Life extension for Classes 507/508?

ON May 31, No. 508143 was moved by Nos. 37601/611 from Kirkdale to Seaforth Docks in advance of its transfer to Derby by road. The unit is understood to be undergoing an assessment in relation to some members of the fleet receiving life extension work. Delays in the introduction of the Class 777s has resulted in the ‘507’ and ‘508’ fleets being retained for longer than expected and they are now beginning to suffer from reliability issues – during June, Merseyrail had to operate a reduced service for two weeks owing to large numbers of units being stopped for wheel bearing attention.