Whilst we were visiting Alstom’s Derby Litchurch Lane Works for the CrossCountry Voyager launch, we were invited to have a ride on the Test Track at the works.

The test track at Derby is 1.4km long and allows Alstom to design, build and test trains in one facility, something only the Litchurch Lane Works can do here in the UK.

Our ride for today was South Western Railway’s Class 701 ‘Arterio’ No. 701524.

We had a ride up and down the line, which sees a couple more Arterios stabled as well as a number of Class 455 electric units.

We are also able to film in the cab, providing a rare look at both the Arterio cab and the view of the test track.

We finish off the video with a couple of runs lineside, including a little spark and tone as the Arterio passes through.