Following on from our visit to the Alstom facility in Widnes back in 2022, Avanti West Coast invited RailAdvent back to the facility earlier this month to see what progress had been made.

Back in our last visit, Alstom said the aim was to get the work timescale down to 2 weeks (2 x 5 day working). Day 1 begins with the arrival of the train, safe working applied and seats / tables and carpets removed.

Fast forward to day 8 and all the upgrades have to be completed ready for the train to head to the testing siding for a thorough once over and acceptance before the train leaves Widnes on Day 10.

The decision was made at the start of the project to complete all of the 11 carriage sets first, before moving on to the 9 car sets.

This was because the 11 car sets see one carriage converted from first class into standard class, boosting capacity for customers.

The £117m project is the largest train fleet upgrade ever in the UK and will see all 56 trains refurbishment.

2 Pendolinos currently have a new AI powered reservation system, the rest will receive the system upgrade at Liverpool‘s Allerton Depot.

This system uses cameras to record either a 1 (which means a person is sat in the seat) or a 0 (meaning the seat is empty or only has a bag on it)

The Widnes Facility was built in 2017 and is part of Alstom UK’s Train Modernisation portfolio. 250 people are employed at the site, as well as 12 apprentices, with staff coming from Blackpool, Preston, Widnes, Warrington and Liverpool.

What is really good to see the efficient workflow at the facility, with clearly labelled boxes, tools and parts, as well as the full length platform, allowing seats to be removed and loaded onto lorries, all at rail height.

After a briefing with facts and safety, it was time to head to the factory floor to see a a stripped down Pendolino undergoing the refurbishment.

The Pendolino project is now award winning, and sees 412 vehicles undergo refurbishment, with new seats, carpets, lighting and tables made from recycled plastic bottles.

On the factory floor on the day of our visit was 390 050 which had only arrived a few days before our visit, but as per the timeline above, the train was emptied, seats removed and work well underway to replace any floorboards that needed replacing (and this particular Pendolino needed a large amount of boards replacing).

Work was already underway to remove the refreshments area, and this is interesting as the roof is removed where the pantograph is and the refreshment pieces are all removed through the roof.

I am sure you will agree, this is a really insightful look at how the Pendolino upgrade takes place.

Have you had a ride on a refurbished Pendolino yet? You are statistically more likely now to ride on a Refurb Pendolino rather than one that hasnt been refurbished. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Thank you to Avanti West Coast and Alstom for inviting us to Widnes for the visit.