OREANDA-NEWS. Alstom has been chosen to provide maintenance support for the Class 180 trains operated by Grand Central Railway Company Limited for the next ten years, from January 2017 until December 2026, for around €100 million. 

Alstom will provide Grand Central with the specialised materials, parts, technical and engineering support needed to maintain its fleet of ten Class 180s. The support team for the fleet will be based initially at Alstom’s Chester Traincare Centre and will then co-locate with the Grand Central fleet operations team at its East Coast mainline maintenance location later in 2018. 

“We’re delighted to be extending our contract with Grand Central and even happier that our support for the Class 180 trains is set to continue. It’s important that they are well maintained so that passengers can continue to enjoy the benefits the trains offer. That is why we’ve extended our commitment and look forward to doing so for the foreseeable future,” said Nick Crossfield, Managing Director at Alstom in UK & Ireland. 

Grand Central Railway currently operates five Class 180 trains between London Kings Cross and Yorkshire and the North East but in 2017 will expand its fleet to ten trains. The Class 180 fleet was first built by Alstom at Washwood Heath in Birmingham between 2000 and 2001. 

Part of Alstom’s Coradia range, the Class 180 is one of the few diesel multiple-unit trains that can reach speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour.