Between late 2003 and April 2006 GNER (the former franchise owner) and Bombardier Transportation undertook a rebuilding and refurbishment programme for the Mark 4 stock called Project Mallard. Trains with these rebuilt coaches became known as Mallards to distinguish them from unrefurbished sets during the upgrade programme, named after the Mallard steam locomotive, (which was built in the 1930s by the London and North Eastern Railway and holds the world speed record for steam locomotives).
The Mallard refit gave the Mark 4 coaches all-new interiors with new seats, carpeting and power points at every seat for charging laptops and powering appliances. The vestibule areas lost their flip-down seats near the entrances with perch-type seats being put in their place. As part of the Mallard programme the buffet coach in each set was turned around and half-converted to provide more standard-class seating. Wheelchair-width doors were fitted and the overall seating capacity of a full-length train was increased by fitting airline-style seats in place of the previous groupings of pairs of seats facing each other across a table.
The buffet was remodelled as 'cafe-bar' in a similar style to the 'shop' concept developed by Virgin on their Voyager and Pendolino trains. However, the range of products offered by GNER was smaller than on Virgin trains: they did not sell CDs or magazines, for example.
GNER introduced wireless Internet connectivity as a trial from December 2003 and introduced it into service from April 2004 making it the first service of its kind in the United Kingdom (similar services are now offered by Virgin Trains and Southern). All Mallard trains now offer 802.11b/g wireless LAN access to the Internet. Prior to National Express East Coast (NXEC) taking over the franchise on Sunday 9 December 2007 access to the Internet was free in first class and chargeable in standard class. With the advent of the new franchise access to the Internet became free for all passengers. In October 2010, under the temporary Directly Operated Railways ownership, East Coast reintroduced charges for standard class passengers. After a free 15-minute period access can be purchased for £4.95 an hour or £9.95 for 24 hours.
Read more about this topic: British Rail Mark 4
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