West Coast line upgrade

Some will say “not before time”. 

Last week the first fully refurbished Avanti West Coast Pendolino entered service following a multi-million-pound upgrade.

Avanti says that the total £117m investment will deliver step change with the onboard experience for Avanti West Coast customers.

The tilting, electric-powered Pendolinos, or ‘Pendos’, are one of the most iconic train fleets in the UK, transforming train travel between some of Britain’s biggest cities when introduced nearly two decades ago in July 2002.

Last Monday (25 April) customers onboard the 05:05 Manchester Piccadilly to London service were the first to travel on the upgraded Pendolino. They experienced the new, more comfortable seats, a revamped shop and better on-board customer information.

Managing Director of Avanti West Coast, Phil Whittingham, said: “This investment has been one of the key promises to our customers and they will see a dramatic transformation of our well-loved fleet. The refurbished Pendolinos look and feel like new trains with state-of-the-art technology as well as brand new seats that promise best-in-class comfort”.

The upgrade programme was two years in the making and involved experts in technology, customer information and ergonomics.

Widely regarded as the UK’s hardest working train fleet, the Pendolinos have served towns and cities along the West Coast Main Line clocking up more than 270m miles – enough to go to the moon and back more than 500 times.

www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk

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