Published on: Monday, 22 December 2014
Last updated: Wednesday, 5 October 2016
Abellio GreaterAnglia's refurbishment programme for its intercity MkIII carriages begins on 22 December at the company's Crown Point Depot in Norwich.
The significantrefresh will see all of the train operator's MkIII fleet enhanced, withimprovements throughout for both First Class and Standard carriages including,plug points; new LED lighting; new carpets; new tables; newseat covers; upgraded environmentally-friendly controlled emission toilets withnew floors and new taps; re-painting of the carriage interior saloon andvestibule panels, walls and ceilings.
Exteriorpainting of all carriages is also being undertaken as part of a separateprogramme already underway.
The work will be carriedout at a specially prepared facility at Abellio Greater Anglia's Crown PointDepot in Norwich by the company's partner for the project Vossloh Kiepe. Thefirst refurbished carriages are due to enter service in the first quarter ofnext year, with the full programme completed by the end of the train operator'scurrent short franchise in October 2016.
As announced earlier thisweek as part of the wider MkIII upgrade programme, a number of carriages willbe modified to enable more Standard seats to be provided - over 2,500 a day orover 600,000 a year.
Commenting on the start of the refurbishment programme, Abellio GreaterAnglia's Managing Director Jamie Burles said: "We are delighted to beginthis major refresh for our MkIII carriages, which will deliver a significantimprovement in the travelling environment for passengers on our key intercityservices between Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester and London. We look forward to unveiling the first completedcarriage, which is due to be in service in February 2015."