The biggest overhaul of bogies belonging to Avanti West Coast's Pendolino fleet has reached a major milestone with the initial phase of project completed.
The first part of the work to overhaul 1,148 bogies has been completed by the UK supplier, Alstom. 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 facility in Crewe. 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, 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.
It is part of a wider programme of work on the Pendolinos – known as a heavy overhaul, which each week sees 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 £117 million investment programme to refurbish the Alstom-built Pendolino trains, is designed to ensure the fleet continues to provide a reliable service.
A team of 35 highly skilled workers employed full-time are dedicated to the project at Crewe.
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 at Longsight before its bogie sets were sent to Crewe less than 24 hours later.
Stacy Thundercliffe, Head of Fleet and Engineering at Avanti West Coast, said:
“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”.
Peter Broadley, Managing Director, Services UK and Ireland at Alstom said “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.”
Image Credit: Alstom
