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Class 397 Civity (Nova 2)
CAF's 125 mph (201 km/h) Civity, built in Spain for TransPennine Express's Anglo-Scottish routes and branded Nova 2: five-car electric trains with doors at the car ends, intercity style, and 60 per cent of seats at tables. They run between Manchester Airport or Liverpool and Glasgow or Edinburgh by the West Coast Main Line, and replaced the Class 350/4s there in 2019.
Scale
Class 397 Civity (Nova 2) · indicative drawing GB Trains · gbtrains.uk/stock/397/ · CC BY 4.0
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Liveries 1
TransPennine ExpressTransPennine ExpressSilver with cyan, navy and purple flashes and a cyan nose (photographs)Shown aboveSpecial liveries 1
- Eurovision 2023 / Welcome to Liverpool (397011) 3 May 2023.
- Type
- Electric multiple unit
- Builder
- CAF, Beasain (Spain)
- Family
- Civity, with Class 195 Civity, Class 196 Civity, Class 197 Civity, Class 331 Civity
- Built
- 2017–2019
- In service
- since 2019
- Operators
- TransPennine Express
- Formation
- 5 cars
- Trains in fleet
- 12
- Fleets
- TransPennine Express: 12
- Top speed
- 124 mph (200 km/h)
- Power
- 25 kV AC overhead · how it works
- Bogies
- CAF ARIN bogies (Civity UK); CAF ARIN motor bogies (Civity UK) · drawn with the same bogie component as Class 195 Civity, Class 196 Civity, Class 197 Civity, Class 331 Civity
- Profile
- main-line
- Air-conditioned
- Yes
- Seats per train
- 286
- Total capacity
- 264 standard and 22 first class
- Status
- In service: all 12 with TransPennine Express, leased from Eversholt Rail and maintained by Alstom at Longsight, Manchester, and Polmadie, Glasgow.
Car types
| Code | Car | Length | Doors per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMFLW | Driving motor first with lavatory and wheelchair space (DMFLW) | 78 ft 10 in24.03 m | 2 single |
| PTS | Pantograph trailer standard (PTS) | 76 ft 7 in23.35 m | 2 single |
| MSL | Motor standard with lavatory (MSL) | 76 ft 7 in23.35 m | 2 single |
| PTSL | Pantograph trailer standard with lavatory (PTSL) | 76 ft 7 in23.35 m | 2 single |
| DMSL | Driving motor standard with lavatory (DMSL) | 78 ft 10 in24.03 m | 2 single |
Sources
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Show the 34 sources from Wikimedia Commons, TransPennine Express, Flickr and 13 more
- Class 397 Eversholt Rail, Nonebuilt by CAF at Beasain on the Civity platform; 12 five-car units leased to TransPennine; 125 mph (201 km/h); 'end doors'; formation; car lengths 78 ft 10 in and 76 ft 7 in (24.03 and 23.35 m); seats; 25 kV AC; entry into service 2019
- Civity regional train for TransPennine Express (project page and technical data sheet) CAF, archived 1 December 2022five-car Civity EMUs, Mc-T-M-T-Mc, 387 ft (118 m), 200 km/h (124 mph), total capacity 290
- First picture: TransPennine Express Class 397 takes shape in Spain RAIL (Richard Clinnick), 6 September 2017construction under way at Beasain, September 2017; 12 units; maintained at Longsight and Polmadie
- First Class 397 arrives for TransPennine The Railway Magazine, 31 December 2018first unit delivered on 4 December 2018
- TPE accepts first Class 397 RAIL (Richard Clinnick), 25 July 2019397005 the first accepted, July 2019; to replace the Class 350/4s
- Nova 2 enters service at last Railway Gazette International (Rail Business UK), 2 December 2019first service 30 November 2019, Manchester Airport to Edinburgh; 264 standard and 22 first class seats; 60 per cent at tables
- Nova 2 TransPennine Express, accessed 7 October 2026routes; 12 five-car trains by CAF, owned by Eversholt; maintained by Alstom in Manchester
- TransPennine Express celebrates five years of the Nova Fleet in "Nova-ember" TransPennine Express, 25 November 2024286 seats, 22 first class
