of 125 mph.
[11]
Some officials within British Rail pushed for more demanding requirements for the future Intercity trainset; reportedly, BR's Director of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (M&EE) was a strong proponent for increasing the top speed to 140 mph.
[11]
To facilitate this,
tilting train
technologies developed for the APT were explored. While BR's board had approved the ordering of a single Class 89 as a prototype, the Strategy Committee queried why the type had been favoured over a proposed 80-tonne Bo-Bo locomotive.
[11]
While the Class 89 was thought to be a low-risk option for multi-purpose traction, it offered little advantage over the existing
Class 87
in terms of speed. At the time, the 1950s era
Class 81
and
Class 85
electric locomotives were nearing the end of their viable service lives and were quite unreliable, but their withdrawal was effectively ruled out by a national shortage of newer electric traction, in part caused by the APT's cancellation.
[11]
A key advantage of the InterCity 225 concept over a Class 89-hauled consist was the lower weight of the former, resulting in less slippage and greater acceleration over the latter.
[11]
Appraisals also determined that the Class 89 was comparatively inferior in financial terms, in part due to the InterCity 225's prospective compatibility with WCML traction, reducing its development costs. A further cost-saving measure was the decision to base the InterCity 225's technologies on the APT, BR reportedly stated that it had derived 90% of the former's engineering from the latter.
[11]
Thus, the study group recommended that the InterCity 225 be pursued as the preferred option, while the Class 89 and HST-E initiatives serve as back-ups. Despite this, the HST-E effort was promptly aborted, while
Brush Traction
decided to de-prioritise work on the Class 89 after learning that it was unlikely to lead to volume production.
[11]
By spring 1984, favour was being given towards the adoption of a tilting carriage, tentatively designated as the Mk 4; this was viewed as superior to the existing Mk 3 and enabled a single design to be shared between the ECML and WCML.
[11]
At one point, it was envisaged that the InterCity 225 would be ubiquitous, even potentially having the capability built into it to operate over the southern third-rail network and within the
Channel Tunnel
; by mid 1984, such fanciful ideas were curtailed. Furthermore, it was decided to reduce the freight haulage capabilities of the InterCity 225, as traction for this sector was instead intended to be served via other platforms.
[11]
The emergence of the
Class 90
, derived from the existing
Class 87
, somewhat reduced the pressure for the InterCity 225, reducing the prospective numbers to be built of the latter. Without tilting carriages, it had little speed advantage over the Class 90 on the WCML.
[11]
It was decided to hold a competitive
tender
for the InterCity 225 programme; this measure was aimed at avoiding the difficulties experienced with the APT programme.
[11]
A pre-qualification document was formalised, in which various requirements for the type were laid out; these included the need to perform mixed-traffic duties (day and night passenger, parcel and mail, and overnight heavy freight services), the haulage of both tilting and conventional rolling stock, a top speed of 225 km/h, a maximum cant deficiency of 9° without the provision of tilt equipment, and that the maximum unsprung mass could not exceed 1.8 tonnes. Furthermore, BR stated its readiness to sub-contract with the successful bidder for the supply of technical information, advice and testing.
[11]
The prequalification document was issued to
BREL
, Brush Traction and the
General Electric Company
(GEC), as well as the French firm
Alstom
and Germany's
Krauss Maffei
. The inclusion of foreign manufacturers was in part due to the limited domestic experience with trainsets capable of such high top speeds.
[11]
A total of three companies,
ASEA
, Brush Traction and GEC, submitted tenders for the design and construction of the Class 91 locomotive.
[12]
On 14 February 1985, the BR board approved the substitution of the Class 91 for Class 89 for the ECML programme.
[11]
The tendering process was relatively complex, but a decisive move appeared to have been GEC's offer of a sub-contracting arrangement to BREL for the construction of the locomotive's mechanical elements. It would be GEC's submission that would be selected as the winner; after which a contract for the construction of 31 Class 91 locomotives, along with an option for 25 more for the WCML, was awarded during February 1986.
[6]
[11]
Shortly thereafter, BREL established a production line for the type at its
Crewe Works
.
[11]
Operations
[
edit
]
The InterCity 225 entered service with
InterCity
on the
East Coast Main Line
(ECML) in 1989.
[9]
In service, the InterCity 225 sets were used alongside other rolling stock, including
Class 90
locomotives and
Class 317
electric multiple units. The displaced diesel trains were reallocated predominantly to the
Midland Main Line
.
