Trains

HS2’s British built bullet-style trains will transform rail travel, offering passengers unparalleled levels of reliability, speed and comfort, and will help in the fight against climate change. They are also a major boost for UK train-building.

The first train is expected to roll off the production line around 2027.

Environmentally friendly trains

Due to start running on the HS2 rail network within 10 years, HS2 trains have been marked out as the most environmentally friendly in the world. The trains will be less carbon intensive throughout their lifecycle than any other high-speed train in design, production or operation today. They are the first trains in the world to achieve the British Standards Institute’s PAS 2080 global accreditation.

Work during the train’s detailed design will optimise the weight of its carbody, wheelsets and cabling; and build more of the train with recycled and recyclable material. Great effort is also going into reducing the train’s energy consumption, including improvements in its aerodynamics, which has led to it becoming the first high speed train in the world to have a smooth, dynamically efficient underside, cutting its drag coefficient. Finally, the train’s traction system and electric motors will be highly energy efficient, reducing energy demand.

Capable of speeds of up to 225mph (360km/h), the fully electric trains will also run on the existing network to places such as Liverpool, Manchester, the Northwest and Scotland. Building on the latest technology from the Japanese Shinkansen ‘bullet train’ and European high-speed network, they will be some of the fastest, quietest and most energy efficient high-speed trains operating anywhere in the world.

Designed for everyone

Designed to be fully accessible, the interior layout of the trains will be decided following a two-and-a-half-year collaborative design process involving HS2 Ltd, the Department for Transport and the West Coast Partnership, the operator of the trains when they first come into service.

Serving destinations such as Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and London, HS2 trains will operate seamlessly between HS2 and the existing rail network halving many journey times across the UK. Each train will be around 200m long, with the option to couple two units together to create a 400m long train with 1,100 seats.

The train will also benefit from Hitachi Rail’s pioneering low noise pantograph – the arm which collects power from the overhead wires. Developed in Japan, this technology will make it one of the quietest high-speed trains in the world and use regenerative braking to boost energy efficiency.

The fleet will be maintained at a new maintenance depot being built by HS2 Ltd at Washwood Heath on the outskirts of Birmingham, creating more than 100 jobs and additional apprenticeship opportunities.

Engaging the public in the design of new generation of high-speed trains

In the most extensive project of its kind seen in the UK, the public has been put at the heart of refining designs for the interior of the 54 trains.

Since the start of 2024, a range of customer groups, including those with reduced mobility, cyclists and young families, have been invited to experience life-sized wooden mock-ups of the trains – helping engineers to understand the levels of ease, accessibility and comfort.

It forms part of a refinement process – supported by market research – that enables the final designs to be adjusted to fully meet the needs of passengers and staff.

The process included reviewing different options around boarding and alighting from the train, the positioning of grab rails to aid mobility and support, and testing the layout of toilets – particularly for wheelchair customers. Life-sized mock-ups were also made of other sections of the train including, the cafe, and child buggy storage.

Passengers like to be able to see their luggage throughout journeys, so designers have maximised both overhead and under seat storage space to accommodate a variety of baggage and case sizes in an effort to enhance convenience and reduce stress levels.

With feedback from user group sessions, designers have repositioned grab handles near the doors, created a ‘step-free’ solution at HS2 stations for passengers, rearranged USB-C sockets and tray tables, and adjusted wheelchair spaces to give a much better customer experience.

Future user group sessions will help designers to finalise passenger seat design to ensure they are comfortable for everyone on long journeys; as well as optimising the train’s LED lighting system to help deliver an enhanced ambience throughout the day and across the seasons.

Once the train’s design is finalised, full production will start around 2027.