Northern welcomes its 100th refurbished train

The Class 170 train features upgraded seats and lighting, offering a brighter and more comfortable journey, it enables Northern’s customers to stay connected with free wifi and at-seat power, as well as sporting new livery and interior paintwork, features that will be rolled out across the whole of Northern’s fleet in the future.

Boasting 50% more capacity than the Pacer trains they replace, the Class 170s (which run principally between York and Leeds via Harrogate) are really impressing Northern’s customers, with many commenting on how much more space there is, the quality of the ride and how quiet it is.

The Class 170 joins the following refurbished trains which are already out and about on Northern’s network giving customers an improved travel experience:

• 27 Class 150s
• 4 Class 155s
• 24 Class 156s
• 9 Class 158s
• 4 Class 170s
• 32 Class 319

Northern’s entire existing fleet, (243 trains), is in the process of being fully upgraded to not only include this first phase of cosmetic refurbishment, but will also see an additional level of digital improvements.

Ben Ackroyd, Northern’s Engineering Director, said: “Our 100^th refurbished train going into service is another great milestone in our modernisation programme. We are committed to improving our customers’ on-board experience and the refurbishment programme is really gathering pace.

“The refurbishment of our fleet is an ongoing programme of work and, ultimately, our customers will be travelling on trains which are not only cosmetically better, but will also all feature free wifi, at seat power, high definition CCTV and customer information media screens.”

Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said: “This is good news, and congratulations are due to Northern. The quality of the rolling stock on our line is raised with me more than any other rail issue, and people have really noticed the old Pacer trains are being phased out and replaced by much better ones, with the last old Pacer going in just over 12 months.

"Passenger numbers on our local line are high and it is important that the quality of the rolling stock improves and the number of people that rolling stock can carry increases.  That is why I am pleased that with the progress being made by Northern. I enjoy travelling on the new trains, for the better journeys they provide.”

The refurbished trains form part of Northern’s wide-ranging plan to enhance customer journeys by improving all aspects of its network.

Northern’s 98 brand new trains are now undertaking test runs on routes in the North West and are scheduled for passenger service in the next few months.

More than 400 Northern stations will see improvements by 2020, with work already complete at more than 100 stations, including making it easier than ever for customers to buy tickets for their journeys with improved mobile applications and the roll out of more than 600 new ticket machines at stations across the north of England.