[6]
The InterCity 225's introduction correlated with a significant increase in passenger numbers using the ECML within two years; one station recorded a 58 per cent increase in passengers.
[6]
The InterCity 225 was designed to achieve a peak service speed of 140 mph (225 km/h); during a test run in 1989 on
Stoke Bank
between
Peterborough
and
Grantham
, an InterCity 225 was recorded at a speed of 162 mph (260.7 km/h).
[9]
Its high speed capabilities were again demonstrated via a 3hr 29mins non-stop run between London and Edinburgh on 26 September 1991.
[6]
British regulations have since required
in-cab signalling
on any train running at speeds above 125 mph (201 km/h) preventing such speeds from being legally attained in regular service.
[13]
Thus, except on
High Speed 1
, which is equipped with
cab signalling
,
British signalling
does not allow any train, including the InterCity 225, to exceed 125 mph (201 km/h) in regular service, due to the impracticality of correctly observing lineside signals at high speed.
The InterCity 225 has also operated on the
West Coast Main Line
(WCML). In April 1992, one trainset achieved a new speed record of two hours, eight minutes between
Manchester
and
London Euston
, shaving 11 minutes off the 1966 record.
[14]
During 1993, trials were operated to
Liverpool
and Manchester in connection with the
InterCity 250
project.
[15]
In 1996, as part of the
privatisation of British Rail
, all InterCity 225s were sold to
Eversholt Rail Group
. Since then, the trains have been leased to all operators of the
InterCity East Coast
franchise, which is presently operated by
London North Eastern Railway
. Between 2000 and 2005, with support from
GNER
,
Bombardier Transportation
,
HSBC Rail
funded a complete rebuilding and refurbishment programme for both the Class 91 and Mark 4 coaches, called
Project Mallard
.
[16]
In July 2013, it was confirmed that the InterCity 225 fleet would be replaced as part of the
Intercity Express Programme
, a
Department for Transport
initiative to replace InterCity 125s and InterCity 225s on the East Coast Main Line and the
Great Western Main Line
.
[17]
Introduced in the programme were
Class 800
bi-mode and
Class 801
electric trains from the
Hitachi A-train
family, of which the ECML sets were nicknamed
Azuma
after the Japanese word for "East".
During their operation with
Virgin Trains East Coast
(VTEC) in 2016, there were plans to retain six to eight sets with shorter rakes for a new London to Edinburgh service, even with the
Azuma
takeover.
[18]
[
citation needed
]
In June 2018,
London North Eastern Railway
(LNER) inherited all 31 InterCity 225 sets from VTEC as part of the franchise. At this point, LNER had no intentions to retain any of the InterCity 225 sets due to high maintenance costs on the fleet.
[19]
The first Class 800 entered service with LNER on 15 May 2019, allowing for the first withdrawal of an InterCity 225 set.
[20]
[21]
The withdrawals have gradually continued as more of the new
Azuma
trains entered service and at the beginning of 2020, it was planned that the final InterCity 225 sets would leave LNER's fleet by June 2020.
[22]
However, LNER decided to retain seven sets until 2023 to allow for services to be increased in December 2021.
[23]
From September 2020, they ceased operating north of York.
[24]
With LNER returning the majority of their InterCity 225 sets to Eversholt Rail Group, it has been announced that other companies would be obtaining some of the Mark 4 carriages and Driving Van Trailers.
Transport For Wales
have leased twelve Mark 4 carriages to replace
Mark 3
coaches on its
Premier Service
.
[25]
Prospective operator
Grand Union
is proposing to operate InterCity 225s on
London Paddington
to
Cardiff Central
services from December 2020 and London Euston to
Stirling
services from May 2021.
[26]
[27]
From May 2020,
Grand Central
were planning to begin using Mark 4 carriages on its new
London Euston
to
Blackpool North
services with
Class 90
locomotives hauling six-carriage sets.
[28]
However, these plans were subsequently axed as part of Grand Central's recovery plan due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
.
[29]
After losing the
West Coast Partnership
franchise,
Virgin Rail Group
had proposed using InterCity 225s on an open access service from London Euston to
Liverpool
.
[30]
In September 2020,
Eversholt Rail Group
and
London North Eastern Railway
extended their lease of seven IC225 sets, including ten Class 91 locomotives, to summer 2023, with an option to extend to summer 2024. It will be overhauled at the Wabtec Doncaster plant.
