01.11.12
Looking good
Source: Rail Technology Magazine October/November 2012
Niall Gray reports on the upcoming refurbishment of South West Trains’ Class 455 fleet and Stagecoach’s decision to invest £3.2m in a state-of-the-art paint shop at its Bournemouth traincare depot.
In a £23m project slated to take four years, Porterbrook has signed a contract with Stagecoach South West to update all 91 of its Class 455 EMUs.
The fleet, built in 1984 and 1985 in York, will be upgraded, repainted and given a major interior clean in time for the C6 maintenance programme, while disabled facilities will be updated in time for the ‘Passengers of Reduced Mobility – Technical Specification for Interoperability’ (PRM TSI) compliance, intended to improve boarding and seating conditions for those with reduced mobility.
The trains, which operate on the third rail system, provide the backbone of SWT’s London Metro services.
Changes and improvement
Paul Francis, managing director at Porterbrook, said: “We are very proud of what we and SSW have done with the Class 455s and we are keen to continue investing in this fleet which has not only improved in reliability but continues to provide a better journey experience for passengers. This will be enhanced still further by the inclusion of the PRM TSI modifications.”
The overhaul follows a major refurbishment of the trains between 2004-7 at Bombardier’s site in Chart Leacon, which involved them being sandblasted to bare metal, which was replaced with new metal where corrosion was found. Carriage interiors also underwent a full redesign, so interiors will largely remain unchanged this time, but will benefit from a heavy duty clean.
Train exteriors will be repainted in two-pack paint, while passenger and staff doors will be completely overhauled. In time for the PRM TSI compliance measures, new exterior door sounders will be fitted, while new design door handles will be implemented to meet new requirements. ‘Call for aid’ buttons will also be fitted at both wheelchair positions, and wheelchair ramps installed on all trains.
Implementation
Porterbrook commissioned the Bournemouth traincare depot in Dorset to execute the £23m overhaul, which has allowed South West Trains to invest £3.2m in building a stateof- the-art paint shop at the depot by April 2013. BAM Nuttall is the contractor on those works.
Christian Roth, Alliance fleet director for the South West Trains-Network Rail Alliance, said: “From April we will no longer have to send our trains elsewhere for repainting as Bournemouth will become a one-stopshop. For the first time ever, we will be able to maintain all our fleets in-house.
“This gives us the flexibility to custom build overhaul programmes around our specific business needs, allowing us to return our overhauled trains back to work quickly, in a cost effective way that benefits our passengers.”
The combined projects will create almost 40 new full-time jobs. Work is to begin in November 2012 and the last unit should be completed by November 2016.
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Above image: The Bournemouth traincare depot.