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British Rail Class 805

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British Rail Class 805
Evero
805005 at Crewe in 2023
The interior of 805005 in coach A, on the first day of passenger service.
Standard class interior of a Class 805 unit
In service2 June 2024 - present[1]
ManufacturerHitachi Rail
Built at
Family nameA-train
ReplacedClass 221 (Avanti West Coast)
Constructed2021–present
Number built13[3]
Number in service6[3]
Formation5 cars per unit
Fleet numbers805001–805013[4]
Capacity299 seats (25 first-class, 274 standard),[5] and 2 wheelchair spaces[6]
OwnersRock Rail
OperatorsAvanti West Coast
DepotsOxley (Wolverhampton)
Lines served
Specifications
Car body constructionAluminium[7]
Car length26 m (85 ft 4 in)
Maximum speed125 mph (200 km/h)[8]
Engine type4-stroke V12 turbo-diesel
Electric system(s)Overhead line, 25 kV 50 Hz AC
Current collector(s)Pantograph
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
First class interior of a Class 805 unit

The British Rail Class 805 Evero is a type of bi-mode multiple unit built by Hitachi Rail for Avanti West Coast. Based on the Hitachi A-train design, 13 five-car units were built to replace Class 221s on services between London Euston, Birmingham New Street and stations on the North Wales Coast lines. Their introduction will allow the elimination of long-distance diesel working on electrified routes.[9]

History

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In December 2019, Avanti West Coast placed an order for 13 five-car bi-mode units to replace its Class 221 fleet, along with 10 Class 807 electric units, as part of £350 million contract with Hitachi Rail.[10] All were originally scheduled to be in service by 2023. Financing of this rolling stock was handled by Rock Rail West Coast, a joint venture between Rock Rail and Standard Life Aberdeen.[11] The trains will be maintained by a joint team of Alstom and Hitachi staff, alongside Class 807s, at Oxley depot near Wolverhampton.

Passenger facilities promised include free Wi-Fi, at-seat wireless inductive charging for electronic devices, 230 V sockets and USB sockets, a catering offer and a real-time passenger information system that can advise of connecting rail services.[12]

In June 2022, static testing commenced at Newton Aycliffe and dynamic testing followed in November.[13][14] Main line testing of the Class 805 commenced in February 2023,[15] while the type's introduction into service originally planned for later that same year.[16] However, this was put back to Summer 2024.[17] On 2 June 2024, the Class 805 entered regular service.[1]

In August 2024, the Office of Road and Rail (ORR) issued an improvement notice to Avanti West Coast regarding the operation of the newly-introduced Class 805 fleet, having determined its lack of an automatic speed supervision system (which was present on the preceding Class 221 fleet) to be in breach of legislation. Compliance with the improvement notice would require all Class 805s to be retrofitted with some manner of continuous speed supervision; if this functionality necessitates the installation of additional hardware, such work could be quite costly to impliment. In response, Avanti West Coast filed an appeal against the improvement notice.[18]

Fleet details

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Class Operator Qty. Year built Cars per unit Unit nos.
805 Avanti West Coast 13 2021–present 5 805001–805013

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to British Rail Class 805.
  1. ^ a b @todaysrailways (2 June 2024). "Welcome to Evero! @AvantiWestCoast has branded its new Hitachi Class 805/807 units "Evero". Six Class 805s are in service today on the Euston-Chester/Holyhead/Wrexham routes - 805001/004/008/009/011/012" (Tweet). Retrieved 2 June 2024 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Holden, Michael (3 July 2020). "First shells for Avanti West Coast Class 805s arrive in UK". RailAdvent. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Avanti Introduces its Evero bi-mode fleet into service". News. Railways Illustrated. No. 258. August 2024. pp. 8–9.
  4. ^ Clinnick, Richard (9 June 2020). "Avanti confirms class numbers for Hitachi train order". Rail Magazine. Bauer Consumer Media Ltd. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  5. ^ Lancefield, Neil (3 June 2024). "New trains boost capacity on one of the UK's busiest rail routes". The Independent. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Evero". www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  7. ^ Wordsworth, Nigel (4 July 2020). "First bodyshells for Avanti West Coast's new trains arrive in the UK". Rail Insider. Rail Business Daily. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  8. ^ "Speed limiters for Hitachi fleets". Traction & Stock. The Railway Magazine. Vol. 168, no. 1457. August 2022. p. 92.
  9. ^ Hewitt, Sam (7 January 2020). "Hitachi wins £350million order for new West Coast trains". The Railway Hub. Mortons Media Group. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  10. ^ "Avanti West Coast - What's in Store". Avanti West Coast. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  11. ^ "Rock Rail and ASI close latest UK rolling stock deal". Rock Infrastructure. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  12. ^ "First Trenitalia chooses Hitachi Rail to build new intercity trains for Avanti West Coast". Hitachi Rail UK. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  13. ^ "Static testing begins on Avanti West Coast's new train fleet". 13 June 2022.
  14. ^ May, Tiana (17 November 2022). "Dynamic Testing Begins on Avanti West Coast's Fleet of Hitachi Trains". Railway-News.
  15. ^ "West Coast Main Line electro-diesels on test". Railway Gazette International. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  16. ^ Emmett, Conrad (13 July 2022). "Avanti's new 805 train pictured". railbusinessdaily.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  17. ^ "'805' Introduction Delay". In Brief. Rail Express. No. 332. January 2024. p. 9.
  18. ^ Shirres, David (17 October 2024). "The curious case of the Class 805 improvement notice". railengineer.co.uk.
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