OREANDA-NEWS. Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd. welcomed the announcement by the Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin to replace the current train fleet on the East Coast Main Line with Hitachi Class 800 series trains in a GBP 1.2bn deal.

The order will see Hitachi Rail Europe build an additional 30 nine-car electric trains for the East Coast Main Line in the train builder's state-of-the-art factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham which represents a GBP 82 million investment in manufacturing in the North East of England. The deal will reinforce UK train manufacturing capability once again making it globally competitive and raising the prospect of the UK being able to compete for export orders in European markets.

The confirmation to use the new Class 800 series trains instead of the Intercity 225s follows last year's announcement to replace the ageing fleet of Intercity 125 trains on the Great Western Main Line with the Hitachi Super Express Trains.

The new Class 800 series fleet will be eco-friendly with 12% energy and carbon saving per person per journey when compared with the existing electric rolling stock.

In July 2012, the then Secretary of State for Transport, Justine Greening announced the close of contract for the core order of 92 Class 800 series trains (596 carriages) for the Intercity Express Programme. The trains will be manufactured by Hitachi Rail Europe in its newly built train factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham,