A £60 million project to refurbish Class 158s, 170s and 360s has been announced by East Midlands Railway.
EMR has partnered with the Angel Trains, Siemens, Porterbrooke and Eversholt Rail for the project and will mean, along with the new Aurora Trains, every EMR train will either be replaced or refurbished.
The Class 360s operate EMR Connect and Luton Airport Express services between Corby and London St Pancras.
These trains will be refurbished to provide better facilities, including new 2+2 seating in a mix of airline style and bay seating with luggage racks, charging points and new information screens.
Class 170s operate regional services including Matlock to Derby and Nottingham, Nottingham to Worksop, Newark Castle to Crewe, Derby / Stoke-on-Trent / Peterborough to Doncaster and services to Cleethorpes.
These trains have come from different operators and will be refurbished to provide a consistent experience across the fleet with new seat foams and covers, extensive refresh and new PIS and CCTV systems.
EMR's Class 158s, which operate services between Liverpool and Norwich, will receive new seat foams and covers, an interior refresh and CCTV systems.
“This multi-million-pound investment into our Connect and Regional fleets is fantastic news for our customers and the regions we serve.
“The refurbishment will redefine the travel experience across every corner of our network. Be it commuters, leisure travellers or airport passengers, this investment will be transformative – offering them more convenience, comfort and better facilities.
“‘It is also great news for the country's rail industry, with all the work being carried out by UK companies.
“Combined with the up and coming introduction of our Intercity Aurora fleet – it will mean every train we operate will either be new or refurbished.”
Will Rogers, Managing Director of East Midlands Railway
“This refurbishment programme will provide a boost to the UK rail industry and is great news for passengers, who will soon benefit from significantly more enjoyable journeys across the EMR network on new and improved trains.
“This kind of investment is crucial as we continue to modernise our railways, enhancing the passenger experience for millions of people and attracting more people to travel by rail.”
Huw Merriman, Rail Minister
Extra coaches in the summer might be expensive, I wonder what EMR would do with them in the winter?
I welcome the refurbishment of the older trains kept by EMR, but agree with other correspondents that longer and more frequent trains, especially between Norwich and the north west, are desperately needed. To enable this, more drivers most be recruited and fully trained.
Also vitally important is the upgrading of the overhead catenary between Bedford and St. Pancras, enabling the new Aurora trains to run at their designed speed. Do we have a completion date for this work?
Upgrade the coaches on the Nottingham to Skegness route, and increase the number of coaches during the summer season.
Correct,not enough coaches on the Liverpool to Norwich service, trains always busy, also not enough coaches on the Sheffield to London service
About time the service between Norwich and Liverpool is terribly uncomfortable and ther is no sufficient baggage space for large cases also almost this service needs more coaches two carriages is ridiculous for the length of journey especially during spring and summer
We should expect no less! The government doesn’t care and doesn’t want to spend money on people they have no time for, as passengers do not feature in their perspective. So the franchise holders have to create an attractive environment to boost their product to build confidence and support from their hopefully growing market. We can only wish them success because at least they are trying.
Why no mention of the Nottingham to Skegness route. The trains on this line are in desperate need of an upgrade.
Refurbishment of old stock used to be just done as a matter of course. But now, does there have to be a great fanfare whenever it happens?
If the trains (or services) are actually new then that’s fine. What a fuss.