Avanti West Coast has confirmed to RailAdvent that its Voyager fleet of trains is to benefit from an upgrade, with the first train set to be completed later in July.
20 Voyagers, which operate over non-electrified sections of the West Coast Main Line, such as Crewe – Holyhead, are being overhauled in an £8.3m deal with Bombardier.
New Standard Class seat covers, saloon and carpets will be included, as well as a revamped toilet area and new lighting.
It was announced in 2019 that the WCML would have 23 new Class 805 and 807 trains in 2022 which will replace the Voyager trains.
Avanti West Coast Executive Director, Projects, Andy Barnes, explained: “We know that ultimately our Voyagers will be retired from the West Coast Main Line.
“But with two years on the rails, we wanted to improve them and not leave them as they are. All these improvements should enhance the customer experience and, as you will see from the images, will leave them looking very smart.
“It’s a significant investment that shows we will take every opportunity to invest and improve our product and service wherever we can.”
Bombardier Transportation’s Chief Operating Officer, Tim Bentley, said; “We are delighted to be partnering with Avanti West Coast on this fleet upgrade. The Voyager remains a great train, and by refreshing the customer environment, we can keep them that way.”
All 20 Voyagers are to be overhauled by December 2020 and will be upgraded at Bombardier’s site in Ilford, East London.
The first set to be upgraded is 221101 and should be going to Ilford this Friday.
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Responses
Avanti West Coast sign and Bombardier to spend £8.3m on overhaul for the Class 221 Voyagers. Whilst Hitachi are to manufacture the Class 805 Bi-mode and Class 807 Electric AT300 IET units that will replace the Class 221s in the next few years. I don’t get why that they want to do £8.3m overhaul on the Class 221s.
Be better off doing it when the Class 221s are to be cascaded to Crosscountry or whoever wants the Class 221s when the AWC Class 805 Bi-mode and Class 807 Electric units are to begin service from next year.
First Class looks fine…but Standard is the usual cramped set up…….
From the picture above….. Black seats, yellow tables…..and orange grab handles it looks like they’ve gone down the predictable route and got it wrong….!
Can we be sure that tables will correspond to window positions….?
Might we see the abandonment of airline seating…..?
Can we be sure all seats will have a window view and not be looking at a piece of plastic or a wall……or even half a piece of plastic or half a wall….?
Will it be easier getting cycles on trains without hassling the train staff as once or twice when something went wrong and u ended up getting off fifty miles further as guards forgot to unlock the compartment with my bike