UK: CrossCountry has selected Alstom as preferred bidder to refurbish its fleet of Voyager DMUs over a broadly two-year period as part of an investment package aimed at increasing capacity on its network by up to 25%.
The national long-distance operator also announced on March 25 that it would be acquiring a further five Class 221 Voyager DEMUs from leasing company Beacon Rail, in addition to the seven which are to be transferred from Avanti West Coast in an agreement set out in CrossCountry’s National Rail Contract last October. According to CrossCountry, the 12 ex-AWC trainsets totalling 60 cars will provide more than 12 000 additional seats on its services by the summer.
CrossCountry told Rail Business UK it could not confirm if the refurbishment of its 58 Class 220 and 221 trainsets as well as its Class 170 DMUs used on its regional routes serving Cardiff, Stansted Airport and Nottingham would be undertaken at Alstom’s Litchurch Lane production facility in Derby. The factory has been the subject of much speculation about its viability amid the current hiatus in orders for new train fleets.
Alstom said ‘the location where the refurbishment work will be carried out and further details of the scope will be announced in due course’. On April 10, an Alstom spokesman told Rail Business UK that the scope of the work would cover only the Class 220/221 fleet, with the Turbostar refresh to be undertaken under a separate procurement.
Key enhancements in the refurbishment programme would include better CCTV, automatic passenger counting equipment, fresh carpets and LED lighting. The Voyager trains will also receive new seats and an exterior repaint; CrossCountry says the former Avanti sets will also be refurbished at the end of the programme, reflecting the fact that these have already had an internal refresh while working for the West Coast Main Line operator.
Timetable tweaks
CrossCountry says the fleet expansion will enable it to launch an enhanced timetable from May 2025. A key area of focus will be on lengthening train formations on key north-south routes including its Reading – Newcastle service.
The extra trains will be progressively introduced from June 2024 following their release from AWC. However, as part of the transition, CrossCountry says it will remove a number of intermediate station calls from its services between June and September. This is intended to ‘relieve crowding on some long-distance services this summer’. The stations affected include Wakefield Westgate, Chesterfield, Basingstoke and Winchester, with the aim being that passengers making shorter journeys will switch to other operators.
‘For more than 20 years, CrossCountry’s Voyagers have proudly served towns and cities across Great Britain — travelling millions of miles in the process’, said Peter Broadley, Alstom’s Managing Director of Rolling Stock & Services for UK & Ireland. ‘We now look forward to giving these trains some well-deserved TLC with a comprehensive overhaul that will include new seats, onboard technology enhancements and an exterior repaint. The overhaul programme will support UK suppliers and skilled jobs across the country.’
