14.05.12
Allerton depot officially opens
Allerton Train Care got the ministerial seal of approval at its official opening on May 10, with rail minister Theresa Villiers cutting the ribbon.
It is the new home of Northern’s Class 156 DMUs, but is expected in the future to become the base for Class 319 electrified stock, cascaded from the Thameslink routes when Network Rail’s electrification of thenorth west‘triangle’ is complete.
The depot refurbishment and reopening was delivered by Northern Rail and Network Rail at a cost of £10.6m and was operational within six months, by December 2011. 46 staff are now employed there.
Northern said its quick delivery was possible thanks to running the design and construction partially in parallel.
Villiers said: “Allerton Depot is an exceptional example of what can be achieved when rail industry partners work together to realise a common goal. By taking a flexible approach to processes, significant time and money savings were made benefiting passengers and fare payers and the wider local economy as the opening of the depot has created 46 jobs.”
Jo Kaye, Network Rail’s route managing director, said: “It is really good to see a rail asset that has lain dormant for a number of years brought back into operational use to help meet the ever growing demand for rail travel.
“We have gone to great lengths to make the depot as ‘green’ as possible by including such things as recycling old concrete walkways, an exterior washer which recycles up to 80% of the water it uses, rain water harvesting to a 5,000 litre tank, energy efficient lighting and radiant heaters.
“Now Northern Rail has one of the most environmentally train care depots in the country.”
Ian Bevan, managing director of Northern Rail added: “The work that has been achieved at Allerton is an excellent example of what can be accomplished by the strong working partnership between Northern and Network Rail. We’re thrilled with the results and happy to be helping strengthen our skilled workforce in the local community.”
RTM interviewed Barry Graham, business development director at Northern Rail, about the opening of the depot in the Dec/Jan issue of Rail Technology Magazine (page 62 http://content.yudu.com/A1v91h/RTM1212/ )
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