Avanti West Coast’s Pendolino fleet has been recognised for a remarkable turnaround in reliability, earning the title of most improved in its class at this year’s Golden Spanner awards. The Class 390 trains secured the Silver Spanner in the ‘First generation new inter-city’ category, marking the operator’s first success at the event, which is hosted by Modern Railways’ Fourth Friday Club.

The accolade caps a significant period of investment and engineering work for the 56-strong fleet, built and maintained by Alstom. A mainstay of the West Coast Main Line since 2002, the Pendolinos have collectively travelled more than 300 million miles and remain among the most recognisable trains in operation across the UK network.

Their recent upgrade programme – the largest refurbishment of its kind in the country – concluded last year. Delivered with Alstom and rolling stock owner Angel Trains, which backed the project with £117m of investment, the overhaul introduced new Standard Class seating, refreshed First Class accommodation, a dedicated Standard Premium carriage, improved passenger information systems, an upgraded onboard shop and a full interior redesign. This was followed by an extensive heavy maintenance cycle completed earlier this year, involving reconditioned bogies, pantographs, batteries, valves and updates to key control systems.

Dean Duthie, Engineering and Infrastructure Director at Avanti West Coast, said:

“This award is a testament to the hard work that our Pendolino team, together with Alstom, have put into improving maintenance regimes, reducing train faults and ensuring that the iconic fleet delivers a reliable service for our customers. Over the last two decades, this fleet has become synonymous with the West Coast Main Line and by winning this award, shows that these iconic trains which have travelled hundreds of millions of miles are still going strong today.”

Alan Fravolini, Project Director at Alstom, added:

“We are delighted to share this award with Avanti West Coast. It is a great representation of what mature collaboration can bring about and is a great reward for the hard work and focus provided by our teams over recent times. This gives us a great foundation to build on where we will see further improvements going forward.”

Image: Avanti West Coast