CrossCountry and Alstom invited RailAdvent to Derby Litchurch Lane Works today to see the unveiling of the first Voyager train to go through a refurbishment as part of a £75m project.
The £75m has been invested by the Voyager fleet’s owner, Beacon Rail.
Today’s event was to allow invited guests to preview the train ahead of the unit returning to the tracks soon.
The first unit is 220033, which has clocked up nearly 6 million miles since being completed. There are already 2 other train sets here at Derby Litchurch Lane, and these are already undergoing the same refurbishment.
Alstom is working towards having a train return to CrossCountry each week.
The workplan sees the train at Litchurch Lane for three weeks in total, the first week sees the train stripped down, week two sees the train painted and week three sees all the new seating installed.
The refurbishment has seen a refreshed interior with work in both standard and first class. All the seating and tables are all brand new and now feel up to the standards needed for journeys that are made on these trains.
Shiona Rolfe, CrossCountry’s MD, said that the refurbished train marked ‘an important step’ in their commitment to improving the passenger experience.
As part of the interior refresh, tables have been upgraded, as well as new carpet throughout.
Upgraded CCTV also features along with new power sockets that have 3-pin plugs as well as USB-A. It is also great to see USB-C making a feature, future-proofing charging for passengers.
CCTV on the Voyager trains used to only cover one angle, but the new CCTV will showcase 360-degree views.
The Voyager fleet is maintained at Alstom’s Central Rivers Depot, but the full refurbishment project will be completed at Alstom’s Derby Litchurch Lane Facility.
Alstom’s Service Director here in the UK and Ireland, said that he was proud of the quality that the team has brought to the first Voyager, insisting that the same commitment would be made to every train that goes through the programme.
The project will take around 2 years to complete and will see all 70 trains in the fleet undergo the same upgrades.
Finishing off the upgrades are refurbished toilets, LED lighting and a new livery on the outside, which complements the upgrades that are taking place to CrossCountry’s Turbostar fleet.
What is great to hear from Alstom is that waste material from the project is set to be recycled, and Alstom is working on options for how best to make the most of the material left over.
Alstom says that the materials will be reused by local students at local universities for their coursework, which will mean the programme is better for the environment.
We look forward to seeing the programme commence fully and seeing the newly refurbished train on the tracks soon.
A big thank you to both CrossCountry and Alstom for inviting RailAdvent to Litchurch Lane today to see the newly refurbished Voyager. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
Responses
No mention of the provision for cyclists. Under Virgin, it was easy to get a bike on-board. Since Arriva took over, they replaced that with cupboards used by staff to store rubbish, by teenagers as places to hang out, and sometimes by bikes, which are too small to fit one adult bike in, and have left me with cuts and bruises or back ache. Clearly no adult cyclists were involved with the design of the cupboards (or maybe CrossCountry management have special bikes with no handlebars). If I’m cycling, I’ll usually avoid CrossCountry and use another operator.
Also, have they fixed the toilet smell leaking into the carriage, and have they fitted the internal doors with sensors so they don’t close when someone is using them?
Still crap units no matter how they try to polish them up, the Voyager units need scrapping and replacing by longer bi-mode sets, it’s daft running diesel sets under the WCML overhead wires from Manchester to Birmingham and on the northern end of the ECML.
Goid to see at last. Will the XC fleet be expanding with former Arriva West Coast 221 units? The XC image has, for years, been crippled by the lack of sufficient seats/carriages on the main core routes.
Still, one step forward, following the 170 fleet refurbishment…
A very smart livery, soon to be superseded by the GBR colours. Is this a last gasp of a privatised TOC, as it must represent a significant part of today overall refurbishment cost?
Six million miles, they’ve been given a hammering! Nice to see full interior refurbishment having taken place.
It would be even nicer to see them replaced will full length trains. But we live in hope…