Hitachi (www.hitachi.com) has begun production of the 19 five-car electro-diesel multiple-unit trains ordered by leasing company Angel Trains in March 2016 for use by First Group’s TransPennine Express franchise.

The fleet is scheduled to begin entering service in December 2019, operating on routes connecting cities in northern England and Scotland.

Hitachi is building the first two units — 802-201 and 802-202 — at its plant at Kasado in Japan, so that it can undertake factory testing as quickly as possible, ahead of trials in the UK (scheduled for this summer).

The remaining units will be ‘built across Hitachi’s global manufacturing sites’, the company said.

The Class 802 trains are related to the Class 800 electro-diesel trains being supplied for East Coast and Great Western services under the Department for Transport’s Intercity Express Programme, but to cope with the gradients on the TransPennine network, they have been specified with higher engine operating power, as well as larger fuel tanks and brake resistors. Similar vehicles have been ordered by Hull Trains.

They will be capable of a maximum speed of 200kph when powered by their MTU Rolls-Royce diesel engines and 225kph in 25kV 50Hz electric mode.

The trains will be maintained at Hitachi’s new £80 million depot in Doncaster (supported by existing depots in Liverpool, Newcastle and Edinburgh).