British Rail Class 222

British Rail Class 222 Meridian/Pioneer
East Midlands Trains five-car 222017 at Derby
Constructed	2002–2004
Number in service	26 trainsets
Specifications
Car length	23.85 m (78 ft 3 in) end cars 22.82 m (74 ft 10 in) other
Braking system(s)	Rheostatic

A Class 222 diagram (5 car formation), in the East Midlands Trains livery.

The British Rail Class 222 is a diesel-electric multiple unit high-speed train capable of 125 mph (200 km/h). Twenty-seven units have been built by Bombardier Transportation.

The Class 222 is similar to the Class Class 220 Voyager and Class 221 SuperVoyager trains used by CrossCountry and Virgin Trains but units have a different interior, which is less cramped than the Voyagers. The Class 222 trains have more components fitted under the floors to free up space within the body.

Technical details

Below are the technical details for the Class 222 Meridian / Pioneer.

Engine

All coaches are equipped with a Cummins QSK19 diesel engine of 750 hp (560 kW) at 1800rpm. This powers a generator which supplies current to motors driving two axles per coach. Approximately 1,350 miles (2,170 km) can be travelled between each refuelling.

Formation

Class 222 units are currently running in the following formations:

East Midlands Trains: seven cars with 236 standard seats and 106 first-class seats.

• Coach A - Standard Class with driving cab and reservable space for four bikes
• Coach C - Standard Class
• Coach D - Standard Class
• Coach E - Standard Class with Shop/Buffet counter
• Coach F - First Class
• Coach G - First Class
• Coach J - First Class and driving cab

East Midlands Trains: four or five cars with 124 or 192 standard seats and 50 first-class seats.

• Coach A - Standard Class with driving cab and reservable space for four bikes

British Rail Class 222 feature BS 1363 power sockets for charging laptops and mobile phones

• Coach B - Standard Class (not present in a four car set)
• Coach C - Standard Class
• Coach D - Standard Class / First Class
• Coach G - First Class and driving cab

First Hull Trains: four cars

• Coach A - First Class and driving cab
• Coach B - First Class / Standard Class
• Coach C - Standard Class
• Coach D - Standard Class with driving cab and reservable space for bikes

Brakes

Class 222 units make use of rheostatic braking (the same as the Class 220 Voyager and Class 221 SuperVoyager trains). This system brakes the train by using the motors of the train in reverse, to generate electricity which is then dissipated as heat through resistors situated on the roof of each coach. This slows the train and saves on brake shoe wear.

Couplers

The Class 222 are fitted with Dellner couplers, as used on the Class 220 Voyager and Class 221 SuperVoyager trains, though these units cannot be coupled to work together in service because the electrical systems are incompatible. They can be coupled to push or pull each other though if a unit becomes faulty. The first-class end of the train is indicated by a yellow bar on the coupler.

Current operators

East Midlands Trains

An East Midlands Trains Class 222 meridian at St Pancras, in Midland Mainline livery

East Midlands Trains operate the expanded East Midlands rail franchise which started on 11 November 2007. The new franchise incorporates the services previously operated by Midland Mainline and all of the Class 222 Meridian trains are now oprated by East Midlands Trains.

The East Midlands Trains fleet of Class 222 Meridians comprises six seven-car sets and seventeen five-car sets. The seven-car trains are used to supplement the East Midlands Trains High Speed Train fleet with services on the London St Pancras to Nottingham route and on some services between London St Pancras and Sheffield. The five-car trains are mainly used between London St Pancras and Derby or Nottingham on semi-fast services, stopping at places such as Loughborough, Market Harborough and Wellingborough.

The four Class 222 Pioneer units (222101 - 222104) which are currently in use with First Hull Trains are due to join East Midlands Trains in the near future. This is partly due to the fact that East Midlands Trains need the extra units to run their Corby-London services. The Class 222 Meridians first class section is due to be refurbished with new carpets and seat covers due to them being "too dark". The start date for this is within the next few weeks.

As part of the planned timetable change in December 2008 the Class 222 Meridians will be put on the hourly London St Pancras to Sheffield off-peak services, because they have faster acceleration than the High Speed Trains and so will be able to reduce the Sheffield—London journey time by twelve minutes. All other Class 222 Meridians will continue to operate on their current routes.

East Midlands Trains have removed one coach from the eight-car Meridians except for 222007, which has been reduced to five-cars. The surplus coaches were then be added to the remaining four-car Meridians to make six seven-car sets (222001 - 222006) and 17 five-car sets (222007 - 222023). This process started in March 2008 and finished on in October 2008. Two first class coaches removed from 222007 were converted to standard class and part first part standard class in order to complete this process.

First Hull Trains

First Hull Trains 222104 at London Kings Cross

The train operating company First Hull Trains introduced Class 222 units, branded as 'Pioneers', to replace its Class 170 Turbostars in May 2005. The units reduced journey times between Hull and King's Cross by up to twenty minutes. The Pioneers have a different interior colour scheme and less first-class seating than the Meridians. Hull Trains was renamed First Hull Trains in June 2008.