[31]
[32]
At the end of service on 15 January 2021, the remaining serviceable InterCity 225 sets went into storage temporarily as part of the East Coast Upgrade.
[33]
Originally, the plan was to return the sets to service for 7 June 2021 but instead the first set re-entered service on 11 May 2021 due to a number of
Class 800
Azuma
sets having to be taken out of service.
[34]
Capacity and formation
[
edit
]
The formation of the InterCity 225 sets is below:
[35]
- Class 91 Electric Locomotive (North End)
- Coach B ? Standard Class ? 76 Seats ? WC
- Coach C ? Standard Class ? 76 Seats ? WC
- Coach D ? Standard Class ? 76 Seats ? WC
- Coach E ? Standard Class ? 76 Seats ? WC
- Coach F ? Standard Class ? 72 Seats ? Accessible Toilet
- Coach H ? Standard Class/Kitchen ? 30 Seats ? WC
- Coach K ? First Class ? 43 Seats ? WC + 2 Crew Areas
- Coach L ? First Class ? 40 Seats ? Accessible Toilet
- Coach M ? First Class ? 46 Seats ? WC
- Coach P - Driving Van Trailer (London End)
The total numbers of seats are 406 Standard and 129 First, giving the train an overall capacity of 535 seats.
Scale models
[
edit
]
One of the first models of the IC225 in the UK was by
Hornby Railways
, after previously releasing an OO Gauge BR Class 91 locomotive in 1988.
[36]
In 1990 Hornby Railways launched its first OO Gauge models of BR MK4 rolling coach stock, consisting of a BR Mk4 Driving Van Trailer (DVT), three BR MK4 coaches, a Tourist Open Coach (TSO), a First Open Coach (FO), and a Catering Service Car (RFM).
[37]
Hornby Railways launched its first full model version containing a BR Class 91 locomotive, a BR MK4 Driving Van Trailer (DVT), and two MK4 Tourist Open Coaches as a complete train set in 1991.
[38]
Gallery
[
edit
]
Exterior
[
edit
]
-
InterCity 225 set BR Class 91 91018 "Robert Louis Stevenson" at Doncaster with a MK4 coach in original BR InterCity Swallow livery.
-
An InterCity 225 at speed on the East Coast Main Line in Nottinghamshire, view on a Class 91 locomotive
-
A GNER liveried Mark IV standard coach
-
A GNER liveried Mark IV RSM coach
-
VTEC
InterCity 225 arrives into London Kings Cross, view on a
driving van trailer
Interior
[
edit
]
-
First Class interior on a
VTEC
InterCity 225 set
-
The interior of a refurbished GNER Mark IV TSOE vehicle, showing the small area at the rear of the carriage formerly dedicated for the use of smoking passengers (now no longer permitted on any British trains)
-
The interior of a refurbished GNER Mark IV TSO vehicle
-
The interior of a refurbished GNER Mark IV RSM vehicle, showing the new Standard Class saloon
-
The interior of a refurbished GNER Mark IV RSM vehicle, showing the Cafe-Bar buffet counter
References
[
edit
]
- ^
thejunction.org.uk,
rolling stock: class 91
, Retrieved on 04-07-2007
- ^
"Oliver Keating,
The Inter-city 225
, Retrieved on 04-07-2007"
. Archived from
the original
on 17 June 2008
. Retrieved
4 July
2007
.
- ^
"The Design and Development of the Class 91 Locomotive", P J Donnison and G R West, Main Line Railway Electrification Conference 1989 - Proceedings of the Institute of Electrical Engineers, 1989.
- ^
"The design, manufacture and assembly of the British Rail Class 91, 25 kV 225 km/h locomotive", M L Broom and G W Smart, Proceedings of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers Vol. 205, 1990.
- ^
a
b
Stanton, Peter.
"ECML Power Supply Upgrade."
Rail Engineer
, 23 November 2017.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
Shirres, David.
"ECML: Electrification as it used to be"
. Rail Engineer. Archived from
the original
on 11 January 2018
. Retrieved
10 January
2018
.
- ^
"Your NEW Electric Railway, The Great Northern Suburban Electrification"
(PDF)
. British Railways. 1973
. Retrieved
18 March
2014
.
- ^
Semmens, P.W.B. (March 1991).
Electrifying the East Coast Route: Making of Britain's First 140m.p.h. Railway
. Patrick Stephens Ltd.
