The Telegraph has much the same story (might be penned by the same author), but it's behind a paywall.
They've chosen to illustrate it with what looks like a Frecciarossa 1000.
While I don't think we are about to get an ETR 1000 variant, the AT300s could be built in Pistoia.
They also use the odd phrasing that the order is "to overhaul trains and carriages on the WCML".
£200m does seem about right for 23x5-car sets.
But have they solved the 125mph tilt problem?
Maybe CAF lost out on their build quality.
A recent article in Rail magazine discussed the fact that the Pendolino may be the last of the tilting trains. I’ve tried to extract the most relevant bits from the article.
“SINCE 2002, tilting trains have enabled 125mph running on the sinuous West Coast Main Line. By leaning further into curves to counteract outwards acceleration (more on the science later), these trains can reach speeds that conventional trains travelling on the line cannot.
Or at least, that was the case until a few months ago.
You might not have noticed, but the first of TransPennine Express’s new Class 397 and Class 802 trains have been running up and down the West Coast Main Line (WCML) north of Preston at speeds of up to 125mph without any tilting capability at all.
“On a strategic level, removing the need for tilt is very important. Given that High Speed 2’s ‘classic-compatible’ fleet will most likely not have tilt, it proves the viability of their proposed operations beyond the limits of new infrastructure.
Until now, discussions about HS2’s train service north of Manchester have compared it unfavourably to the current long-distance high-speed services (LDHSSs), with suggestions that HS2 speeds and journey times would be worse once they joined the WCML.
Now that TPE has shown that tilt isn’t necessary for fast timings, not only will this reduce the cost of any new fleet, it will also reduce the conflicts between the tilting and non-tilting fast trains operating through the North West and into Scotland. This avoids increased headways and the reduced capacity that conflicting speeds would result in.
It is important to note that limits of cant are defined by comfort and maintainability, rather than by safety. Trains have to run significantly above the design speed through a curve before derailment becomes a risk.
On the WCML, where the speed differential between slow trains and fast trains is at its most extreme and where curves are plentiful, the application of enough cant to enable 125mph for LDHSSs resulted in significant excess cant for freight trains and an unacceptable long-term maintenance liability. Hence the development and use of the tilting train, which essentially adds its own cant on top of that applied by track engineers.
On the WCML, there’s another factor at play. Unlike the East Coast Main Line, with its long straight sections and the occasional curvy bit, the West Coast has a speed profile like a sawtooth, with or without tilt in operation. Even the Pendolino isn’t particularly quick at accelerating out of curves, and in a few cases drivers can’t make much use of the short stretches of higher permissible speeds.
This isn’t the case with the latest generation of electric multiple units. Both CAF’s Class 397 and Hitachi’s Class 802 (IET) trains have an immense rate of acceleration, and for a railway with lots of changes of speed, acceleration to make the most of the fast stretches is as important as the overall top speed.
Whizz back to the curvier WCML, and the new trains with their better acceleration (and driver advisory systems that really make the most of their nippy performance) can get very close to the timings of the tilting Pendolinos.
TPE, CAF, Hitachi and Network Rail have undertaken extensive modelling to assess the requirements for non-tilting 125mph operation. The overhead traction equipment (not least the tension of the contact wire), signalling distances and vertical alignment (even a railway has to consider vertical accelerations to keep passengers comfortable and track materials intact) are 125mph-capable without any alteration.
Only curving forces present an issue. And having identified several test sections, CAF in particular has been running its Class 397s at the proposed speeds and ensuring that comfort in the passenger saloons isn’t affected.
Testing of this aspect of the new trains’ operation has shown that 125mph without tilt is comfortably feasible, and that the better acceleration of the units allows them to make more use of the short straight sections between curves. If all goes to plan, then the WCML north of Preston should be signed off for 125mph without tilt in the middle of next year.
It remains to be seen if this will be extended southwards. But given the reduction in costs that it would appear to represent, and the potential benefits to passenger and freight operations, it would be a surprise if tilting capability (or the track-mounted enabling equipment) was retained anywhere beyond the life of the Class 221s and ‘390s’.”