- Alstom secures a contract extension from TransPennine Express to maintain Class 397 fleet in the United Kingdom Alstom, 29 July 2024maintained at Longsight and Polmadie; in service from November 2019
- Table 6314: rolling stock vehicles by traction type and operator Office of Rail and Road, 20 November 2025TPE's 60 electric vehicles, March 2025
- British Rail Class 397 Wikipedia, accessed 7 October 2026door type and driving-car length (cross-check only)
- The Class 331 Electric Multiple Unit (specification sheet) Arriva Rail North, 24 January 2018, p. layout drawingthe Civity UK's dimensioned layout: bogie centres 52 ft 6 in (16,000 mm), 12 ft 1 in (3,675 mm) from each coupling, wheelbase 7 ft 5 in (2,250 mm), gaps between bodies (drawing)
- The Class 195 Diesel Multiple Unit (specification sheet) Arriva Rail North, 24 January 2018the Civity UK's height, 12 ft 8 in (3.850 m; drawing)
- Gearboxes solutions (CAF Mobility product brochure) CAF Mobility, accessed 8 October 2026, p. 11wheels 2 ft 7 in (780 mm) new (drawing)
- Nova 2 Seating Plan (customer version), on the Seating plans page TransPennine Express, accessed 8 October 2026the coaches' arrangement: first class, toilets, bicycle storage (drawing); the PTSL has no toilet
- Vehicles in the United Kingdom 431 (a Class 397 on a bridge, photograph, 1 July 2021, CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Steven's Transport Photos), 1 July 2021door and window positions of the first-class driving car (measured; drawing)
- Vehicles in the United Kingdom 433 (a Class 397 on a bridge, photograph, 1 July 2021, CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Steven's Transport Photos), 1 July 2021the nose's length ahead of the cab door; TransPennine's livery (drawing)
- BR Class 397 Velim (photograph, 15 October 2018, CC0) Wikimedia Commons (Plutowiki), 15 October 2018the nose in profile, the front bogie, the standard-class driving car's cab end (drawing)
- Class 397 TransPennine Express Mittelwagen (photograph, 26 April 2019, CC0) Wikimedia Commons (Plutowiki), 26 April 2019heights of doors, windows and body against the wheels; the livery; the bogie's layout (drawing)
- 379104 [sic] Greenholme (a Class 397 side on at Greenholme, photograph, 30 May 2026, CC BY 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Steve Knight), 30 May 2026door, window and bogie positions of the intermediate cars (measured), window counts, pantograph positions; the livery (drawing)
- Lancaster (a TransPennine Class 397 at Lancaster, photograph, 9 September 2021, CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Peter Trimming, from geograph.org.uk 6961887), 9 September 2021the front bogie under the cab door (drawing)
- Regional and intercity trains: Civity (Civity UK) CAF, read 9 October 2026the Civity UK's ARIN bogies (the bogie type, drawing)
- BR Class 195 Velim (photograph, 15 October 2018, CC0) Wikimedia Commons (Plutowiki), 15 October 2018the ARIN bogie on a Class 195, the same arrangement: a cross-check of the bogie's layout (drawing)
- Edinburgh - TPE 397007 departing for Manchester (ScotRail 385105).JPG (Geof Sheppard, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons, 9 June 2025the pantograph trailer's roof well and which way the folded pantograph lies (layout only)
- 397 001 contrasts with 397 00X at Longsight Car M. D. near Manchester (photograph, 21 April 2024) Flickr (Colin P. Brooks), 21 April 2024the front with its cone cap on and the cab door, traced in the drawing's frame (set CAF397R), and the cab livery as straight bands (set CAF397S; drawing)
- The Very wonderful Trans Pennine Express Class 397 397005 seen passing through Bolton (photograph, 21 January 2020) Flickr (PhotographerDamien), 21 January 2020a check on the capped front (set CAF397R; layout only)
- 397008 at Carlisle (photograph, 10 August 2021) Flickr (stephen.lewins), 10 August 2021a check on the capped front and the cab livery (set CAF397R; layout only)
