Greater Anglia has upgraded its depot at Colchester to provide new train servicing facilities so that it is able to maintain the company’s new Class 755 bi-mode trains that form part of its £1.4 billion fleet replacement programme,

Included in the upgrading was the installation of two 40,000-litre fuel tanks, a 10,000-litre AdBlue storage tank, a 14-tonne sand storage tower and sand dispenser. New fuel pumps, toilet emptying equipment and toilet water system pumps were installed, as well as new walkways.

The depot now has the capacity to service ten trains a day. However, normally eight trains will be serviced which includes cleaning, refuelling, screen wash topped up, toilets emptied, water refilled., and sanding equipment topped up; sand is used to provide extra grip on slippery rails.

Until now, seven trains a day used temporary fuelling facilities at Colchester station or travelled to Ipswich or Norwich’s Crown Point depot when their specialist sanding equipment needed to be refilled, which took extra time and used extra electricity and energy.

The new facilities in place remove the need for extra journeys and provide extra flexibility in service operations and increased resilience.

Two Class 720 electric commuter trains will also use the new facilities for overnight toilet emptying, washing and cleaning.

The upgrade is part of Greater Anglia’s investment in improving East Anglia’s train services, including new machines for washing carriages, extending platforms, and introducing a complete fleet of new trains.
All Greater Anglia services are now operated with new trains, including:

• 38 regional bi-mode trains for local services across Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, and on the Marks Tey to Sudbury branch.
• ten intercity electric trains for services between Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester and London;
• ten new electric trains for Stansted Express services between London and Stansted Airport;
• 107 Class 720 suburban trains that operate Greater Anglia’s commuter and local services in Essex and Hertfordshire, services between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge, and stopping services between London Liverpool Street and Ipswich.

Features of the new trains include more seats, plug and USB points, better performance, and improved accessibility. Concurrent with the introduction of the new trains has been improved better reliability that has already pushed Greater Anglia’s overall punctuality and reliability standards up to record levels.

Andrew Goodrum, Greater Anglia’s client and programme director, said: “The new facilities and equipment mean fewer miles will be run by our trains overnight after passenger service, as they can now be fuelled, cleaned and prepared ready for the following day at the Colchester depot.

“Our teams have worked tirelessly to bring this equipment into use and it will be great to see the positive difference these servicing facilities have on improving the travelling experience for our customers.”