A TRAIN maintenance contract has been agreed between Bombardier Transportation and Arriva CrossCountry which is worth £248 million over three years. There is also an option to extend for a fourth year.

The news follows the announcement by the Department for Transport that it has awarded Arriva a three year contract to keep running CrossCountry until October 2023. The DfT contract is essentially risk-free for Arriva, because the DfT will collect the revenue and pay the costs.

The deal with Bombardier provides for the cleaning, overhaul and servicing of 34 Class 220 Voyagers and 24 Class 221 Super Voyagers, which are owned by Beacon Rail. The main depot for this work will continue to be at Central Rivers, near Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire, but routine overnight work is also carried out at a number of outstations on the CrossCountry network between Inverness and Penzance.

CrossCountry managing director Tom Joyner said: ‘We’re really pleased to continue our relationship with Bombardier to maintain our Voyager and Super Voyager fleet. The Voyagers are a key part of our fleet.’

UK president of Bombardier Matt Byrne added: ‘This important contract extension is a reflection of our excellent relationship with Arriva, and the hard work and professionalism of our Central Rivers team who deliver day in, day out.’