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Class 180 Adelante
Alstom's 125 mph (201 km/h) diesel train from its Coradia range, built in Birmingham for First Great Western. After FGW and Hull Trains, all those in service run for Grand Central on the East Coast Main Line, which is to replace them with Hitachi Class 820s in 2028.
Scale
Class 180 Adelante · indicative drawing GB Trains · gbtrains.uk/stock/180/ · CC BY 4.0
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Liveries 1
Grand CentralGrand CentralBlack with an amber band and a yellow front, from 2021-24 photographsShown aboveFormer liveries 6
First Great Western 'Barbie'FormerDec 2001 to 2009Not drawn yet
First Great Western 'Dynamic Lines'Former2012 (refurb) to 2017Not drawn yet
Northern Rail (3 sets)FormerDec 2008 to Dec 2011/2012Not drawn yet
Hull TrainsHull Trains / First Hull Trains blueFormerJan 2009 to 2020Not drawn yet
Arriva Rail North (1 unit hired)FormerJul 2016 to c.2018Not drawn yet
East Midlands RailwayEast Midlands RailwayFormerDec 2020 to May 2023Not drawn yet
- Type
- Diesel multiple unit
- Builder
- Alstom, Washwood Heath (Birmingham)
- Built
- 2000–2001
- In service
- since 2001
- Operators
- Grand Central
- Formation
- 5 cars; two can run together as 10
- Trains in fleet
- 14
- Fleets
- Grand Central: 10
- Top speed
- 125 mph (201 km/h)
- Power
- Diesel, with Voith hydraulic transmission · how it works
- Bogies
- Alstom Coradia 1000 bogies · drawn with the same bogie component as Class 175 Coradia
- Car width
- 8 ft 11 in (2.73 m)
- Profile
- main-line
- Seats per train
- 256
- Total capacity
- Grand Central: 256 seats a unit, with one first-class car
- Status
- In service: 10 units with Grand Central, leased from Angel Trains. Angel Trains holds the other four, out of service since about 2023; Grand Central has agreed to lease them for a proposed Newcastle–Brighton service, subject to ORR approval (October 2026).
Car types
| Code | Car | Length | Doors per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMSL | Driving motor standard with lavatory (DMSL) | 77 ft 9 in23.71 m | |
| MFL | Motor first with lavatory (MFL) | 75 ft 6 in23.02 m | |
| MSL | Motor standard with lavatory (MSL) | 75 ft 6 in23.02 m | |
| MSLRB | Motor standard with lavatory and buffet (MSLRB) | 75 ft 6 in23.02 m |
Sources
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Show the 20 sources from Wikipedia, kitmasterbloke, via Wikimedia Commons, RAIL and 12 more
- Class 180 Angel Trains14 five-car units; formation DMSL-MFL-MSL-MSLRB-DMSL; car lengths 77 ft 9 in (23.71 m; DMSL) and 75 ft 6 in (23.02 m); width 8 ft 11 in (2.73 m); Voith hydraulic transmission; 125 mph (201 km/h); Alstom Coradia
- Alstom secures £84m deal to maintain Class 180 trains in UK Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 28 December 2016built by Alstom at Washwood Heath, Birmingham, 2000–2001; Coradia range; 200 km/h (124 mph); Grand Central's ten
- Return of Adelantes to First Great Western confirmed Railnews, 23 November 2011with First Great Western 2001 to 2009; 14-strong fleet; then leased to Hull Trains and Grand Central
- How Hull Trains opened the door RAIL, 10 October 2024with Hull Trains from April 2008 to 2019
- Grand Central to retire HSTs The Railway Magazine, 29 December 2017the whole Class 180 fleet on the East Coast Main Line from 2018
- Our trains Grand Central, accessed 7 October 2026Grand Central's 10 five-car units, 256 seats, one first-class car; refurbished 2018
- Grand Central tweaks Cleethorpes plan – confirms class number of tri-mode sets RAIL (David Stubbings), 17 March 2026Class 820 replacements from 2028; four Class 180s off lease with Angel Trains
- Grand Central to Lease Trains for Proposed Newcastle-Brighton Service Railway-News, 2 October 2026four more Class 180s agreed for a proposed Newcastle–Brighton service
- British Rail Class 180 Wikipedia, accessed 7 October 2026December 2001 introduction; engines (last resort)
- References: High-Speed Trains and Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) Voith Turbo, May 2008, p. 22bogie centres 52 ft 6 in (16,000 mm) and wheelbase 8 ft 6 in (2,600 mm; dimensioned diagram); the nose's outline, doors and windows (schematic, layout only); Cummins QSK19 engines, Voith T312 transmission
