Train bogie overhaul project reaches major milestone

• Railway town, Crewe, is home to largest train bogie revamp by Alstom
• Project is part of heavy overhaul of Avanti West Coast’s Pendolino fleet
• Completion of bogie sets on all 35 11-carriage Pendolino trains marks major milestone

The biggest overhaul of bogies belonging to the UK’s hardest working train fleet has reached a major milestone with the initial phase of project completed.

The first part of the work to overhaul 1,148 bogies – a framework with wheels that sits underneath the train carriage – across Avanti West Coast’s Pendolino fleet has been completed by the UK’s leading train supplier, Alstom.

All 35, 11-carriage Pendolinos have had their sets of 22 bogies examined and reconditioned to give them a new lease of life after clocking up over 750,000 miles – the equivalent distance of travelling to the moon three times.

In just one year, 770 bogies have been revamped by Alstom’s facility in Crewe – a centre of excellence for component repair and overhaul.

Each week the bogies and traction motors (an electric motor that generates the power to rotate the wheels of a train) are transported by road to Crewe, where they are disassembled, and their subcomponents refurbished to like-new condition.

The bogie frames are separated from the wheelsets and washed to remove excess dirt and oil, then stripped into component parts that are reconditioned before being painted and reassembled. 

It is part of a wider programme of work on the Pendolinos – known as a heavy overhaul, which each week sees component parts including, pantographs, train control and information systems, batteries, and valves reconditioned or replaced. In one week, Alstom’s teams in Crewe and Manchester will replace 24,456 individual fixings and 9,511 parts, as well as repair 249 items. 

The heavy overhaul, which follows the award-winning £117 million investment programme to refurbish the Alstom-built Pendolino trains, is designed to ensure the fleet continues to provide a reliable service.

A team of 35 highly skilled workers employed full-time are dedicated to the project at Crewe – many of them have a family connection.

These include couple, Glenn Pearson and Karen Shaw, who work at the end of the Pendolino bogie production line. Glenn tests the bogies by simulating different scenarios they would experience on the West Coast Main Line. Karen, along with her son’s partner, Danni Knott, then carries out a thorough pre-delivery inspection.

Glenn and Karen worked together previously maintaining Ambulance vehicles for 15 years. They joined the rail industry, along with Danni, to utilise their mechanical engineering, quality inspection, and electrical skills following a recruitment drive by Alstom.

Danni said: “Working on the railway was a massive step change. You don’t realise the scale of the Pendolinos and their components until you work on them. Glenn, Karen, and I love our jobs and being at the end of the production line allows you to appreciate everything that has been done.  

Elsewhere, partners Adam and Casey, who have a combined service of 17 years, work on a bogie production line for another fleet of trains. Adam is responsible for inspecting the assembled bogies. Casey, who works on the bogie final assembly section as a Team Leader, began an Apprenticeship with Alstom in 2017 – following in the footsteps of her grandad.

“My grandad worked at Crewe Works. He’d be over the moon to know I’m part of Crewe’s railway heritage and playing a key role in maintaining the UK’s trains,” Casey said. “It’s rewarding work. You feel a sense of pride when the bogies leave Crewe and it’s exciting to know they will play a part in creating memories for people travelling by train,” she added.

The latest phase of the project will see a set of 18 bogies belonging to the 21 nine-carriage Pendolinos transformed each week. 

Pendolino 390002 is the latest nine-carriage train to undergo its bogie overhaul. After operating as the 10:42 London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly on Sunday 8 September it arrived at Alstom’s Manchester Traincare Centre at Longsight before its bogie sets were sent to Crewe less than 24 hours later.    

Stacy Thundercliffe, Head of Fleet and Engineering at Avanti West Coast, said: “Our Pendolinos travel hundreds of thousands of miles every year, so it’s critical their heavy maintenance is completed throughout the year to ensure they’re safe and reliable for our customers.

“We’re proud to be working with Alstom to overhaul the Pendolinos – especially with much of the work being done local to the West Coast Main Line. Crewe has a rich railway heritage and is a key hub on our route, so it’s great the skills that have been passed down over the 180 years of Crewe Works are being utilised to carry out this latest investment in our fleet.”

Peter Broadley, Managing Director, Services UK and Ireland at Alstom said: "We are thrilled to reach this important milestone in the overhaul of the Avanti West Coast Pendolino fleet’s bogies. This project showcases the outstanding expertise and dedication of our team in Crewe.

“By ensuring these trains continue to perform at their best, we are not only preserving the legacy of Crewe as a centre of railway excellence but also contributing to a more reliable and efficient rail service for passengers across the UK. We look forward to continuing this vital work in partnership with Avanti West Coast.”

ENDS