Passengers travelling across the North West and Yorkshire are seeing fewer delays and cancellations after Northern and Spanish train manufacturer CAF introduced a new collaborative approach to maintaining the Class 331 fleet.
The initiative, formalised through a new maintenance agreement signed in April 2025, has transformed the way engineers from both organisations work together. By focusing on faster fault resolution, improved supply chain management and daily technical reviews, the partnership has significantly increased the reliability of trains that carry millions of passengers every year.
Since the agreement came into force, engineering teams at Northern and CAF have been meeting every day to review mechanical issues, identify root causes and implement solutions before problems can affect passengers.
A key element of the strategy has been the decision to repair critical components, including traction motors and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units, through specialist firms based in the North of England. Previously, many of these parts had to be sent to mainland Europe for repair, creating lengthy turnaround times.
The results have been striking.
Over the past 12 months, the average distance travelled by a Class 331 train before experiencing a fault has increased by 72%, rising from 9,031 miles to 15,549 miles. As a result, trains are being removed from service less frequently, improving fleet availability and service reliability.
Geraint Bartie, Contracts Performance Manager at Allerton Train Care Centre in Liverpool, said:
“We have been working together, making sure we’re all aligned and focusing on the same priorities. Ultimately, we want to do what’s best for the passenger.
“We used to meet with CAF every few weeks to talk about what went wrong and react, but we now review technical issues together every single day and see if they have caused delays for passengers. We work together to get to the root cause much faster and fix it.
“We can closely monitor any issues and plan ahead, so we have the resources and materials in place to fix issues and prevent them from causing failures in the future. This approach helps us deliver a more reliable service through the high-quality maintenance our passengers deserve.
“Fixing the supply chain has also been crucial, ensuring we can now work with local companies to repair key parts within days instead of waiting months.
“We didn’t have a single air conditioning failure on the 331 trains this summer during the heatwave because we were getting the HVAC units fixed so quickly.”
Northern’s Engineering Director, Raj Basi, said the achievement highlights the impact of closer collaboration between operators and manufacturers.
“By working in partnership with CAF, we have delivered significant gains in reliability and performance for the passengers we serve across the North.
“I am incredibly proud of the teams whose expertise, commitment and innovation have made this achievement possible.
“This demonstrates what can be accomplished when organisations work as one team, united by a shared goal and a determination to deliver a better railway for passengers.”
Northern is the UK’s second-largest train operator, running around 2,650 services every day and serving more than 500 stations across the North of England. The improvements to the Class 331 fleet are expected to support the operator’s ongoing efforts to improve punctuality, reduce service disruption and enhance the passenger experience.
Image credits: Northern
