Avanti West Coast has welcomed the 56th and final refurbished Pendolino into its fleet, following an upgrade programme completed by Alstom.
Alstom performed the £117 million refurbishment programme of Avanti West Coast’s Class 390 Pendolino fleet, which was the largest fleet upgrade in UK rail history.
574 carriages were refurbished across the whole project, at a rate of one train completed every two weeks.
The final train to be refurbished, 390020, entered service on Monday morning, working the 08:43 service from Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston.
Andy Mellors, Managing Director at Avanti West Coast said: “The refurbished Pendolinos, together with our new Evero fleet, are a key part of our mission to transform rail travel for our customers on the west coast route.
“The Pendolino is an iconic train, and now even better than before, offering customers a much-improved travel experience, with innovation and sustainability at its heart.”
The upgrade has returned the Class 390 fleet to an ‘as-new’ condition. Customer benefits of the refurbishment project include:
- 25,000 new, ergonomic Standard Class seats
- Conversion of one First Class carriage on all 35 eleven-carriage Pendolinos, providing more than 2000 more Standard Class seats
- Improved lighting
- Customer-friendly passenger information screens
- Additional luggage space in Standard Class
- Power points at every seat
- A new onboard shop
- Refurbished toilets
Peter Broadley, Alstom’s Services Managing Director UK, said: “Alstom’s successful completion of the UK’s biggest ever fleet upgrade demonstrates our commitment to enhancing the journey experience for fare-paying passengers while, at the same time, supporting the growth of sustainable rail travel in the UK.
“We are immensely proud to see the entire Alstom-built Pendolino fleet returning to service in peak condition.”
UK suppliers are also benefitting from 80% of the £117 million investment, which is financed by Angel Trains.
Malcolm Brown, CEO of Angel Trains, said: "A huge thank you to both Alstom and Avanti West Coast for making the UK's biggest ever fleet upgrade possible. It's significantly transformed our iconic trains, and I'm positive that passengers will enjoy the comfort and connectivity when they travel on one of our refurbished Pendolinos.
“I’m certain that it will encourage people to make a positive decision to travel by train on the West Coast Main Line.”
Image credit: Avanti West Coast
