THE first of the hi-tech trains due to replace the familiar InterCity 125 arrived at Southampton docks today.

Devizes MP and railways minister Claire Perry was among those to welcome the prototype Hitachi Class 800 Super Express.

In the next few years, 122 of the Hitachi trains will be assembled at a new plant in County Durham.

All will be electric and almost half will be able to switch between running on overhead wires or as diesels, where lines are not electrified.

The train is part of the £7.5bn modernisation of the Great Western railway line and will be used as a test train on the rail network from April.

The first trains are due to run on the Great Western main line from 2017 and the East Coast main line from 2018.

The train which arrived today was built in Hitachi's Kasado works in Japan and contains components from almost 30 UK-based suppliers.

Once Hitachi's purpose-built £82 million facility at Newton Aycliffe in County Durham opens later this year the majority of the 866-carriage fleet will be manufactured in the UK.

The IEP has suffered years of delay involving the last Labour government as well as the current coalition administration.

Ms Perry said: "It is hugely exciting to witness the arrival of the first state-of-the-art IEP train on British soil.

"These trains will transform rail travel for passengers travelling between many of the great towns and cities of England, Scotland and Wales, provide a massive jobs boost for Britain and deliver billions of pounds of benefits for our economy."