ORR gives green light for LNER ‘801s’ to enter traffic

Class 801 electric multiple units have received authorisation from the Office of Rail and Road to enter passenger traffic.

The authorisation, granted on March 27, allows LNER’s 12 five-car Class 801/1s and 30 nine-car Class 801/2s to be put into service as they are accepted following commissioning and mileage accumulation. They will be able to operate in five, nine and ten-car formations.

In its letter to Hitachi, which built the trains, the ORR states: “For LNER bi-mode or electric Class 800/801 trains placed into traffic before modifications are implemented to address inter-car surfing and climbing risks, the manufacturer must reach agreement with the operator, LNER, on a time-bound plan which provides details of how these risks will be effectively managed and mitigated in the interim whilst modifications are implemented. This condition applies to both trains in service and those in service or stabled.”

The manufacturer must also record harmonic footprints for each train prior to them entering service, while LNER must complete a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the risks related to platform stepping distances in all locations they will serve before putting them in traffic.

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