Британдық пойыз: InterCity 225 тарихы

British train

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, 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 in regular service, but are limited to 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 to , and Edinburgh.

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. 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. covering 30 miles in total. 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 mixed traffic locomotive; these were both intended to a peak service speed of 125 mph. 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. On 14 February 1985, the BR board approved the substitution of the Class 91 for Class 89 for the ECML programme. In service, the InterCity 225 sets were used alongside other rolling stock, including locomotives and electric multiple units. The displaced diesel trains were reallocated predominantly to the Midland Main Line. The InterCity 225 was designed to achieve a peak service speed of ; during a test run in 1989 on Stoke Bank between Peterborough and Grantham, an InterCity 225 was recorded at a speed of 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 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. During 1993, trials were operated to Liverpool and Manchester in connection with the InterCity 250 project. 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. 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. 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. 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. The first Class 800 entered service with LNER on 15 May 2019, allowing for the first withdrawal of an InterCity 225 set. 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. However, LNER decided to retain seven sets until 2023 to allow for services to be increased in December 2021. From September 2020, they ceased operating north of York. 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. 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. 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. However, these plans were subsequently axed as part of Grand Central's recovery plan due to the COVID 19 pandemic. 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. 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. 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. 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 Azuma sets having to be taken out of service.

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. 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). 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.