Revamp to put back ‘Super’ into ‘Sprinter’ rolling stock
PASSENGERS’ love-hate relationship with the trains on the West Highland Line will be sweetened with a Valentine’s present next month.
Abellio ScotRail has confirmed that it is on target to begin a major refurbishment of its 38 Class 156 trains which serve routes including the West Highland Line next month.
When scheduled work finishes in late 2018, all these trains will receive at-seat power sockets, improved CCTV, auto- closing doors and upgraded toilets.
The company has the largest fleet of these ‘Super Sprinters’ in the UK; they were last built in 1989 and are used primarily on commuter routes as well as the journeys along the West Highland Line, which can last as long as five-and-a-half hours to reach Mallaig.
There has been pressure from passengers to up-grade rolling stock more suited to cross- country journeys, or at least for the company to embark on a major refurbishment such as the one now planned. The West Highland Line journeys to Oban, Fort William and Mallaig are listed amongst the world’s best, and the use of such small trains does not help to promote, or capitalise, on the tourism potential.
The age of the trains is not considered an issue in the industry; some of the UK’s highest performing routes have rolling stock which is more than 30 years old.
The other piece of good news is not so much for the passengers, but for the people who work to keep the track maintained. Lavatory waste will no longer be dumped on the tracks.
Abellio ScotRail confirmed: ‘ We are currently in the process of fitting Controlled Emission Toilet (CET) tanks to our entire Class 156 fleet, which is used on the West Highland Line. All of these trains will have the tanks fitted by December 2017.’