British Rail Class 385

British Rail Class 385 AT200
385003 at Linlithgow with a service to Edinburgh Waverley
Standard class interior
In service	24 July 2018 – 4 October 2018 [1] 13 October 2018 – present
Manufacturer	Hitachi Rail
Built at	Kasado Works, Japan Newton Aycliffe, UK
Family name	A-Train
Replaced	Class 156 Class 158 Class 170 Class 314
Constructed	2015 – present
Number under construction	70 units to be built 10 unit optional follow up order after 2020
Formation	46 x 3-carriage (385/0) 24 x 4-carriage (385/1)
Capacity	385/0 = 206 seats 385/1 = 273 seats (20 first class, 253 standard)[2]
Operator(s)	Abellio ScotRail
Line(s) served	Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line Stirling / Alloa / Dunblane Lines Shotts Line Carstairs Line North Berwick Line Cathcart Circle Lines
Specifications
Car length	23 m (75 ft)[2]
Maximum speed	160 km/h (100 mph)[2]
Acceleration	3.6 km/h per second (2.25 mph per second) (1 metre per second, per second)
Electric system(s)	25 kV 50 Hz AC Overhead
Current collection method	Pantograph
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Notes
Sources : Rolling Stock overview Except where noted

The Class 385^[3] is an electric multiple unit being built by Hitachi Rail for Abellio ScotRail. A total of 70 units are planned to be built, divided into 46 three-car and 24 four-car sets.^[4] The new trains were bought to operate services on newly electrified lines in the Central Belt on a mixture of both suburban and inter-urban routes and entered service in July 2018.

History

A Class 385 bodyshell being built by Hitachi

In October 2014, immediately after being awarded the ScotRail franchise, Abellio, a subsidiary of the Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen, announced that it had concluded an agreement with the Japanese manufacturer Hitachi Rail to procure 234 new EMU carriages from its AT-200 product series for use on routes in Scotland that were being electrified.^[5] The trains, which are formed into a mix of three and four-car units, were intended to operate along the main Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line from December 2017,^[6] and across Central Scotland.^[7] The electrification programme, and purchase of new EMUs to operate services, will allow a subsequent cascade of the diesel multiple units currently used elsewhere on the network.

The order for the new EMUs was the first operator-based purchase of a Hitachi product for use in the UK following the IEP procurement, and its subsequent construction of its new Hitachi Newton Aycliffe facility at Newton Aycliffe, England. The bulk of the new fleet will be constructed there, with the first seven units being built at Hitachi's Kasado Works factory in Kudamatsu, Japan.^[8] Construction of the first units began in November 2015 and the first units were delivered in December 2016.^{[9][4][10][11]}

An additional ten 3-car units will be purchased by Abellio if Transport Scotland exercise the option to extend the Scotrail contract from 7 to 10 years. These units would enter service in 2023.^[12]

It was reported in February 2018 that during testing, problems had been found with the visibility and curvature of the driver windows, which are smaller than usual, leading to drivers seeing "two or three signals", when only one exists.^[13][14][15] It was also reported in March 2018 that there were software issues with the trains, causing the entry into service to be further deferred to December 2018. However, following progress to resolve the windscreen issue, the trains entered service on 24 July 2018.^[16] Due to a critical brake failure involving the brakes being locked off and isolated, all units were withdrawn on the 4th October 2018.^[17], but the units re-entered service on 13 October 2018.

Operation

As of 2 October 2018, 9 Class 385 units (003, 004, 005, 006, 007, 016, 103, 104 and 122) have entered service. The units currently operate on the Glasgow-Edinburgh via Falkirk line and the North Berwick Line.

The new trains will also operate on the newly electrified Croy, Dunblane and Shotts lines as well as replacing existing stock on the currently electrified Carstairs and Cathcart Circle Lines. This will allow for the replacement of ScotRail's Class 314 fleet, and allow for the cascading of a number of Class 156, Class 158 and Class 170 units.^[18]

Fleet details

1: ^ Conditional on Abellio ScotRail franchise being extended.^[19]

References

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