UK: LNER has selected Serenza as its name for the fleet of Class 897 inter-city trainsets it has ordered from CAF through Porterbrook, and released details of what the interiors will look like.
Serenza a hybrid of ‘serene’ and the Spanish-style suffix ‘-enza’, which LNER explained as ‘evoking a feeling of peacefulness and calm, combined with energy, movement and modernity.’
According to the operator, the trainsets will be the first new fleet to be introduced as part of Great British Railways, and will be branded as such both inside and out.
The 200 km/h tri-mode trainsets from CAF’s Civity UK family will be able to operate on diesel power when there is no 25 kv 50 Hz overhead electrification, but will have onboard battery power for use on the approach to and departure from stations on the non-electrified sections.
Interior features
The interior design has been developed with customer and stakeholder feedback in mind. The 10-car trains will each have 569 seats across standard and first class, with newly developed seat pads, wider side bolsters and head cushions and cushions reshaped to best support customers. Seat materials have been selected to maximise durability and sustainability, and first class seats will recline.
Each seat will have its own power socket, with USB-C ports for phone charging. Tables will have a power bar.
There will be softer lighting, including mood and table lighting in first class, designed to provide a more comfortable journey especially during early mornings and evenings.
Digital screens will provide live journey and safety information.
There will be dedicated bicycle storage areas with easy-to-use securing straps.
The café bar will sell food and drink from suppliers along the route, with digital menu screens showing availability in real-time. There will also be five water bottle refill points distributed throughout the train.
The toilets will have an improved wash basin design, baby changing tables and clearer signage in accessible toilets.
Accessible design
LNER has worked with its accessibility Forum to make journeys easier for disabled customers and those needing additional assistance. The spaces for wheelchair users will have companion seating, and there will be additional luggage racks in coaches with wheelchair spaces to reduce the likelihood of the spaces being blocked.
Tables have been redesigned to give more room for wheelchair users, seat legs have been moved to create additional space for assistance dogs, a grab rail has been installed along the full length of the café bar and there will be braille seat numbers.
Deployment
The trainsets were ordered in November 2023, in order to facilitate the withdrawal of the remaining InterCity 225 sets which are close to 40 years old and will not be retrofitted with ETCS onboard equipment for use after 2028. LNER says the Class 897s are to be introduced ‘in the coming years, with further details to be released as the project progresses’.
‘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’, said Engineering Director Dr Linda Wain on February 2. ‘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.’
