23.01.20
Engineering expertise in Northern's £100m investment
Rail operator, Northern, has published insight into the processes and engineering expertise involved with its current £100m investment into its trains.
The ongoing modernisation programme is working to fully refurbish 268 diesel and electric trains at six train depots across the country.
The average time taken to renovate a single carriage is 120 work hours - around five full days - and the input of around 20 experts in their own fields. These include: electricians, painters, vehicle builders, welders, textile fitters and project managers.
According to Northern, more than half a million metres of cabling is expected to be used throughout the entire project, which is enough to reach from Manchester to Amsterdam. In addition to this, more than 100 tonnes of new equipment and 672,000 nuts, screws and bolts are required.
To complete the project, more than 72,000 work hours, equivalent to 3,000 full days or just over eight years is required, with suppliers in the north of England used where possible.
Andrew Marden, head of Engineering Transformation at Northern, said:
“This transformational engineering programme is absolutely mammoth and the complexity of giving 268 a new lease of life is extremely challenging.
“The refurbished trains will massively improve our customers’ experience and the units will have all the facilities that you would expect from a brand-new train. Customers will hardly be able to tell the difference.”
“Of course, we have a really difficult balancing act to keep services operating whilst carrying out the improvement work and are aiming to complete the renewals as quickly as possible.
“Our engineering teams are fantastically skilled in a variety of disciplines and are making great progress in delivering enhancements for our customers.”
Once completed, the refurbished fleet will provide passengers with better seating, fully accessible toilets, free WiFi, digital customer information, new flooring, an external repaint, sustainable lighting and security focused CCTV.
Photo: Class 333 at Skipton