Richard Branson unveils Virgin Azuma high-speed train for UK

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This was published 8 years ago

Richard Branson unveils Virgin Azuma high-speed train for UK

By Adrian Bridge
Updated
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With his trademark flowing blonde locks and a black leather bomber jacket, Sir Richard Branson proclaimed the dawn of a new age of rail travel in Britain with the unveiling of a brand new Japanese-designed train to be operated by Virgin Trains aimed at revolutionising travel on the East Coast when it comes into full service in 2018.

The new high-speed Hitachi train – named the Virgin Azuma – will be able to travel at a speed of 201 km/h, and to reach that speed a minute faster than the trains currently plying the East Coast route. Journey times between London and Edinburgh will be cut by more than 20 minutes, coming down to four hours, with the London to Leeds journey cut to just two. The train will however have the capability to travel at 225 km/h, a speed which with long term improvements to the track, Virgin hopes will be possible.

As a prototype of the Azuma rolled into London's King's Cross Station, Sir Richard said: "We have called the train 'Azuma' because I have been very impressed when I have travelled by train in Japan and the word Azuma means 'east' in Japanese. This is a new dawn for rail in this country."

Other than a beaming Sir Richard himself giving a wave at the nose of the train, there was little else in the way of a sneak preview, with promised internal improvements including super ergonomic seating comfort, a lighter and more energy efficient experience and significantly faster broadband speeds still some way down the track.

But the sleek external form of the train certainly bore the hallmark of Hitachi, the pioneering company responsible for the Shinkansen bullet trains which first started operating in Japan in 1964.

See: Japan's bullet trains turn 50

As part of an overall investment project totalling some £3.3 billion ($6.3 billion), Virgin has ordered 65 of the Hitachi-designed trains to be built at the Japanese company's manufacturing plant in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. And the company hopes that they will transform travel on the East Coast in the same way as the tilting 'Pendolino' trains have on West Coast services.

In addition to more frequent journeys on its key East Coast routes – with an increased capacity into King's Cross by up to 28 per cent during peak times – the faster speeds should result in the introduction of direct services to new destinations such as Middlesbrough and Huddersfield possible, as well as an increase in through services to places such as Harrogate and Lincoln.

The unveiling of the Azuma comes just one year after Virgin took over the franchise for east coast trains. "This is a hugely important moment for passengers on the East Coast," said Sir Richard. "A line which has witnessed the historic Flying Scotsman and Mallard will now see passenger services transformed."

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