OO Gauge HornbyR40166B GNER, Mk4 Standard, Coach C – Era 9
Brand new item direct from our new Yorkshire model railway shop.  Product InfoBuilt at Metro-Cammell’s Washwood Heath factory, 314 Mk4coaches were produced between 1989 and 1992. They were built specifically foruse on the newly electrified East Coast Main Line, along with hopes that asecond order for the West Coast Main Line would be placed at a later date,although this second order never transpired. Mk4 coaches featured manyimprovements over the Mk3s such as push-button operated plug-type doors, fullysealed gangways and a designed top speed of 140mph. Much of the Mk4 design wasbased upon the Advanced Passenger Train. In particular, Mk4 coaches featuresides profiled to allow a tilt of up to 6° with newly fitted tilting bogies.Mk4s entered service in 1989 and helped drive a significantincrease in passenger traffic. With privatisation in 1996, all Mk4 coaches weresold to Evershot Rail Group who have since leased them out to the holder of theInterCity East Coast Franchise. The franchise was initially awarded to GreatNorth Eastern Railway (GNER) and has since been operated by National ExpressEast Coast, East Coast, Virgin Trains East Coast and London North EasternRailway (LNER) owned by the Department for Transport.Between October 2003 and November 2005 BombardierTransportation, under contract from GNER, commenced refurbishment of the Mk4stock, fitting new seating arrangements and introduced onboard Wi-Fi, a firstfor British rail services. This refurbishment programme was called ‘ProjectMallard’ named after the Mallard steam locomotive, built in the 1930s by theLondon & North Eastern Railway and holder of the world speed record forsteam locomotives.Although Mk4 coaches have spent most of their lives on theECML, there are plans to cascade them down to other lines due to theintroduction of the Class 800 and Class 801 IEPs.