Alstom, the UK and Ireland’s ‘leading supplier of new trains and train services, and a leading signalling and rail infrastructure provider’, has signed a £10.4 million contract extension with passenger operator
TransPennine Express to maintain its Class 397 fleet. The contract will see Alstom continue to offer train maintenance, stabling, servicing, and cleaning services for TransPennine Express’s 12 Class 397 (known as Nova 2) five-car electric multiple units (EMUs).
The work will continue to be carried out at Alstom’s Traincare Centres in Manchester and Glasgow, these being two of five similar facilities the company operates along the West Coast Main Line. The contract supports more than 50 roles across the two sites, including production managers, site operatives and train movement operators.
Alstom’s Manchester Traincare Centre at Longsight can accommodate almost 300 rail vehicles at one time. It is one of the largest of its kind in the UK and the home depot for the Nova 2s. Meanwhile, Alstom’s Glasgow Traincare Centre at Polmadie typically takes in 17 trains per day, including TransPennine Express Class 397 units.
Peter Broadley, Alstom’s services managing director UK and Ireland, said: “Securing this contract extension is a testament to the quality of our services portfolio and the strong partnership we have developed with TransPennine Express. The contract extension is also great news for our teams in Manchester and Glasgow, who provide a round-the-clock service, seven days a week.”
Built by
CAF and owned by
Eversholt Rail, the Class 397 units originally entered service in November 2019. Since then, the TransPennine Express fleet has travelled more than eight million miles — an average of 688,000 miles per unit. Under the contract extension, Alstom will continue to maintain the fleet until at least December 2025. Alstom maintains over 35,500 vehicles worldwide, both Alstom and non-Alstom rail assets.
Alstom has built, or is building, just under 40% of the UK mainline train fleet, as well as the entire fleets in service with London Underground and Dublin Luas. The company, which employs some 6,000 people in the UK and Ireland, designs and builds trains at Derby (the UK’s largest train factory), operates major sites at Widnes, Crewe, Ilford and Plymouth, and has some 30 train services depots throughout the UK and Ireland.