ISBN
978-0850599299
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Back to the future as history made with east coast rail icons"
. National Railway Museum. 24 April 2017
. Retrieved
10 January
2018
.
- ^
"First impressions of ATP-P".
Modern Railways
. Vol. 35, no. 359. Ian Allan. August 1978. pp. 354?358.
ISSN
0026-8356
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
"FROM THE ARCHIVES: Class 91s...promise unfulfilled"
. railmagazine.com. 27 July 2019.
- ^
Ford, Roger
(April 1988). "Managing Electra".
Modern Railways
.
ISSN
0026-8356
.
- ^
Heath, Don (August 1994). "Electrification of British Rail's East Coast Main Line".
Proceedings of the Institute of Civil Engineers (Transportation)
. Paper No. 105: 232.
- ^
New Record for West Coast Route
The Railway Magazine
issue 1094 June 1992 page 4
- ^
IC225 in West Coast Tests
The Railway Magazine
issue 1109 September 1993 page 8
- ^
"Bombardier opens refurbishment centre at Derby"
(PDF)
.
The Railway Herald
. Vol. 1, no. 13. 1 July 2005. p. 6. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 9 October 2011
. Retrieved
30 June
2011
.
Bombardier is also in the process of refurbishing GNER's Mark 4 fleet of coaches and DVTs, but this work which is now approaching completion will remain at the company's Horbury plant
- ^
2013-07-18T10:03:00+01:00.
"East Coast Main Line IEP train order confirmed"
.
Railway Gazette International
. Retrieved
6 October
2020
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
VTEC and FirstGroup granted East Coast Main Line paths
Railway Gazette International
12 May 2016
- ^
"More new trains on LNER wish list"
.
www.railmagazine.com
. Retrieved
29 January
2020
.
- ^
"Hitachi Azuma Enters Service for LNER"
.
Railway-News
. 16 May 2019
. Retrieved
29 January
2020
.
- ^
First LNER Mk4s taken to Worksop for storage
Rail
issue 880 5 June 2019 page 29
- ^
"FROM THE ARCHIVES: Traction transition: HST to Azuma"
.
www.railmagazine.com
. Retrieved
29 January
2020
.
- ^
Eversholt confirms IC225 LNER lease
Railways Illustrated
November 2020 page 8
- ^
Leeds and York only for LNER InterCity 225s
Railways Illustrated
September 2020 page 13
- ^
Service Improvements
Government of Wales
- ^
"Cardiff ? London open access plan - Railway Gazette"
. 22 June 2019. Archived from
the original
on 22 June 2019
. Retrieved
24 February
2020
.
- ^
"Grand Union London to Stirling application"
(PDF)
.
Office of Rail and Road
. 27 August 2019.
- ^
2020-02-20T16:48:00+00:00.
"Grand Central prepares to launch London ? Blackpool services"
.
Railway Gazette International
. Retrieved
24 February
2020
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
"Grand Central axes Blackpool North to London Euston route as plans are 'unfeasible'
"
.
RailAdvent
. 10 September 2020
. Retrieved
28 September
2020
.
- ^
Virgin proposes London-Liverpool open access service
Rail
issue 881 19 June 2019 page 16
- ^
IC225 Fleet Lease Extension and Overhaul
- Eversholt Rail Limited. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
- ^
LNER to retain 10 Class 91s up to 2023, as overhaul contracts awarded
- RailAdvent. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
- ^
Horne, David (15 January 2021).
"Last day in service for our speed record-breaking #Class91 locomotives today... for a while"
.
Twitter
.
- ^
"LNER reintroduces stored InterCity 225 trains into service"
.
Rail Technology Magazine
. Retrieved
12 May
2021
.
- ^
"Mallard Coach Layouts"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 9 November 2013.
- ^
"Class 91 Bo-Bo Electric Locomotive"
.
Hornby Railways Collector Guide
. Retrieved
31 January
2020
.
- ^
"Hornby 1990 Passenger Rolling Stock"
. Retrieved
31 January
2020
.
- ^
"1991 - InterCity 225 Express Train Set"
.
Hornby Railways Collector Guide
. Retrieved
31 January
2020
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
British Rail Class 91
at Wikimedia Commons
Media related to
British Rail Mk4 coaches
at Wikimedia Commons
Media related to
British Rail Mk4 DVT
at Wikimedia Commons