Great Western Railway (GWR), Eversholt Rail, and Hitachi Rail signed an extension of their maintenance partnership to maintain 36 Class 802 intercity trains for the next five years.
The GBP 300 million (EUR 338.4 million) contract will be performed until 2028.
GWR says that the decision to extend the contract was based on Hitachi Rail’s previous success, which has seen the fleet increase its reliability performance by over 94% since its introduction. This steady improvement in reliability is a result of continuous investment in digitally optimised maintenance since 2018. This ‘always improve’ approach was exemplified when Class 802s delivered its best ever period performance during the summer of 2022, achieving 28,357 Miles per Technical Incident (MTIN).
Hitachi Rail will also continue to invest in digital maintenance capabilities to enhance performance for GWR passengers. This investment includes innovative digital solutions, such as onboard digital monitoring, which can reduce bogie and wheelset maintenance downtime by 50%.
“This major contract extension demonstrates our partners’ confidence in Hitachi Rail’s UK maintenance operations and rolling stock technology, which was 2.7 times more reliable than the industry average in 2022,” Jim Brewin, Chief Director UK & Ireland at Hitachi Rail said.
The partnership will help maintain over 500 highly skilled jobs at West of England depots, with the majority of maintenance activities for Class 802 intercity trains taking place at Laira depot in Plymouth. Maintaining the trains closer to key stations like Penzance, Exeter, and Plymouth will improve train availability and fleet optimisation, while benefitting Laira depot with steady rate of work.
The contract extension also ensures an annual UK supply chain investment of GBP 70 million (EUR 79 million) that will come directly from maintaining GWR’s intercity express train fleet. Hitachi Rail’s prioritisation of people and the UK supply chain through its maintenance business delivers a yearly economic benefit of GBP 462 million (EUR 521.2 million) across the UK.
The train fleet to be maintained has been put into operation five years ago on the West of England routes and “the award of this contract means we have continuity in the maintenance of our Class 802 fleet,” Simon Green, GWR Engineering Director said.
Share on:
