Northern unveils first digital train

20th September 2018

The first fully refurbished Northern train has made it's debut today giving customers a glimpse into the future. The delivery of 243 refurbished trains is part of a multi-million pound investment programme to enhance customer journeys with new trains, more services, more seats, better stations and faster journeys.

The first, a Class 158, made its debut for customers travelling between Leeds and Lincoln.

The upgraded train gives Northern customers a brighter and more comfortable journey with new seating and more leg room – and provides them with digital improvements including USB charging sockets at every seat and free Wi-Fi throughout. In the near future, these trains will also feature customer information screens and digital seat reservations.

As well as existing fleet upgrades, Northern are currently awaiting a 98 strong fleet of new trains and the first entered testing recently and is scheduled for passenger service by the end of the year.

The train was refurbished at Arriva Train Care in Crewe and involved hundreds of hours of work from specialists in rail, engineering, electrics, lighting and audio-visual.

Ben Ackroyd, Engineering Director at Northern, said: “We have promised our customers fully refurbished trains with modern facilities, I am really proud to see this first unit out on the network.

“We are committed to delivering further improvements for our customers in the north of England and this train – which will operate across the region – is tangible proof that our improvements are on track.”

Now the first unit is complete and in revenue earning service, work will continue on refurbishing the rest of the Northern fleet to ensure customers from as far afield as Nottingham to Newcastle and Scarborough to Southport can travel each day on a more modern network.

Ben added: “I am grateful to our partners across the industry who have worked hard to deliver this first-in-class train for our customers and I look forward to seeing more and more refurbished carriages out and about on the network during the coming weeks and months.”

Author: Darren Porter
Image: Northern