All 56 of Avanti West Coast's Class 390 Pendolinos have now been refurbished at Alstom's Widnes facility.
The last train to go through the programme, 390020, entered service yesterday, working the 08:43 Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston service.
The project has seen 574 carriages refurbished in just over two years, with one train being completed every two weeks.
UK suppliers benefitted from 80% of the £117m investment, which was financed by Angel Trains.
Want to see what goes on at the Widnes Facility? RailAdvent has been invited twice to the facility to see the work taking place. We visited in October 2023 as the project had really ramped up, whilst we also visited at the start of the project to see what their plans were.
“The refurbished Pendolinos, together with our new Evero fleet, are a key part of our mission to transform rail travel for our customers on the west coast route.
“The Pendolino is an iconic train, and now even better than before, offering customers a much-improved travel experience, with innovation and sustainability at its heart.”
Andy Mellors, Managing Director at Avanti West Coast
Are those the horrible dark cramped trains with the tiny windows that are too small for the passenger to see anything?
Bet the Wi-Fi is still TOTALLY CRAP!!!!!
Appear to be the only one complaining about the lamentible punctuality / reliability of avanti West Coast Glasgow Central to Euston service, (2 in 5 running in accordance with timetable would be accurate, in my experience) I would’ve thought spending the money on the locomotives should be the priority. How avanti manage to run at profit, with the regular delay / repay they must be doling out on a daily basis, is a mystery, as is their ability to keep their operators’ licence
I hate, hate, hate the tilting pendolinos. I never get off at the end of a journey on one without feeling horribly sick.
USB sockets have deteriorated and need updating and checking as many are not working
The headrests are not comfortable and do not support a healthy relaxing posture
The windows are filthy, we have beautiful countryside and can’t even see clearly !
When the service is under pressure there are no seats available, I pay for seats for my family and have to sit on the floor by the main carriage exit doorway. If I take a seat in first class I will be charged even more! All because of your planned cancellation.
There are no friendly staff available on the train
There is no friendly fun atmosphere
They need to sort out the new seat armrests in standard, very inferior quality to the old style. Most worn already.
The Pendolino does seem to be a technically good train and was wearing well even before the refit. I just wish, as with most modern trains, that during the design process the windows are positioned AFTER the seating arrangements have been decided upon rather than the other way round. Before the refit there were several seats with not only no window to look out of, but with a bulkhead directly in front, giving every impression of a prison cell!
OK., so none of the train seats now function! New changes have resulted in the following.
Pull down trays with NO drink indent, to keep your coffee or beer in place. NOW when train breaks at 125mph your drink lands in your lap.
No waste holder, so waste now litters the floor.
Power could simply have been installed under seats.
What complete incompetence!
Well done Avanti!
Shame they are so full I never get a seat
Oh my. Those windows need bigger don’t they. It’s like Fake Taxi on them London to Glasgow service. Nice tea and eggs from the café though. That’s a plus. I enjoy the tilt. A bit like the ones in Bangladesh
Oh my. Those windows need bigger don’t they. It’s like Fake Taxi on them London to Glasgow service. Nice tea and eggs from the café though. That’s a plus. I enjoy the tilt. A bit like the ones in Bangladesh
The wireless signals were made worse as part of the refurbishment. They replaced the plywood panels with metal ones.
Some of the materials used are poor quality and short-lasting. Some wear is already starting to show – not good.
I would be grateful if they would just run on time with no problems.!
Well…let us hope they can get to the same service levels and performance Virgin Trains achieve but I can’t see it happening until the stupid and harmful ASLEF dispute is settled in industry generally!
The rail companies want to do away with guards/conductors and make our trains driver only*
What, so you can travel for nothing?
It’s not stupid if you’re an ASLEF member.
The new seats are great – the extendable and flat tray table makes using a laptop much more enjoyable.
I hope the next thing they improve is the iffy WiFi!
Thank you that’s what I’ve been saying they should’ve retrofitted the Evros with tilt mechanism
A shame the Evero doesn’t have tilt, so is slower than the Pendolino. That’s not progress.
The Everos are replacing the Voyagers, not replacing the Pendolinos.
As I understand it, the Voyagers that are being replaced, still have tilt.
The super voyagers that the evero are replacing do have tilt, but it’s not needed on the journey to either Holyhead or Blackpool… it was mostly for the route through the Lakes and southern Scotland for the Virgin Cross Country service from Birmingham to Glasgow in the original 1996 franchise.