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Hitachi highlights innovative IEP interior design
Andy Rogers, IEP project manager at Hitachi Rail Europe, discusses the latest interior designs of the Super Express Trains which will run on the Great Western Main Line and East Coast Main Line as part of the Intercity Express Programme (IEP). RTM’s David Stevenson reports from a site visit to see the design mock-ups and also heard from Paul Rutter, senior associate and transport manager at DCA.
H
itachi Rail Europe will build, deliver and maintain 866 Class 800 Super Express
Train (SETs) cars for the Great Western Main Line and East Coast Main Line as part of the Intercity Express Programme (IEP).
All work is on schedule and the 122 trains are expected to enter passenger service in 2017 on the GWML and in 2018 on the ECML.
The contract specifications are for the “provision into daily service of the following cleaned, serviced and maintained trains”: • 21 x nine-car electric trains and 36 x five- car bi-mode trains for GWML into passenger service each weekday (369 vehicles) • 12 x five-car electric trains, 10 x five-car bi- mode trains, 13 x nine-car bi-mode trains and 30 x nine-car electric trains for ECML into passenger service each weekday (497 vehicles)
With the first pre-series train carriage due to be delivered by spring 2015, RTM was invited to Warwick to view a full-scale mock-up of both the driving cab and the carriage interiors developed by DCA Design.
The mock-ups, which are a design tool rather than an exact re plica of a
complete train, have been reviewed by about 2,000 people as part of a large number of stakeholder and employee visits.
Inside the SET saloon
Inside the first and standard class saloons the colour scheme is designed to be brand neutral with the colour palette being a steel, grey scale. However, should a franchisee wish to change the colour of the carpet and seat covers, the DfT has offered them the option to do so – but they have to pay for this.
In the saloon, a new type of electronic seat reservation system has been introduced, based on a traffic light system. ‘Green’ seats are available, ‘amber’ means that the seat is reserved for part of the journey, and ‘red’ indicates that the seat is booked for the entire length of the journey.
The FAINSA-designed standard class seats, which are lower than usual (making it easier for people to see if someone is occupying a seat), also have tip-down tables designed to accommodate tablet computers and larger laptops.
Paul Rutter, senior associate and transport manager at DCA, told RTM: “One of the things FAINSA has managed to do is create seats that are made from polyurethane foam so there is greater flexibility.
“Carbon-loaded foams tend to be firmer and degrade. [FAINSA’s] proprietary
fire- ba r r i er
fabric combi- nation should hopefully mean a longer life. The seat heights are also visibly lower, which gives people lumbar sup- port but is still safety compliant and has been tested.”
Hitachi Rail Europe’s IEP project manager Andy Rogers added that seats have been sent
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