R40493 LNER Azuma - Class 801/2 - Coach Pack (Railway 200) - Limited Edition

This LNER Azuma Class 801/2 Coach Pack (Railway 200) complements the R30460 Train Pack and completes the LNER nine-car Class 801/2 set No. 801207 ‘Rail 200’. It includes TS (Trailer Standard), MC (Motor Composite), MS (Motor Standard) and TSRB (Trailer Second Restaurant Buffet) cars.

The ‘Azuma’ Class 801/1 and 801/2 sets were introduced on the East Coast Main Line between 2017 and 2020. They are a development of the Class 800 bi-mode trains in the Hitachi AT300 product range, produced at their Newton Aycliffe facility in the north-east. Unlike their bi-mode counterparts, the Class 801s are the purely electric version of the ‘Azuma’, although they are fitted with ‘emergency’ diesel engines to allow them to limp home in case of overhead power failure. 

The Class 801/2s are the full nine-car length trains, whereas the 801/1s operate as shorter five-car sets, often used in pairs. The first of the full-length Class 801/2s ran in November 2019, entering service on front-line London King’s Cross-Edinburgh trains, allowing the bi-mode Class 800/1s to be cascaded onto King’s Cross-Aberdeen services, which in turn replaced the remaining InterCity 125 sets on that route. 

There are currently 30 Class 801/2 sets in operation. Five of them are named, including Set No. 801207, which, on 14th January 2025, was unveiled by LNER to mark the 200th anniversary year of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway.