Milestone for modernisation of rail in the north

Northern, the UK’s largest train operator outside of London, launched its tenth refurbished train into service this week.

Travelling between Leeds and Manchester, the Class 156 unit (156451) is the latest unit to go into service having been refurbished inside and out.

All 10 of the refurbished units now in service sport Northern’s new external livery and the interior of the trains has also changed. They are all now fully accessible, carriages have been repainted, new floor coverings installed, and seat cushions replaced and recovered.

New LED lighting has also been fitted to create a lighter and brighter on-board environment and the refurbished toilets include improved baby changing facilities.

Ben Ackroyd, Engineering Director for Northern, comments: “We are committed to bringing real improvements for our customers and transforming rail travel in the north of England. The improvements to our existing fleet is a rolling programme so our trains will be phased in and out of refurbishment in order to ensure minimum impact on our daily services.

“There are still plenty of improvements to come for Northern’s existing trains in the second phase of refurbishment, including the installation of free customer wifi and even further enhancements to the on-board experience, but we think our customers will agree that these first trains are a great start.”

The refurbishment of the existing fleet of trains comes alongside many other modernisation plans for the Northern network, including the introduction of 98 new trains, better stations and more services.