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Great Western Railway: Your questions on Hitachi 800 high-speed trains

A new fleet of high-speed trains took the first passengers today and here are some of the things you wanted to know about the Hitachi 800.

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How many seats do they have?

The Hitachi 800 will have 10 carriages and 652 seats. This is up to 24% more capacity than the trains they are replacing, said GWR.

GWR New intercity trainGWR
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Where were the trains made?

The new trains were made at the Hitachi factory in Newton Aycliffe County Durham.

Merchant Place Developments Artist's impression of new plantMerchant Place Developments
An artist's impression of the plant at Amazon Park on the outskirts of Newton Aycliffe
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How much faster will they be?

"The trains are currently operating to present high-speed train timetables," said a GWR spokesman,

"When the change to inner city express is made in 2019, passengers will see the full benefit of faster journey times, higher frequency and improved capacity," he said.

These are the expected time savings on the current quickest journeys.

  • London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads - up to 17 minutes
  • London Paddington to Swansea - up to 14 minutes
  • London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa - up to 11 minutes
  • London Paddington to Hereford via Oxford - up to 10 minutes
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When will the trains be rolled out across the service?

Hitachi New Hitachi trainsHitachi
  • October 2017 Bristol Temple Meads, Swansea and Paddington
  • December 2017 Taunton and Hereford via Oxford
  • June 2018 Cheltenham Spa
  • December 2018 All GWR trains in service
  • Early 2019 Timetable change realising full capacity, journey time and frequency benefits.