- Class 397 Coach E (397003's first-class driving car at Carlisle, photograph, 28 May 2019) Flickr (Stuart's Transport), 28 May 2019a check on the capped front (set CAF397R; layout only)
- Class 397 TransPennine Express Mittelwagen (photograph, 26 April 2019, CC0) Wikimedia Commons (Plutowiki), 26 April 2019layout of the underframe equipment on a pantograph trailer (PTS or PTSL; layout only)
- Nova 2 Seating Plan (customer version), on the Seating plans page TransPennine Express, accessed 8 October 2026which coach the Velim photograph shows (seats 41-80: coach B or D)
- 397010 TransPennine Express service from Manchester Airport to Glasgow Central Abington - 55289831491.jpg (photograph, CC BY 4.0) kitmasterbloke, via Wikimedia Commons (Flickr), 24 May 2026layout of the underframe on the MSL (layout only)
- 397107 of Trans Pennine Express at Crawford curves.jpg (photograph, CC BY 4.0) Steve Knight (kitmasterbloke), via Wikimedia Commons (Flickr), 21 May 2026the front's lower cover closed in service, head on with a long lens: the cab coupler hidden, a small towing eye at the cover's foot (set BC10, 20 October 2026; layout only)
- British Rail Class 397 Wikipedia, read 13 October 2026the livery, its unit and its dates
- A Guide to Overhead Electrification (132787-ALB-GUN-EOH-000001, rev 10) Network Rail (prepared by Alan Baxter), February 2015, p. 39the contact wire in the In operation drawing: 15 ft 5 in (4.7 m) above rail, Network Rail's normal height
![379104 [sic] Greenholme (a Class 397 side on at Greenholme, photograph, 30 May 2026, CC BY 4.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:379104_Greenholme.jpg){kind=link}
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unverified
- Seats: 286 with 22 first class (Railway Gazette 2019; TPE November 2024); TPE's Nova 2 page says 288 with 24 first class; Eversholt gives 24 first, 266 standard and 8 tip-up; CAF gives a total passenger capacity of 290
- Doors: one single-leaf door at each end of each car side, from Eversholt's 'end doors' and Wikipedia ('single-leaf sliding plug, 2 per side per car'); not from a drawing
- Car length: Eversholt gives 78 ft 10 in (24.03 m) and 76 ft 7 in (23.35 m); Wikipedia gives 78 ft 10 in (24.026 m) for the driving cars; CAF gives 387 ft (118 m) for the train
- Height and width: not published by CAF, Eversholt or TPE (Wikipedia gives none either)
- Built 2017-2019: construction was under way at Beasain in September 2017 (RAIL) and the first unit reached Britain on 4 December 2018 (The Railway Magazine); Wikipedia gives 2017-2019
- Car names: Eversholt's PTSL is coach B on TransPennine's seating plan, which shows no toilet in it; the plan puts the four toilets in coaches A, C (two) and E. Wikipedia calls it PTS2
- Drawing: the bogie centres, wheelbase, inter-car gap and height are the Class 331's and Class 195's (the same Civity UK platform), not the 397's own; the doors, windows, nose and the driving cars' front bogie are measured from photographs (see the drawing's notes)
- Bogies: CAF names "ARIN bogies" among the Civity UK's adaptations for Britain but no source names the 397's own; drawn as CAF's ARIN from photographs of a 397 bogie at Velim (layout only), which show the same inside-framed arrangement as the Class 195's; the 397's higher speed (125 mph (201 km/h) against 100) may mean differences the photographs don't show
- The underframes: the pantograph trailers read off one photograph of one of them (coach B or D, not known which; positions to 150-300 mm, heights to about 80 mm) and drawn alike; the MSL read off one very oblique photograph (positions to about 1 ft 8 in (500 mm)) whose end-for-end orientation isn't known; which side of each car the photographs show isn't known; the PTSL shows the photographed layout mirrored (its other side isn't shown by any photograph found)
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