British Rail Class 390
The British Rail Class 390 "Pendolino" electrical multiple units are tilting trains built by Alstom, but utilising Fiat tilt systems. Fifty-three 9-car units were built for Virgin Trains from 2001-2004, and were introduced on the West Coast Main Line. These trains were the last to be built at Alstom's Washwood Heath plant before its closure in 2005.
Description
In 1997, when Virgin Trains won the InterCity West Coast franchise, they were obligated to replace the ageing train fleet they inherited with new trains. The old fleet consisted of an assortment of Classes 86, 87 and 90 electric locomotives, which operated in push-pull mode with Mk.2 and Mk.3 coaching stock. Therefore, in order to replace these trains, Virgin placed an order with Alstom/Fiat for the construction of new tilting trains.
Tilting trains were nothing new for the West Coast Main Line. Twenty years previously, British Rail had developed the revolutionary, but ultimately unsuccessful Class 370 Advanced Passenger Train (APT). Despite their failure in revenue earning service, much of the technology was used in later designs of tilting train, so the Class 390 could be considered the de-facto successor to the APT.
The new trains were originally intended to run at 140mph. However, the West Coast Mainline modernisation programme, which was an upgrade to the infrastructure to allow faster line speeds, went massively overbudget. Consequently, plans were scaled back resulting in the maximum line speed now being designated at only 125mph. Since the construction of the fleet, hardware modifications have subsequently been performed to reflect this lower speed, so the trains are now physically limited to 125mph passenger running. This compares to the maximum speed of 125mph for the APT in passenger service, although one set reached 162mph in tests.
The train system is divided into different coach classes: A - Club Class (26 seats), C (62 seats), D (58 seats) and F (42 seats) - Standard Class. The train also has priority seating and 1 wheelchair seat (Class A only) and a small shop.
Virgin Trains is part of the Virgin Rail Group and Virgin Group under the ownership of Sir Richard Branson. Virgin Rail also operates another railline, Virgin CrossCountry.