Avanti West Coast has confirmed that it has returned 2 Class 221 Voyager trains to its owning company, Beacon Rail.
Yesterday, we reported that static testing had begun on the new Avanti West Coast Class 805 and 807 trains at Hitachi's Newton Aycliffe factory.
These new trains are set to replace the Avanti West Coast Voyagers when they enter service from 2023.
Voyager's 221142 and 221143 have been confirmed as the first to go off lease, this took place yesterday at the end of service.
Avanti says that it needs 44 Pendolino's and 12 Voyagers to operate its current timetable.
RailAdvent has contacted Beacon Rail to see what the plans for the two Voyagers are, and will update this article when we have information.
Meanwhile, the Pendolino refurbishment programme continues.
Train set 7, 390157, is now at Alstom's Widnes Works and replaces 390154 which is now at Edge Hill. Just one Pendolino is undergoing work, which will now continue as they work towards getting a turnaround of two weeks.
You can read more about the work and our visit to the Alstom factory by clicking here
In the post-pandemic World the railways need to expand catering for leisure and expect less business travel to/from London. Zoom is here to stay. As others say more capacity will be needed for cross country routes including routes that don’t currently exist or have lapsed, like Norwich to Birmingham without stopping at minor towns. And for levelling up, why are Leeds and Glasgow, two of our great cities, not linked by direct limited-stop Intercity trains?
Most of the train enthusiasts say that the Avanti West Coast Class 221 Voyagers should go to Crosscountry to boost more extra capacity. Or if not then I think they could go to SWR or GWR.
Shame they have removed the table lamps from first class and the all new black tables I’m afraid have a downmarket appearance – the ‘class’ has been removed from first class.
I was thinking the same.