A major milestone has been reached by a £350m project to build Avanti West Coast’s new fleet of trains.
Carriages from a Class 805 bi-mode train are being coupled together at Hitachi Rail’s Newton Aycliffe factory to mark the start of the extensive testing programme ahead of the planned entry into service in 2023.
All basic functionality of the train, from brakes to engines, doors to toilets, will be put through their paces prior to the start of dynamic testing later in the year, when the trains will move under its own power for the first time.
