Class 800 testing begins at Old Dalby

摘要

The first Hitachi'Super Express Train', No. 800001, has run under its own power for the first time in Britain. Since its arrival at the Old Dalby test track on March 13-14 (see last month's issue), the prototype EMU has undergone static and dynamic tests. Ordered under the Government's Intercity Express Programme (IEP), the unit is the first pre-series member of a class that will eventually run to 59 units - a mix of five- and nine-car, some full electric and some bi-mode. Testing includes a new type of rigid overhead conductor rail that has been installed inside the 1,332-yard Stanton tunnel, on the Old Dalby test track.