Northern has upgraded its depot in Barrow-in-Furness to enable longer trains to operate between Cumbria and Manchester.
Specifically, a new train fuelling and servicing facility has been installed at the depot, which will allow six-car Class 195 trains to run between Cumbria and Manchester Airport.
This doubles the on-board capacity for this route and is expected to provide more reliable services for Northern’s customers.
In addition, a new 75-metre servicing road at the facility means that three carriages can now be serviced and re-fuelled simultaneously, whereas previously, the site could only service one carriage at a time.
Finally, a steel canopy has also been constructed to provide shelter for staff and the new equipment, and upgrades have been carried out on the facility’s pumps and energy efficient lighting.
This project was completed through Northern’s partnership with RTS Infrastructure Services.
“The new facilities have meant that trains are able to be serviced faster, keeping them out in-service for our customers – improving reliability for the region and beyond.
“Of the 3,000 new services a week introduced in our December 2022 timetable, 2,000 were in the North West. With this uplift, there was a need for a facility equal to that growth.”
