Azuma

This new Class 800 was on a test run for crew training purposes on the East Coast Main Line yesterday. I mentioned to the shadow next to mine on the platform at York that the front end was quite a pleasing design for a unit. “I don’t like it”, he said. “Why is that” I asked, innocently. “I don’t like the name. It’s Japanese”, was his reply.

Azuma means “east” in Japanese. I thought it was going to be something with a lot more panache than that, like “sleek”, “modern” or “speedy”. Far from being imposed on us by Hitachi [who after all have employed loads of British people in Newton Aycliffe to put them together] the name was chosen by Virgin [wonderfully British] because it was to be employed on the east side of the country, as opposed to the GWR ones on the west side of the country, which are somewhat less flamboyantly known as Intercity Express Trains [IET]. When LNER took over on the ECML, they embraced the name “Azuma” as well, and even wrote it on the front end to top off their new colour scheme. Perhaps the unhappy train watcher at York would have preferred it to have been made by a good old British sounding company like Bombardier.

I wished him all the best in his quest to avoid coming into contact with anything unsightly emanating from the rest of the world and wandered back down the platform, casting an eye over the empty interior of the train. It has had a few teething issues. It looks like some of the seats face a pillar rather than a window and the seats themselves look rather uncomfortable - very rigid and straight-backed. Who’s getting picky, now, I thought. I hope the ride is as smooth as on the elderly HST that had brought me north in the morning, with its retro-style, obsolete ash trays built in to the arm rests. Those were the days, I mused; the good old High Speed Train - no arguments over that one.