Alstom secures contract extension worth around £825 million from CrossCountry, providing welcome boost for Midlands-based train builder

Sustainable Rail Services

• Alstom will continue to maintain, overhaul, service and clean CrossCountry’s Voyager and Super Voyager fleet until 2031
• The contract includes implementation of sustainability innovations in preparation for many more years of service

Derby-based Alstom, global leader in smart and sustainable mobility, has signed an eight-year extension to its Train Services Agreement (TSA) with CrossCountry in the UK. The contract extension, valued at around £825 (€950) million, further secures this long-term partnership and is evidence of the trust placed by the customer.

Under the agreement, Alstom will continue to maintain, overhaul, service and clean 252 vehicles of the CrossCountry fleet (34 Class 220 Voyagers and 24 Class 221 Super Voyagers) at their primary depot –  Central Rivers in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire. In addition, seven Voyagers will move to CrossCountry when they are released from service with Avanti West Coast to bolster the CrossCountry fleet and enable service uplifts in due course.

“We are delighted to extend our Voyager Maintenance Contract with CrossCountry for another eight years. We have worked in close partnership since 2007, providing reliable, well-presented, and safe trains for all CrossCountry’s customers. We look forward to working with our colleagues at CrossCountry to help them deliver a high-quality train service for the next eight years,” says Nick Crossfield, Alstom Managing Director, UK & Ireland.

“We’re delighted to continue our relationship with Alstom as we embark on our National Rail Contract. Improving the onboard experience is critical to ensuring our customers view us as a long-distance operator of choice and we look forward to working closely with Alstom in the years ahead to deliver these improvements”, says Tom Joyner, Managing Director, CrossCountry.

The contract places a strong focus on robust fleet performance, with a collaboration team between Alstom, the asset owner and CrossCountry established to identify optimisation and improvement initiatives, as well as to ensure the quality of the passenger environment.

The contract includes management of all planned (preventative) and unplanned (corrective) maintenance; all required overhaul activities; cleaning, and light maintenance services on the vehicles; vehicle servicing; service delivery support (including 24/7 telephone help line); vehicle cleaning (daily and periodic); depot management; shunting; obsolescence monitoring and management, and accident/vandalism repair.

Within the agreement, the fleet will be installed with an Intelligent Engine Stop Start (IESS) system, which will drive a reduction in fuel usage, emissions, and operational costs. Additionally, the collaboration team will continue with other fuel savings measures to build on the weight reduction initiatives already undertaken, or underway, which will substantially reduce the emissions produced from the fleet.

Owned by Beacon Rail, the Voyagers are running across the CrossCountry network, from Aberdeen, Scotland, to Penzance, England.

Alstom’s Voyager and Super Voyager inter-city trains have already served passengers across England, Scotland and Wales for over two decades. Operating at speeds of up to 200 km/hour, they have clocked up over 414 million miles of service.