More than 5,500 seats will be refurbished in a £3m project to refresh East Midlands Railway‘s Intercity fleet.
All seat covers and foam padding in standard class seats will be totally replaced as the class 222 fleet prepares to begin a new life once the new Aurora trains arrive next year to take over some EMR services.
Trains will not be taken out of service as the seats will be upgraded during the course of routine maintenance work. The seats will be changed to a neutral grey colour, with the foam presently in use being recycled into material used in rubberised safety matting seen in children's play areas.
EMR customers will see the changes later this month as trains with refurbished seats will travel along the Midland Main Line between London St Pancras and Sheffield.
Ian Hyde, Fleet Director for East Midlands Railway, said: “This is great news for our Intercity customers while we await the exciting introduction of the Aurora fleet.
“The refurbishments will significantly improve the experience and environment for our customers – all without the need to take any trains out of service.
“This much-needed refresh of the train interiors represents a significant investment for the fleet and future-proofs them, enabling them to continue serving UK customers wherever they go after they leave us. It's also gratifying that we are able to recycle the old seat materials into something beneficial, rather than just sending them to landfill.”
Perhaps will Class 222 EMR operate from Liverpool Lime Street to Norwich probably next year in December 2024 some will replace class 156 and class 158 sprinters.
That would provide too much space and comfort. We lowly dogs who travel on that line only deserve the crumbs.
No chance of 222s operating Liverpool to Norwich. They can’t keep to Sprinter differentials, are very inefficient seating-wise and are very heavy. They would be limited to 45-50 mph once they reach East Anglia. Also, 156s exited the EMR fleet last year – 158s and 170s operate Regional services.
Class 222s could be used for scotrail on the Inverness to Aberdeen route
Not many other options where the 222s would be appropriate – they were built to run on the MML; so anywhere else won’t be a perfect fit for them. ScotRail would be the closest fit.
I think that the owner of the Class 222 fleet (Eversholt?) might have decided to refurbish the seating prior to the sets going off-lease to make them more marketable to another customer?
Yes, the ROSCO is Eversholt. It could also be a contractual obligation for the TOC to return the trains to the ROSCO in a certain condition as part of lease requirements. Either that or, as you say, it makes them more marketable.
What’s the point in refurbishing the Class 222 Meridians that EMR are to replace them with the Class 810 IET AT300s from next year. Might as well leave as it is and focus on refurbishing other trains including the Class 360/1 Desiro that were cascaded from Greater Anglia and are currently being used on the St. Pancras-Corby service.
Other TOCs interested to purchase them will benefit from their interiors saving money and time. Among possible candidates for class 222 and to be redundant Avanti class 221 are Trans Pennine Express, Grand Central, Cross Country and Scotrail for instance. Hope it helps.
I doubt TPE would get 222s seeing as they seem to get new build stock all the time. GC wouldn’t take the 222s because they wouldn’t need all 27 units (the ROSCO would be reluctant to split the fleet up) and they are familiar with 221s – which the 222s are completely incompatible with. No point putting GC staff through training for yet another train class when the AWC 221s should be more plentiful when the 805s/807s come into service. XC wouldn’t get them due to the 222 incompatibility with 220s/221s and to the fact that they’re already getting 7 extra 221s. So, ScotRail would be the only viable option.
Don’t forget that the 222s, 360s and 810s are owned by different ROSCOs; hence different lease terms with different requirements. For example, the 222s may have a stipulation that EMR have to return them to Eversholt in a certain condition at the end of the lease. So, there will invariably be come complexities which aren’t apparent to people outside the TOC, ROSCO and DfT. Agreed, though, that the 360s are in dire need of a refurbishment – their current condition is a disgrace to the rail industry.