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Class 222 Meridian
Bombardier's diesel intercity train, built for Midland Mainline and Hull Trains. Since May 2026 five, cut to six cars, have run Lumo's London Euston to Stirling service; EMR's are to go to ScotRail in 2027-28. Built as four- and nine-car trains, they were later formed as 23 five-car and four seven-car units. EMR's 22 are now all five-car; Lumo's five were cut to six cars from seven- and five-car sets.
Shown
Scale
383 ft (116.7 m) (the cars’ lengths added)
Class 222 Meridian · schematic drawing GB Trains · gbtrains.uk/stock/222/ · CC BY 4.0
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Liveries 2
The same measured train in each livery, each drawn from a cited source. The drawing above shows the largest fleet’s.
Former liveries 5
Midland MainlineFormer31 May 2004 to Nov 2007Not drawn yet
Hull TrainsHull Trains 'Pioneer'FormerMay 2005 to 2009Not drawn yet
East Midlands TrainsFormerNov 2007 to Aug 2019Not drawn yet
First Hull Trains blueFormer2008 to 2009Not drawn yet
- Type
- Diesel-electric multiple unit
- Builder
- Bombardier
- Family
- Class 22x, with Class 220 Voyager, Class 221 Super Voyager
- Built
- 2003–2005
- In service
- since 2004
- Operators
- EMR, Lumo
- Formation
- 5 cars (DMF-MC-MSB-MS-DMS)
- Fleets
- East Midlands Railway: 22; Lumo: 5
- Top speed
- 125 mph (201 km/h)
- Power
- Diesel-electric, a Cummins QSK19 engine under each car · how it works
- Bogies
- Bombardier B 5005 bogies · drawn with the same bogie component as Class 172 Turbostar, Class 220 Voyager
- Train length
- 383 ft (116.7 m) (the cars’ lengths added)
- Coupled
- 2 × 5 cars, about 766 ft (233 m) (the units’ lengths added)
- Car width
- 8 ft 11 in (2.73 m)
- Profile
- main-line
- Seats per train
- 240
- Total capacity
- EMR: 50 first class and 190 standard seats, with 10 tip-up seats (5-car). Lumo: 338 seats, all standard class (6-car), with 13 fold-down seats and 2 wheelchair spaces besides; 344 where coach C is laid out as coach B
- Status
- In service; due off lease at the end of 2026, with EMR seeking an extension. EMR is replacing them with Class 810 Auroras: 13 of the 33 had been accepted by the end of September 2026, when one 222 was stored at Derby and two more had been out of service since August. 22 are to move to ScotRail in 2027–28. Five six-car units (222601-222605) with Lumo, in service from 25 May 2026 and all five by 8 August 2026, refurbished by Alstom at Widnes and maintained at Central Rivers. Owned by Beacon Rail, which bought Eversholt Rail in January 2026; Eversholt's own fleet page still shows the class as leased to EMR.
