Northern upgrade Hull depot to deliver better reliability for passengers

Credit: Northern

Northern has upgraded its TrainCare Centre in Hull, a move which will improve service reliability for passengers. Now completed, the work at the Hull Botanic Gardens facility will increase the Centre’s maintenance and servicing capacity – helping keep more trains on the tracks across Yorkshire.

The upgraded depot

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.

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.

Credit: Northern

Training a new team

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.

Credit: Northern

“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,” Jack Commandeur, Engineering Director at Northern, said. “I am confident our improved maintenance centres will deliver more trains into service on a daily basis and help improve services for our customers.”