- InterCity 225
Infobox Locomotive
name=Intercity 225
powertype=electric
caption= atLondon Kings Cross railway station.
builder=BREL ,GEC Alsthom
builddate=1988—1991 [ [http://www.thejunction.org.uk/cl91.html thejunction.org.uk, "rolling stock: class 91", Retrieved on 04-07-2007] ]
totalproduction=31 nine-carriage units [ [http://www.o-keating.com/hsr/ic225.htm Oliver Keating, "The Inter-city 225", Retrieved on 04-07-2007] ]
uicclass=
length=? m
weight=302 t
electricsystem=
topspeed= 140 mph (225 km/h) (Design)
125mph (200 km/h) (Service)
poweroutput=6,000 HP
tractiveeffort=
safety=
railroad= British Rail,GNER ,National Express East Coast
disposition=still in serviceThe InterCity 225 is the fastest locomotive-hauled domestic train in the
United Kingdom , comprising a Class 91electric locomotive , and nine Mark 4 coaches and aDriving Van Trailer . The Class 91 locomotives were built byBREL atCrewe works as a spin-off from theAdvanced Passenger Train project, which was abandoned during the 1980s, whilst the coaching stock was built by GEC-Alsthom inBirmingham — again borrowing heavily from the Advanced Passenger Train.ervice history
The InterCity 225 entered service with
British Rail on theEast Coast Main Line in 1990. The units also operate on a small section of theWest Coast Main Line betweenGlasgow andCarstairs . In 1996, as part of theprivatisation of British Rail , all InterCity 225s were sold toHSBC Rail , which currently leases them toNational Express East Coast .The InterCity 225 has a theoretical top service speed of 140 mph (225 km/h); during a test run on Stoke Bank between
Peterborough andGrantham an Intercity 225 reached 162.6 mph (261.7 km/h). However, except onHigh Speed 1 , which is equipped withcab signalling , British signalling does not normally allow trains to exceed 125mph (201) km/h, due to the impracticality of observing lineside signals at high speed. TheAdvanced Passenger Train of the early 1980s used a new hydrokinetic braking system to allow it to brake from 155 mph (250 km/h) within existing signalling distances.It is believed that the InterCity 225 project was originally to be called APT-U, but this name was dropped after older APT-P trains were not considered a success and that APT branding would tarnish the reputation of the new High Speed Train.Between late 2003 and April 2006
GNER andBombardier Transportation undertook a complete rebuilding and refurbishment programme for the Mark 4 coaches, called "Project Mallard". See "British Rail Mark 4 " for more details.ee also
*
GNER
*National Express East Coast
*East Coast Main Line
*Class 91 electric locomotive
*Mark 4 coaches
*Driving Van Trailer
*InterCity (British Rail)
*Intercity 125
*APT-E References
External links
* [http://www.traintesting.com/IC225.htm Testing the Intercity 225]
* [http://www.uctc.net/scripts/countdown.pl?114.pdf A comparison of IC125 and IC225]
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