World renowned train builders and maintainers Alstom have signed a contract extension with TransPennine Express worth £10.4 million to enable them to maintain their fleet of 12 five car, Class 397 electric multiple units, nominally known as Nova 2s.

The extended contact period will run until the end of December 2025.

The maintenance work for TransPennine Express (TPE) will be undertaken at Alstom’s Traincare Centres located in Manchester and Glasgow, which are two of five similar facilities operated by the company along the West Coast Main Line.

This contract sustains over 50 positions at both sites, encompassing roles such as production managers, site operatives, and train movement operators.

Alstom’s Manchester Traincare Centre, located at Longsight, has the capacity to house nearly 300 rail vehicles simultaneously, ranking it among the largest facilities of its type in the UK, and serves as the primary depot for the Nova 2 trains.

In contrast, Alstom’s Glasgow Traincare Centre in Polmadie sees an average of 17 trains per day, some of which consist of TransPennine Express Class 397 units.

Constructed by CAF, Eversholt Rail acquired the Nova 2s which entered service in November 2019, since then the whole fleet of 12 units have clocked up a mileage of over 8 million miles, averaging a total of 688,000 miles per individual 5 car unit.

The 397s operate TransPennine North West services, taking passengers from Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Airport to Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central via Preston.