Avanti West Coast’s largest overhaul of train bogies for its Pendolino fleet has reached a significant milestone, with the first phase of the project now complete. The ambitious project, which involves reconditioning 1,148 bogies across the UK’s hardest-working train fleet, is being carried out at Alstom’s facility in Crewe—a town with a rich railway heritage.

The overhaul, part of a broader heavy maintenance programme for the Pendolino fleet, saw all 35 11-carriage trains undergo bogie revamps after clocking up over 750,000 miles, the equivalent of three round trips to the moon. Over the past year, 770 bogies have been fully examined, reconditioned, and revitalized at Crewe, where each week Alstom’s team refurbishes crucial components like traction motors and subcomponents.

The bogies, which are the framework of wheels located underneath the train carriages, are dismantled, stripped of their components, cleaned, and rebuilt to extend their service life. The overhaul is part of a £117 million refurbishment programme, designed to keep the Alstom-built Pendolino fleet reliable and safe for passengers on the West Coast Main Line.

A dedicated team of 35 highly skilled workers at Crewe has been working full-time on the project. Among them are several families with long-standing connections to the railway industry. Glenn Pearson and Karen Shaw, along with their son’s partner Danni Knott, form part of the team responsible for the final inspection and testing of the bogies. Their work ensures that the bogies are fit for the challenging conditions of the UK rail network.

“Working on the railway was a massive step change for us,” said Danni Knott. You don’t realise the scale of the Pendolinos and their components until you work on them. We’re proud to be playing a part in the overhaul.”

The project is now entering its next phase, which will see the overhaul of bogies on 21 nine-carriage Pendolinos. Pendolino 390002 is the latest nine-carriage train to have its bogies overhauled after arriving at Alstom’s Manchester Traincare Centre earlier this month.

Stacy Thundercliffe, Head of Fleet and Engineering at Avanti West Coast, praised the project’s progress: “Our Pendolinos travel hundreds of thousands of miles every year, so it’s critical their heavy maintenance is completed 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.”

Peter Broadley, Managing Director of Services UK and Ireland at Alstom, also highlighted Crewe’s role as a key hub of railway expertise: “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 contributing to a more reliable and efficient rail service for passengers across the UK.”

The overhaul project marks a new chapter for the Pendolino fleet and is expected to further bolster the reliability of the West Coast Main Line service for years to come.