- Class 180 (technical data) The Railway Centre (archived by the Wayback Machine, 27 September 2007), last modified 24 April 2006height 12 ft 6 in (3.80 m); Alstom MB2 bogies; Scharfenberg outer and bar inner couplers; single-leaf sliding plug doors
- BR Class 180 180107 Sandy Railway Station.jpg (photograph, CC BY 4.0) BWard 1997, via Wikimedia Commons, 13 July 2024Grand Central's livery and its colours; the doors and gangways (photograph, layout only)
- 180101 Grand Central Trains at Werrington Junction.jpg (photograph, CC BY 2.0) kitmasterbloke, via Wikimedia Commons, 17 June 2021the band's sweep down the nose and the yellow front; colours (photograph, layout only)
- 180104 Grand Central Trains Andelante Offord Cluny.jpg (photograph, CC BY 2.0) kitmasterbloke, via Wikimedia Commons, 8 June 2023the nose's livery, the door behind the cab, the joins between cars; colours (photograph, layout only)
- Grand Central Class 180, Cromwell Moor.jpg (photograph, CC BY 2.0) Phil Sangwell (from Flickr), via Wikimedia Commons, 15 May 2010the band's height (photograph, layout only)
- Grand Central Class 180 (54448906726).jpg: a Class 180 at King's Cross, front view (photograph, CC BY-SA 2.0) James Petts, via Wikimedia Commons (from Flickr), 13 April 2025the front's Scharfenberg coupler and the yellow panel's height (photograph)
- General Railway Pictures 2012 289.jpg (photograph, CC BY-SA 2.0) The Basingstoker, via Wikimedia Commons (Flickr), 6 June 2012layout of the underframe equipment (the DMSL's and a centre car's skirt and openings; layout only, indicative)
- 180114 of Grand Central Ttains Kings Cross-Bradford service at Werrington Junction 160621.jpg (photograph, CC BY 2.0) kitmasterbloke, via Wikimedia Commons, 16 June 2021a check of the DMSL's skirt openings on the side drawn (layout only)
- First Great Western Wikipedia, read 13 October 2026the livery's name, who ran it and its years (no colours taken)
- British Rail Class 180 Wikipedia, read 13 October 2026the livery's name, who ran it and its years (no colours taken)
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unverified
- Introduced: Railnews (2011) says the trains ran for First Great Western from 2001 and were launched 'after some delays'; Wikipedia gives December 2001
- Engines: Angel Trains gives the Voith hydraulic transmission but not the engines; Wikipedia gives a Cummins QSK19 under each car
- The four spare units: RAIL (March 2026) says Angel Trains has four Class 180s off lease, and Railway-News (October 2026) that they have been out of service for almost three years; where they last ran isn't confirmed
- The drawing is indicative: the nose is traced from Voith's diagram, which isn't to scale overall, and the body behind it is the Class 175's; no near side-on photograph of a 180 was found
- Height: the Railway Centre (an enthusiast data page, 2006) gives 12 ft 6 in (3.80 m); drawn at the 175's measured 12 ft 3 in (3.73 m) roof
- Bogies: the Railway Centre gives Alstom MB2; drawn in the Class 175's Coradia 1000 style, whose bogie no source names
- The driving cars' bogies: Voith labels 52 ft 6 in (16,000 mm) between centres but draws 15,060 at the nose's scale; drawn 16,000 apart, centred where Voith draws them
- Doors and windows: as Voith's schematic diagram draws them (one door behind the cab, none at the cab itself; 11 windows a car); their widths and heights are estimated
- Livery: the band and yellow panel on the nose are placed by eye from three-quarter photographs; the band's tone is from an overcast photograph and reads darker than in sunlight
- The underframe: indicative: read off one oblique photograph (positions to about 300 mm), heights from the Class 175's skirt; the MSL and MSLRB drawn as the car photographed (car 2, the MFL or the MSLRB); the photograph shows the unit's other side, mirrored onto the front cars; the DMSL's side drawn (180114, 2021) agrees within about 1 ft 4 in (400 mm)
- The years of the former liveries come from Wikipedia's class article and the other sources listed, and haven't been checked against a second source.
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