Rolling stock › In serviceData updated
Class 397 Civity (Nova 2)
CAF's 125 mph 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.
Drawing to come
- Type
- Electric multiple unit
- Builder
- CAF, Beasain (Spain)
- Built
- 2017–2019
- In service
- since 2019
- Operators
- TransPennine Express
- Formation
- 5 cars
- Trains in fleet
- 12
- Fleets
- TransPennine Express: 12
- Top speed
- 125 mph
- Power
- 25 kV AC overhead
- 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) | 24.03 m | 2 single |
| PTS | Pantograph trailer standard (PTS) | 23.35 m | 2 single |
| MSL | Motor standard with lavatory (MSL) | 23.35 m | 2 single |
| PTSL | Pantograph trailer standard with lavatory (PTSL) | 23.35 m | 2 single |
| DMSL | Driving motor standard with lavatory (DMSL) | 24.03 m | 2 single |
Sources
- Class 397, Eversholt Rail, None (built by CAF at Beasain on the Civity platform; 12 five-car units leased to TransPennine; 125 mph; 'end doors'; formation; car lengths 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 2022 (five-car Civity EMUs, Mc-T-M-T-Mc, 118 m, 200 km/h, total capacity 290)
- First picture: TransPennine Express Class 397 takes shape in Spain, RAIL (Richard Clinnick), 6 September 2017 (construction under way at Beasain, September 2017; 12 units; maintained at Longsight and Polmadie)
- First Class 397 arrives for TransPennine, The Railway Magazine, 31 December 2018 (first unit delivered on 4 December 2018)
- TPE accepts first Class 397, RAIL (Richard Clinnick), 25 July 2019 (397005 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 2019 (first 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 2026 (routes; 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 2024 (286 seats, 22 first class)
- Alstom secures a contract extension from TransPennine Express to maintain Class 397 fleet in the United Kingdom, Alstom, 29 July 2024 (maintained 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 2025 (TPE's 60 electric vehicles, March 2025)
- British Rail Class 397, Wikipedia, accessed 7 October 2026 (door type and driving-car length (cross-check only))
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 24.03 m and 23.35 m; Wikipedia gives 24.026 m for the driving cars; CAF gives 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