Car types
| Code | Car | Length | Doors per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMF | Driving motor first, with galley (coach G) | 78 ft 3 in23.85 m | 2 single |
| MC | Motor composite (coach D) | 75 ft 6 in23.00 m | 2 single |
| MSB | Motor standard with buffet (coach C) | 75 ft 6 in23.00 m | 2 single |
| MS | Motor standard (coach B) | 75 ft 6 in23.00 m | 2 single |
| DMS | Driving motor standard, with train manager's office (coach A) | 78 ft 3 in23.85 m | 2 single |
Sources
How we source figures → · Spotted a mistake? Tell us → (opens in a new tab)
Show the 36 sources from Wikimedia Commons, Bombardier Transportation, RAIL and 10 more
- Class 222 Eversholt Railbuilder, car lengths, formation, seats, 125 mph (201 km/h); entry into service 2004-05; 23 five-car and 4 seven-car units; 10 tip-up seats in a five-car unit; still shows 27 units (23 five-car, 4 seven-car) leased to EMR, with no mention of Lumo's five or of Beacon (status)
- ScotRail confirms Class 222s to replace HSTs Rail, 19 March 2026built 2003–05; 22 five-car units with EMR; cascade to ScotRail; Cummins engines; EMR's units all five-car (summary); the 22 as 'Beacon Rail Class 222s' (status)
- Beacon Rail takes on more than 2,700 vehicles as it acquires rival ROSCO Eversholt RAIL, 30 January 2026Beacon Rail's purchase of Eversholt UK's fleets, with the 222s listed under it: 222006-023 and 222101-104 with EMR, 222001-005 with Lumo, five Class 222s transferring from EMR to Lumo (status)
- Beacon complete the acquisition of Eversholt Rail Beacon Rail, 21 January 2026Eversholt Rail part of Beacon from 21 January 2026 (status)
- Beacon awarded contract to lease Class 222 trains to ScotRail Beacon Rail, 19 March 2026Beacon, as the lessor, signing a contract with ScotRail to lease 22 Class 222 trains (status)
- Refreshed Lumo C222 West Coast train revealed Beacon Rail, 23 April 2026Beacon's part in refurbishing Lumo's five Class 222s with Alstom and First Rail (status)
- EMR looking to Voyagers and extending Class 222 lease as more services are restored Rail, 30 September 2026lease end and extension; 13 of 33 Class 810s accepted; one 222 stored at Litchurch Lane, Derby, and two out of service since August (status)
- Diesel Electric Multiple Unit Class 222 'Meridian' & 'Pioneer' - United Kingdom (project page, technical data) Bombardier Transportation (archived copy), archived 12 August 2014car width 8 ft 11 in (2,730 mm); 307 ft (93.7 m) 4-car and 685 ft (208.7 m) 9-car trains (checks the car lengths) (summary: built as four- and nine-car trains)
- Diesel Electric Multiple Unit Class 222 'Meridian' & 'Pioneer': technical drawing (side elevation and plans of a 4-car unit) Bombardier Transportation (archived copy), archived 25 August 2014side elevation of the DMS and buffet car and plans of the MC and DMF (measured)
- Diesel Electric Multiple Unit Class 220 'Voyager': technical drawing (dimensioned general arrangement of a driving car) Bombardier Transportation (archived copy), archived 12 September 2015the drawing's scale (16,000 bogie centres) and the driving-car shell, windows and heights (printed)
- B5000 bogie data sheet (0477/BOG/09-2004), archived copy Bombardier Transportation, September 2004the drawing: bogie wheelbase and wheels
- Seating plan for the 5-car 222 Meridian train East Midlands Trains (copy hosted by seat61.com), 2012the drawing: order of the cars and which way the buffet car faces
- Report 31/2007: passenger door open on a moving train near Desborough Rail Accident Investigation Branch, August 2007, p. 11 (Figure 3)the drawing: cross-check of door positions and the buffet car's orientation
- Class 220 SREMGthe drawing: roof height cross-check (the Class 220's 12 ft 4 in (3.76 m))
- Class 222 East Midlands Trains Diagram Wikimedia Commons (Unisouth, CC BY-SA 3.0), 2008the drawing: the plain MS car's doors and windows, as a cross-check only
- Class 222 photographs: 222003, 222006, 222009, 222012, 222022, 222104 and a 7-car on Harringworth viaduct Wikimedia Commons (Ultra7, public domain; Matt Taylor CC BY 4.0; TheJRB CC BY-SA 2.0; Phil Sangwell CC BY 2.0; Geof Sheppard CC BY-SA 4.0; Superalbs CC BY-SA 4.0; kitmasterbloke CC BY 2.0), 2009–2025colours of the drawing; the DMS's display by the cab, square in a pale frame (set T13F, Kyle, 29 October 2026)
