Alstom secures £825m crosscountry voyager maintenance contract extension

CrossCountry Class 221 Super Voyager 221141 passes non-stop through the small station at Beaulieu Road, working the 13.25 Didcot Parkway to Bournemouth service on July 7, 2018. Alstom has been awarded an £825 million contract extension, which will see the company continue to maintain, overhaul, service and clean the CrossCountry Class 220 and Class 221 fleets at its Central Rivers facility. Martyn Hilbert

ALSTOM HAS secured an eight-year contract extension to continue the maintenance, overhaul, servicing and cleaning of CrossCountry’s fleet of 34 Class 220 Voyagers (220001-034) and 24 Class 221 Super Voyagers (221119-141/144).

Arriva-backed CrossCountry recently secured a new National Rail Contract from the Department for Transport – which came into effect on October 15, 2023 – with the operator awarded a new core term of four years and a maximum possible term of eight years from theDfT(Railways Illustrated issue 249).

The new contract extension, which is valued at about £825 million, will see Alstom continue to work on the two Beacon Rail-owned CrossCoun-
try fleets at Central Rivers depot in Staffordshire. The existing fleet of 58 trains will be bolstered by seven additional Class 221s, which are due to be cascaded to CrossCountry from Avanti West Coast over the coming months to provide additional capacity following the withdrawal of the CrossCoun-
try high speed train fleet in September. These are expected to become available once AWC’s new Hitachi Class 805 and Class 807s enter service.

The contract includes all planned and unplanned maintenance, servicing, fleet support services, all required overhaul activities, light maintenance services and cleaning of the vehicles. Additionally, it includes depot management at Central Rivers, shunting, obsolescence monitoring and management, along with accident and vandalism repair work. The planned refurbishment of the two fleets – which is also part of the new NRC awarded to CrossCountry – will be managed and funded separately.

Addressing the need for the fleets to be more environmentally-friendly, the CrossCountry Class 220 and 221 fleets are to be installed with an Intelligent Engine Stop Start system, which will assist in reducing fuel usage, emissions, and operational costs. Other fuel-saving measures are also to be investigated to build on weight reduction initiatives, which will substantially reduce emissions from the fleet.

Alstom managing director for UK and Ireland, Nick Crossfie