Hornby R30450 GWR - Class 800 - 800001 - Train Pack Era 11

This newly tooled Class 800 Train Pack in the striking Great Western Railway (GWR) green livery includes a drive and dummy car, both with directional lighting. This makes the perfect modern-image passenger train, which can be extended with the additional Class 800 coaches also available. 

The Class 800 trains were developed as replacements for the long-serving Class 43 HSTs and were first introduced on the Great Western Main Line in October 2017. Manufactured by Hitachi Rail, 36 five-car sets were built between 2014 and 2018 as part of the UK Government’s ‘Intercity Express Programme’ (IEP) and branded ‘Intercity Express Train’ (IET). The trains are bi-mode, capable of operating on the newly electrified sections of the route, while diesel engines enable them to reach destinations that have not yet been electrified. An intended fleet of purely electric Class 801 ‘IETs’ was instead built to bi-mode specification in 2017/8, due to delays in completing electrification work, and these were designated as Class 800/3s. There are currently 21 of these running as nine-car sets.

Sets designated Classes 800/1 and 800/2 operate as nine and five-car sets respectively under ‘Azuma’ branding for operator LNER on the East Coast Main Line. The GWR ‘IET’ sets are numbered 800001-800036 and 800301-800321 and several of these trains have been given two names, one on each of the driving units. These are mainly the names of well-known historical figures, including famous sportspeople, politicians, decorated war veterans, and members of the Royal Family, with the driving units each carrying a different name (some sets have just one name). 

Interesting exceptions include 800010, which has ‘Paddington Bear’ at one end and his creator, Michael Bond, at the other, and 800316, which is named ‘Lionesses’, in honour of the England Ladies football team. The GWR’s historic past is not forgotten either, and 800004 is named ‘Isambard Kingdom Brunel’ and ‘Sir Daniel Gooch’, both eminent engineers associated with the original Great Western Railway.