First Hull Trains' fleet consists of four four-car Pioneers, each named after a 'modern-day pioneer' related to Hull.

222101	Professor George Gray
222102	Professor Stuart Palmer
222103	Dr John Godber
222104	Sir Terry Farrell

222103 is currently withdrawn from service following an accident during maintenance work, which wrote off two of the unit's four cars. It will take some time to replace these cars, leading First Hull Trains to obtain alternative rolling stock. Initially, a preserved Class 86 locomotive and rake of Mark 3 coaches were used on a shuttle to Doncaster, where a Pioneer took passengers the rest of the way. The Class 86 and rolling stock was replaced by a pair of Class 180 Adelantes in April 2008.

First Hull Trains have announced plans to use only Class 180 Adelante units on its services. The Class 222 Pioneers will be transferred to East Midlands Trains for use on the new Corby to London service.

Previous operators

Midland Mainline

File:Meridians at STP Int2.jpg

A Midland Mainline Class 222 Meridian at London St Pancras on 21 July 2006

Midland Mainline introduced the first of twenty-three Class 222 units on 31 May 2004, branding them as Meridian. These replaced a fleet of Class 170 Turbostars, which were transferred to Central Trains. The top speed of a Class 222 Meridian is 25 mph (40 km/h) faster than a Class 170 Turbostar. The Class 222 Meridians also have better acceleration than the Class 170 Turbostars and their interiors are better suited to long-distance travel.

Midland Mainline ordered the seven nine-car Class 222 Meridians for an enhanced London St Pancras to Leeds service, but after the trains had been ordered, the Strategic Rail Authority decided not to allow them to run the service. The nine-car Meridians were instead used on London to Nottingham and some London to Sheffield services.

When the trains were ordered, Midland Mainline overestimated the number of first class customers who would use their services and the four-car Meridians had less standard-class seating than the three-car Turbostars they replaced. Coach D subsequently had a section of first-class seating declassified for use by standard-class passengers.

Initially the fleet consisted of seven nine-car units and sixteen four-car units but, at the end of 2006 Midland Mainline removed a carriage from the each of the nine-car sets and extended seven of the four-car sets. Following the formation of a new East Midlands rail franchise on November 2007, the entire fleet of Class 222 Meridians is now operated by East Midlands Trains.

Midland Mainline named some of the units as follows.

Unit number	Name	Date named	Named by
222004	City Of Sheffield	29 March 2007	Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Councillor Jackie Drayton
222005	City Of Nottingham	30 January 2007	Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Councillor Des Wilson
222006	City Of Leicester	7 March 2007	Lord Mayor of Leicester, Councillor Paul Westley
222007	City Of Derby	17 May 2007	Mayor of Derby, Councillor John Ahern

Names were removed as part of the East Midlands Trains rebranding process in 2008

Class 222 in Ireland

In 2005, HSBC Rail took delivery of the seven 9-car trains planned for use by Midland Mainline on their London-Leeds service. However, when the Strategic Rail Authority prevented Midland Mainline from undertaking this service, the trains were left idle. HSBC Rail made contact with both Northern Ireland Railways and Iarnród Éireann, with a view to possibly leasing these trains. NIR considered using the trains on the Belfast to Dublin line as one of a number of options, which included the purchase of additional 22000 Class railcars or cascaded coaching stock. In the event, the trains entered service with MML providing the fast services from London to Nottingham, thus releasing HSTs. The trains would have required significant modification to be used by NIR, which would have included reducing each train from nine to eight cars (the maximum length of stations on the Belfast-Dublin line), and converting them from standard gauge to 1600 mm gauge (5 ft 3 inches).

Incidents

File:HPIM0775(2).jpg

222101 Professor George Gray approaching Doncaster station on 4 September 2007

See also: Hull Trains § Prolonged absence of 222103

In January 2007 eight jack supports failed leading to unit 222103 Dr John Godber of Hull Trains falling to the floor of Crofton Works. On inspection at Derby, two vehicles of the unit were written off, with replacements on order from Bombardier.

A First Hull Trains Pioneer service from Hull to London Kings Cross caught fire whilst travelling through Stevenage in Hertfordshire at approximately 19:20 BST on Friday 10 August 2007. The fire reported to take 30 minutes to extinguish and no injuries were reported, however the damage to the unit (number 222102) was not serious and it was back in service within two days.

Fleet details

Class	Operator	No. Built	Year Built	Cars per Set	Unit nos.
Class 222/0	East Midlands Trains	23	2003	7	222001 - 222006
				5	222007 - 222023
Class 222/1	First Hull Trains	4	2004	4	222101 - 222104

External links

• East Midlands Trains web site
• First Hull Trains web site
• Bombardier Website
• Detailed Class 222 information
• Railfaneurope.net Class 222 picture gallery