Avanti West Coast’s £117 million refurbishment of its Pendolino fleet concluded with the final completed train going into service at the end of June after leaving
Alstom’s Widnes facility. This marked the end of the project, which has been the UK’s biggest ever fleet upgrade and seen 574 refurbished carriages delivered in just over two years, at a rate of one completed train every two weeks.
Andy Mellors, Avanti West Coast’s managing director, said: “The refurbished Pendolinos, together with our new Evero fleet, are a key part of our mission to transform rail travel for our customers on the west coast route. The Pendolino is an iconic train, and now even better than before, offering customers a much-improved travel experience, with innovation and sustainability at its heart.”
Peter Broadley, Alstom’s UK services managing director, added: “Alstom’s successful completion of the UK’s biggest ever fleet upgrade demonstrates our commitment to enhancing the journey experience for fare-paying passengers, while at the same time supporting the growth of sustainable rail travel in the UK.
“Our team at Widnes has worked tirelessly in partnership with colleagues at Avanti West Coast, Angel Trains, and our wider UK supply chain, to elevate the interior refurbishment of rolling stock to another level. We are immensely proud to see the entire Alstom-built Pendolino fleet returning to service in peak condition.”
UK suppliers have also benefitted from 80% of the £117 million investment, which was financed by Angel Trains, one of the UK’s leading ‘train asset management companies’. Angel Trains’s CEO Malcolm Brown said: “A huge thank you to both Alstom and Avanti West Coast for making the UK’s biggest-ever fleet upgrade possible. To demonstrate our commitment to continue developing talent within our suppliers and industry, Angel Trains is sponsoring two apprentices to join Alstom’s Widnes facility later this year. I wish them every success in what I hope will be a long railway career ahead.”