Full scale mock ups of both the driving cab and the carriage interiors were developed and built by DCA Design, Britain. These mock-ups, which are a design tool not a replica of a complete train, have been extensively reviewed by around 2000 people as part of around 200 stakeholder and employee visits.

The interior colours of SET, or class 801, have been agreed by DfT and the current franchisees and utilise a grey colour scheme and light wood finishes for seats in standard class with first class featuring darker seats with burgundy head and armrests and darker wood finishes. The standard class seats have tip down tables designed to accommodate tablet computers and larger laptops.

The coaches utilise a specifically designed computer reservation system which was developed from user and operator feedback. Colour lights visible throughout the coach indicate the occupancy status of seats throughout the train, with green showing an unreserved seat, orange a seat that is reserved for part of journey, and red indicating that the seat is reserved for the entire journey.

The trains also feature a kitchen, lockable bike and luggage storage facilities, with luggage racks in coaches capable of holding airline hold-size luggage. Hitachi says the five-car trains will have the same amount of luggage space as the current East Coast mark IV coaches, while the nine-car version will have roughly twice as much luggage space as the existing coaches.

The driving cab is based upon the class 395 Javelin EMU but incorporates a range of additional features; ERTMS is fitted as standard while the trains destined for the Great Western franchise will also use ATP, although this will be de-commissioned once ERTMS is deployed.

Diesel engine power packs for the bi-mode variant are mounted under the floors of intermediate coaches meaning that these coaches have a higher floor height than the driving cars which are lower to accommodate the pantograph. As a result gangways between the two coach types incorporate a gentle slope.

IEP Cab

IEP Interior