Northern has upgraded its TrainCare Centre at Hull Botanic Gardens – a move which will increase the centre’s maintenance and servicing capacity, helping keep more trains on the tracks across Yorkshire.
The train operator’s Class 170 trains will be homed at the depot along with the team responsible for their routine servicing, maintenance, upkeep and repair; much of which is carried out at night to keep trains in passenger service during the day.
New modern equipment has been installed, including a crane, train roof access platforms and jacks as well as an additional fuelling road. The train shed at the depot has also been given a new roof, with Northern and Network Rail working closely together on the project.
Arron Ibbotson, the TrainCare Centre manager at Hull Botanic Gardens has led a recruitment process which now sees him lead a team of 30 who have re-located from existing positions and includes external recruits that have joined the Northern team.
Northern will continue with other work to improve the working environment for the team to help ensure the TrainCare Centre is the most-effective it can be.
Four maintenance teams are now in place to deliver the Class 170 maintenance plan and overnight servicing including work for Hull Trains and TransPennine Express.
A new driving team has also been recruited and trained to deliver new operational working practices to ensure that diagrammed maintenance work is delivered back to the Northern team at Hull on time.
The new teams have been trained on the new infrastructure and are now delivering their second Class 170 B exam from which Northern will start to process-map maintenance flows. They are also set to introduce new Asset Management and Reliability Centre Maintenance systems during 2023, which will create a Centre of Excellence Control Room for the Class 170 fleet.,
Jack Commandeur, engineering director at Northern said: “We want to make sure we can get as many trains as possible in service for customers and to do that we need modern engineering facilities and expert technicians, engineers and operators.
“I am confident our improved maintenance centres will deliver more trains into service on a daily basis and help improve services for our customers.”
Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with nearly 2,000 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.
On Sunday, 11 December Northern’s new timetable comes into effect and all customers, especially those who have made regular journeys on the same train times, are advised to check online journey planners before they travel to ensure their service operates at the same time and calls at the same stations.
Photo credit: Northern
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