The staff of the Alstom Widnes facility celebrated the refurbishment milestone. Credit: Avanti West Coast.

UK rail operator Avanti West Coast has reached a significant milestone in the refurbishment of its Pendolino fleet, as work on its 11 carriage trains comes to an end.

The £117m ($145.3m) refurbishment project has now completed work on 35 of the 56-strong Pendolino fleet, with work now beginning on the nine-car trains alongside the train’s manufacturer Alstom and asset management company Angel Trains.

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Alstom’s managing director of services Peter Broadley, said: “We’re incredibly proud of the Pendolino fleet upgrade project, which takes train refurbishment to another level.  

“Working in partnership with Angel Trains and Avanti West Coast, we’ve delivered a fantastic product for passengers on the West Coast.”

The project’s first phase saw the 35 refurbished trains receive upgrades at Alstom’s Widnes facility in 16 months, at a rate of one trainset every two weeks.

A total of 385 carriages have been fully refurbished so far, including the installation of 17,780 new seats, 3,010 new tables and 14,230 square metres of flooring.

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Angel Trains CEO Malcolm Brown said: “Our iconic Pendolino trains have been refurbished to provide a comfortable, connected, best-in-class passenger experience at a lower cost and carbon footprint than building new. 

“Working together with Avanti West Coast and Alstom, this project has supported UK suppliers and skilled jobs the length of the West Coast Main Line.”

Investment in the fleet sits within Avanti’s wider fleet renewal project, which includes a brand new fleet of Hitachi trains scheduled to be introduced onto the West Coast route at the end of this year.

The £350m project will see ten seven-carriage electric trains and 13 five-carriage bi-mode trains brought in to operate services for Avanti.

Two of the new bi-mode trains recently conducted their first test run to North Wales with a journey from the West Midlands to Llandudno.