Class 390 Pendolino
Alstom's tilting electric train for the West Coast Main Line, which first carried passengers in July 2002. Avanti runs 56, as nine- and eleven-car trains, all refurbished by 2024.
- Type
- Tilting electric multiple unit
- Builder
- Alstom
- Built
- 2001–2004 and 2010–2012
- In service
- since 2002
- Operators
- Avanti West Coast
- Formation
- 9 or 11 cars: a 9-car train is 217 m long, an 11-car train 265 m. Driving cars 25 m, the others 23.9 m; a 9-car train leaves out one TSO and one MSO
- Fleets
- Avanti West Coast: 56
- Top speed
- 125 mph (designed for 140 mph)
- Power
- 25 kV AC overhead
- Car width
- 2.73 m
- Profile
- main-line
- Total capacity
- 9-car: 99 first class and 362 standard seats; 11-car: 99 first class and 508 standard
- Status
- In service: 21 nine-car and 35 eleven-car trains.
Car types
| Code | Car | Length | Doors per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMRFO | Driving motor, first class, with a kitchen | 25.00 m | |
| MFO | Motor, first class | 23.90 m | |
| PTFO | Pantograph trailer, first class | 23.90 m | |
| TSO | Trailer, standard class | 23.90 m | |
| MSO | Motor, standard class | 23.90 m | |
| PTSRMB | Pantograph trailer, standard class, with the shop | 23.90 m | |
| DMSO | Driving motor, standard class | 25.00 m |
Sources
- Our Pendolino trains, Avanti West Coast (fleet of 21 nine-car and 35 eleven-car trains; seats; 217 m and 265 m; 125 mph; built 2001–2004 and 2010–2012; tilt; refurbishment)
- Report 20/2008: derailment at Grayrigg, 23 February 2007 (version 5), Rail Accident Investigation Branch, October 2008, revised July 2011, pp. 21–22 (built by Alstom; first passenger service July 2002; designed for 140 mph; tilt; 25 kV AC; the order of a nine-car train's coaches (Table 2))
- Alstom and Avanti West Coast sign Pendolino refurbishment deal, Railnews, 8 January 2020 (refurbishment and maintenance of all 56)
- Table 6314: rolling stock vehicles by traction type and operator, Office of Rail and Road, 20 November 2025 (574 electric vehicles with Avanti, 2022 to 2024 (21 x 9 + 35 x 11))
- Class 390, Angel Trains (car lengths (25 m driving, 23.9 m others), width, 9- and 11-car formations, 56 trains)
- 390039 Burnfoot 260724.jpg: 390 039 near Burnfoot (photograph, CC BY 2.0), kitmasterbloke, via Wikimedia Commons, 26 July 2024 (the indicative drawing: cab outline, car 1 to 3 doors, windows, bogies, livery and heights (measured off the photograph))
- 390 006 Mill Meece 180124.jpg: 390 006 at Mill Meece (photograph, CC BY 2.0), kitmasterbloke, via Wikimedia Commons, 18 January 2024 (the indicative drawing: doors, windows and livery of cars 4, 5 and 8 to 11 (measured off the photograph))
- 390127 Wandel 260724.jpg: 390 127 at Wandel (photograph, CC BY 2.0), kitmasterbloke, via Wikimedia Commons, 26 July 2024 (the indicative drawing: the 11-car train's car order and livery, cars 6 and 7 (seen far off))
- 390 156 Avanti Pendolino unit.jpg: 390 156 at Crewe (photograph, CC BY 2.0), kitmasterbloke, via Wikimedia Commons, 29 August 2023 (the indicative drawing: car 2's windows; 2.70 m wheelbase stencilled on the bogie)
- 391005 City of Wolverhamton.jpg: 390 005 at Crewe (photograph, CC BY 2.0), kitmasterbloke, via Wikimedia Commons, 29 August 2023 (the indicative drawing: door proportions (checked))
- 390049 Greenholme.jpg: 390 049 at Greenholme (photograph, CC BY 4.0), Steve Knight, via Wikimedia Commons, 30 May 2026 (the indicative drawing: underframe fairings (measured off the photograph))
- Class 390 'Pendolino' (recognition and technical data), archived 14 October 2007, The Railway Centre, December 2001 (height 3.56 m, used for the indicative drawing)
unverified the drawing: indicative, measured off photographs and scaled to Angel Trains' car lengths; heights to about 0.1 m, doors and windows to 0.2-0.5 m, the drawing's cab crown, 0.42 m above the roof behind it, is measured off one photograph, the drawing's cars 6 and 7 (11-car trains only) are drawn as cars 8 and 5; their livery has not been checked close up, the drawing's colours: sampled from photographs, not from a paint specification