- Class 222 East Midlands Railway Diagram (side view of a four-car unit in EMR's 2019 branding, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Vauxhallvauxhall), 24 December 2019the drawing: cross-check of doors, windows, bogies and heights (differences listed); the roof colour, door-foot strips, door-button lights, bogie and underframe detail, and the 2019 branding's band and pinstripes
- Refurbished Lumo 222 outshopped as first travel date is brought forward RAIL (David Stubbings), 22 April 2026Lumo's five ex-EMR 222s, cut to six cars, renumbered 222601-222605
- 'Unprecedented' faults hit Lumo's Class 222s on Stirling-Euston route RAIL (David Stubbings), 12 August 2026Lumo's 222s in service from May 2026, and their faults; services from 25 May 2026, the fifth set (222605) from 8 August; re-formed from seven or five cars to six (status, summary); Lumo's five are former EMR units (status)
- Our fleet Lumo, accessed 7 October 2026Lumo's Class 222s on the West Coast route
- References: High-Speed Trains and Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) Voith Turbo, May 2008the B 5005 bogie and its 7 ft 5 in (2,250 mm) wheelbase (drawing)
- 222003 Class 222 Meridian Tornado 24 March 2009 Sheffield Midland station pic 1 (photograph, public domain) Wikimedia Commons (Ultra7), 24 March 2009the bogie drawing's layout (222003's B 5005 bogies; layout only); the DMS's inner-end display, 68 ft 8 in to 70 ft 2 in (20,930-21,390 mm; set T13, Kyle, 29 October 2026); the DMS's door windows, 120 mm off centre towards the cab (set T13, Kyle, 29 October 2026); the DMS's display by the cab, square in a pale frame (set T13F, Kyle, 29 October 2026)
- Trains 2 054 (220018 and 221133 coupled at Durham, photograph, March 2008, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Britishrailclass91), March 2008the bogie drawing's layout (a Class 220's B 5005 bogie, near side on; layout only)
- West Coast seat plan (V1): coaches A, B, C, D, E and G of the Class 222 Lumo, accessed 10 October 2026Lumo's seats, counted coach by coach: 338 standard, 13 fold-down, 2 wheelchair spaces; coach C's two layouts
- Train reflections 3 (an East Midlands Trains Class 222 at Leicester, photograph, 22 July 2009, CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Ben Coulson), 22 July 2009the cab dome's edge, the lower front without a chin and the exposed Dellner coupler (set CAVOY3)
- Derby railway station MMB 22 222020 (photograph, 4 August 2010, CC BY-SA 3.0) Wikimedia Commons (mattbuck), 4 August 2010the lower front's face about the nose (set CAVOY3)
- Coupled (CrossCountry 220031 and 221140 nose to nose at Plymouth, photograph, 17 February 2024, CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Tim Green, from Flickr), 17 February 2024the cab dome's edge (set CAVOY3; the same shell)
- Class 222 photographs: 222003, 222006, 222009, 222012, 222022, 222104 and a 7-car on Harringworth viaduct Wikimedia Commons (Ultra7, public domain; Matt Taylor CC BY 4.0; TheJRB CC BY-SA 2.0; Phil Sangwell CC BY 2.0; Geof Sheppard CC BY-SA 4.0; Superalbs CC BY-SA 4.0; kitmasterbloke CC BY 2.0), 2009–2025the cab coupler: its position, heights and shape (set BC5, 20 October 2026)
- 222003 Class 222 Meridian Tornado 24 March 2009 Sheffield Midland station pic 2 (photograph, public domain) Wikimedia Commons (Ultra7), 24 March 2009the DMS's display by the cab, square in a pale frame (set T13F, Kyle, 29 October 2026)
- Lumo British Rail Class 222 (222601 at London Euston) Wikimedia Commons (Cdriver14, CC BY 4.0), 25 May 2026the DMS's display by the cab, square in a pale frame (set T13F, Kyle, 29 October 2026)
- Preston - Lumo 222605 cab close up (side view of the driving car, coach A) Wikimedia Commons (Geof Sheppard, CC BY-SA 4.0), 20 August 2026the sweeps' shape and placing (measured), and the colours
- 222601 Lumo test train Carlisle (a six-car unit from above, crossing the River Eden) Wikimedia Commons (Steve Knight, CC BY 4.0), 24 May 2026six cars; the silver doors, the galley door in body blue, the roof and the front
- Southbound Lumo service at Preston (an intermediate car side on) Wikimedia Commons, from Geograph (DS Pugh, CC BY-SA 2.0), 11 July 2026an intermediate car: plain blue sides and silver doors
