Class 800 Series High Speed Train

When Hitachi won the Department for Transport’s £5.7bn contract to supply the trains for the Intercity Express Programme, IEP, they chose DCA as their design partner, relying on us to engage with and manage design inputs from multiple project stakeholders.

Our role was to ensure that the design met the visual brand aspirations of the two initial service operators and the human factors needs and working practices of drivers and staff from both operating companies delivering a range of UK services, as well as satisfying the contractual standards and latest safety and PRM TSI requirements.

DCA designed the driver’s cab and passenger interiors, including 1st and standard class seats, the space saver and universal access toilets and the café/shop facility, to create an integrated service offer that allowed operators to deliver modern, comfortable high-speed train journeys across the UK rail network.

We completed the 30 metre long full-size mock-up in under five months, which allowed Hitachi to test and refine their production solutions and formed a crucial part of the design sign-off process.

Upon completion of the project, DCA and Hitachi Rail Europe were presented with the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Stanley H. Caplan User-Centred Product Design Award. This US-based award recognised the project team’s “outstanding and innovative practice in product design, alongside the consumer research and design methods used to develop and evaluate the interior design of the Class 800 trains.“

Award co-chair Dianne McMullin stated, “This is the first time an international candidate has won the award, and the judges found DCA’s work to be exemplary.”