London North Eastern Railway has revealed images of its new Class 897 trains, as well as confirming its new name for the fleet.
Serenza, which LNER says is made of the word ‘Serene’ and a Spanish-style suffix ‘Enza’ that ‘evokes the feeling of peace and calm’, is a 10-strong fleet of Class 897 trains that will be built by CAF.
The new fleet, which will have 10 carriages per set, will replace the Class 91+ Mk4 sets and will operate alongside Azuma trains that were built by Hitachi.
The Class 897s will be the first new train fleet introduced as part of Great British Railways, although the order for the trains was placed in the previous Conservative-led government.
These new trains will be tri-mode, which will allow them to run over overhead power lines, diesel or batteries and will have a total of 569 seats per train.
Each train will feature reclining seats in first class, new seating in standard class (with new side bolsters and head cushions), digital screens with the latest information and water bottle refilling stations.
Accessibility has been improved, with the Accessibility Forum working with LNER to make journeys easier, with 47 recommendations made by the panel.
Each seat will have a plug socket and a USB-C charging port.
“This is an exciting milestone for LNER as we reveal an insight into what our customers can expect from their journeys in the future and unveil a name. Our new fleet will bring more comfortable, more reliable, and greener journeys across the East Coast Main Line for decades to come and we are looking forward to their introduction in the coming years.
“Reaching this stage has taken a huge amount of work and it has been great to work in partnership with CAF as we design this new fleet of trains. As LNER continues to welcome more customers onboard, these trains will be vital in helping to meet demand for train travel while delivering a new, modern experience for our customers.”
Dr Linda Wain, Engineering Director at LNER
Responses
Perhaps LNER should reintroduce the Sunderland service and to introduce the new Scarborough service. Since they have ordered 10 Class 897 Serenza 10-Car trains that are schedule to enter service from 2027/28.
With the Class 897 Serenza rolling stocks to replace the Class 91 Mk4 Intercity 225 rolling stocks. I think that LNER would use them on London King’s Cross-Leeds, Skipton, Bradford Forester Square, Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley plus to reinstate the Sunderland service. And perhaps introduce a new service to Scarborough with using Class 800 Azuma and Class 897 Serenza.
“Accessibility has been improved” – but not a word here as to whether you can actually get a normal adult bike on-board – let alone several.
LNER published photos of the bike storage and it looks pretty flipping good.
Thanks, I’ll have to have a look at their site