A general view of the Alstom Widnes facility, with ‘Pendolino’ No. 390156 (driving car No. 69156) on the right for its interior upgrade, and SWR’s No. 458507 on the centre road being refurbished and reformed as a four-car.
ON April 25, ‘Pendolino’ No. 390125 re-entered traffic with Avanti West Coast after a complete interior refurbishment at Alstom in Widnes, Cheshire. The set is the first of the 56-strong fleet to be treated, with the £177 million programme – acommitment in Avanti’s winning franchise bid of 2019 – due to continue until early 2024.
As the pilot set for the programme, work on No. 390125 took around 30 weeks to complete. Set 2 (No. 390123) then took 16 weeks, Set 3 (No. 390148) eight weeks, Set 4 (No. 390155) four weeks, and Set 5 (No. 390156) two weeks. This reduction in time followed from the team learning how to do the job more efficiently based on feedback from the shop floor and, with the workforce fully up to speed, two weeks will now be the ‘beat rate’ for the programme. Two sets are being worked on at any one time, with departures/arrivals taking place once per week.
The work involves a complete overhaul of the passenger vehicle interiors, with sets being stripped back almost to a shell before being rebuilt. This includes extensive new wiring, lighting, information screens, carpeting and – perhaps most importantly – new seats in Standard and First Class. The opportunity is also being taken to replace the floor boards in the older sets, which are now 20 years old, while the 35 11-car sets will see one First Class vehicle converted to Standard. All sets will receive a new on board shop, and the overall effect has been described as being ‘like a new train’.