London North Eastern Railway (LNER) - London North Eastern Railway Rolling Stock - G

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) - G

London North Eastern Railway Rolling Stock

At its commencement, LNER operated a fleet of diesel-powered InterCity 125 and electric InterCity 225 high speed trains that it had inherited from VTEC. Since September 2016, VTEC had also hired three Class 90s from DB Cargo for use on services to Newark, York and Leeds. LNER inherited these locomotives and retained them until June 2019 to cover for the shortage of Class 91 locomotives.

During May 2019, the first batch of Class 800 new-build high speed trains began entering service, the very similar Class 801 trains also followed in September of that year. These units are based on the Hitachi A-train design and LNER retained the Azuma brand for the units which was originally designated by VTEC.

The initial operation of these units allowed the InterCity 125 and InterCity 225 fleets to be replaced gradually. On 15 May, the first Azuma train to enter service, a nine-carriage Class 800/1, was operated on the Leeds route from King's Cross. Other subclasses of the Class 800 and 801 variants entered service afterwards, the first two five-carriage Class 801/1 sets entered service on 16 September, operating as a ten-carriage train, the first lot of five-carriage Class 800/2 sets entered service to coincide with the launch of the new King's Cross - Lincoln services on 21 October while the first two nine-carriage Class 801/2 sets entered service on 18 November.

By May 2021, all units in the Azuma fleet had entered revenue service following unit 800109's return to service, which was the unit involved in the derailment at Neville Hill TMD in November 2019 and subsequently had to undergo repairs.

Following the withdrawal of the InterCity 125 fleet in December 2019, it was previously thought that the InterCity 225 fleet would be fully withdrawn by June 2020. However, on 29 January 2020, LNER announced that they would be retaining a limited number of the InterCity 225 fleet to deliver all of the benefits of their December 2021 timetable.

In September 2020, Eversholt Rail Group (the train owner) and London North Eastern Railway extended their lease to ten units by 2023, additionally, there are options to extend the time frame up to 2024. These retained units have been subject to an overhaul performed at Wabtec's 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, however, the first set actually re-entered service on 11 May 2021 due to a number of Azuma sets having to be taken temporarily out of service for inspections and repairs where appropriate.

During June 2022, LNER unveiled its new livery, based on the traditional British Rail-era Intercity styling, on one of its InterCity 225 sets.

London North Eastern Railway Overview

London North Eastern Railway Franchise(s): InterCity East Coast

24 June 2018 – present

London North Eastern Railway Main Region(s):

East of England

East Midlands

Greater London

North East England

Scotland

Yorkshire and the Humber

London North Eastern Railway Fleet Size:

12 Class 91 locomotives for 8 InterCity 225 sets

23 Class 800 Azuma sets

42 Class 801 Azuma sets

London North Eastern Railway Stations Called At: 55

London North Eastern Railway Stations Operated: 11

London North Eastern Railway Parent Company: DfT OLR Holdings for Department for Transport

London North Eastern Railway Reporting Mark: GR

London North Eastern Railway Predecessor: Virgin Trains East Coast

London North Eastern Railway Map

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