The biggest overhaul of bogies belonging to the UK’s hardest working train fleet has reached a major milestone with the initial phase of the project completed by Alstom.
The work has seen Alstom overhaul 1,148 bogies – a framework with wheels that sits underneath the train carriage – across Avanti West Coast’s Class 390 Pendolino fleet.
All 35, 11-carriage Pendolinos have had their sets of 22 bogies examined and reconditioned to give them a new lease of life after clocking up over 750,000 miles – the equivalent distance of travelling to the moon three times.
In just one year, 770 bogies have been revamped by Alstom’s historic facility in Crewe – a centre of excellence for component repair and overhaul.
Each week the bogies and traction motors (an electric motor that generates the power to rotate the wheels of a train) are transported by road to Crewe Works, where they are disassembled, and their subcomponents refurbished to like-new condition.
The bogie frames are separated from the wheelsets and washed to remove excess dirt and oil, then stripped into component parts that are reconditioned before being painted and reassembled.
Train bogies heavy overhaul
It is part of a wider programme of work on the Pendolinos – known as a heavy overhaul, which each week sees component parts including, pantographs, train control and information systems, batteries, and valves reconditioned or replaced. In one week, Alstom’s teams in Crewe and Manchester will replace 24,456 individual fixings and 9,511 parts, as well as repair 249 items.
The heavy overhaul, which follows the award-winning GBP 117 million investment programme to refurbish the Alstom-built Pendolino trains, is designed to ensure the fleet continues to provide a reliable service.
“We are thrilled to reach this important milestone in the overhaul of the Avanti West Coast Pendolino fleet’s bogies. This project showcases the outstanding expertise and dedication of our team in Crewe,” said Peter Broadley, Managing Director, Services UK and Ireland at Alstom.
He added: “By ensuring these trains continue to perform at their best, we are not only preserving the legacy of Crewe as a centre of railway excellence but also contributing to a more reliable and efficient rail service for passengers across the UK. We look forward to continuing this vital work in partnership with Avanti West Coast.”
Work continues
The latest phase of the project will see a set of 18 bogies belonging to the 21 nine-carriage Pendolinos transformed each week.
Pendolino 390002 is the latest nine-carriage train to undergo its bogie overhaul. After operating as the 10:42 London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly on Sunday 8 September it arrived at Alstom’s Manchester Traincare Centre in Longsight before its bogie sets were sent to Crewe less than 24 hours later.
“Our Pendolinos travel hundreds of thousands of miles every year, so it’s critical their heavy maintenance is completed throughout the year to ensure they’re safe and reliable for our customers,” said Stacy Thundercliffe, Head of Fleet and Engineering at Avanti West Coast.
She added: “We’re proud to be working with Alstom to overhaul the Pendolinos – especially with much of the work being done local to the West Coast Main Line. Crewe has a rich railway heritage and is a key hub on our route, so it’s great the skills that have been passed down over the 180 years of Crewe Works are being utilised to carry out this latest investment in our fleet.”
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