- British Rail Class 222 Wikipedia, read 13 October 2026the livery's name, who ran it and its years (no colours taken)
- Hull Trains Wikipedia, read 13 October 2026the livery's name, who ran it and its years (no colours taken)
- East Midlands Trains Wikipedia, read 13 October 2026the livery's name, who ran it and its years (no colours taken)
unverified
- Drawing: Bombardier's 222 drawing prints no dimensions; scaled by the bogie centres printed on its Class 220 drawing (to about 0.4%)
- Drawing: the plain MS car isn't in Bombardier's drawing; drawn as the MC, as Wikimedia Commons's diagram shows it
- Drawing: the intermediate cars measure 74 ft 10 in (22.8 m) over couplers on Bombardier's drawing, not the published 75 ft 6 in (23.0 m); drawn at 75 ft 6 in (23.0 m)
- Drawing: the small panes by the train manager's office and the toilets are small symbols on the drawing; drawn as small windows
- Drawing: EMR's colours, the purple galley door and the orange cantrail line are from photographs
- Drawing: the roof's dark grey is sampled from one photograph (222006, 2025); Wikimedia Commons's diagram draws it near-black
- Drawing: the door-button lights' side of the door on the MC, MS and buffet car is as Wikimedia Commons's diagram draws it; their size and height are from one photograph (222022, 2023)
- Drawing: the underframe's equipment boxes are shaped and spaced after Wikimedia Commons's diagram, not measured
- Drawing: Wikimedia Commons's diagram puts the driving cars' bogie centres 55 ft 8 in (16,967 mm) apart and the windows on a 7 ft 0 in (2,127 mm) pitch; Bombardier's figures (16,000 and 2,080) are drawn
- Drawing: Wikimedia Commons's diagram draws the buffet car's door at the galley end body-coloured, with no window where Bombardier draws one (10 ft 6 in to 15 ft 5 in (3.2-4.7 m) from that end), and small panes near the MC's doors; not drawn, since the diagram is of a four-car 222/1 and no photograph has been checked
- Lumo's seats are counted from its West Coast seat plan (V1): 40, 72, 66, 60, 66 and 34 in coaches A to E and G (338), with 13 fold-down seats; the plan says coach C has coach B's layout (72 seats) on some trains, so a train has 338 or 344. FirstGroup gave about 340 (Rail Technology Magazine, 2025)
- Drawing: the wheels are drawn 2 ft 7 in (780 mm) across; no source read gives the Voyagers' wheel diameter (it is in proportion with the wheelbase in the photographs)
- Drawing: the B 5005 bogies are laid out from Bombardier's GA and photographs (layout only); no dimensioned drawing of the bogie was found (Bombardier's B5000 data sheet is archived but couldn't be fetched)
- Drawing: the cab front is the Voyagers' (the dome read off four photographs, one of them a 222); the lower front and the exposed coupler are placed from the EMT 222 at Leicester and 222020 at Derby, not measured
- EMR Intercity branding (2019): the band and pinstripes are read off Wikimedia Commons's diagram (heights to about 40 mm); photographs of 222104 (2019-20) show the upper pinstripe sweeping up at the first door, which the diagram draws straight
- EMR Intercity branding (2019): worn by 222104 in 2019-20; whether any 222 carries it now isn't known. Drawn on the five-car train
- EMR Intercity branding (2019): the band's colour is the drawing's purple shifted as the diagram's band differs from its body; the pinstripes' colour is the diagram's
- Lumo blue: the sweeps are measured on one photograph of 222605 through a fitted perspective (about ±100 mm on the bodyside, more on the curve of the nose, where the point they meet is placed by eye below the headlight)
- Lumo blue: colours sampled from photographs; no paint references have been published, and the blue reads lighter or darker with the light (the overcast Preston photograph's is drawn)
- Lumo blue: coach E (the sixth car) is drawn as the MC: Lumo's seat plan shows its seats (68, with a toilet) but not which vehicle it was; coach C is EMR's buffet car on some units and laid out as coach B on others (the plan's note), drawn as the MSB
- Lumo blue: the MC and DMF are drawn as EMR's; Lumo made them standard class, and whether any windows changed wasn't checked
- 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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