£40 million Norwich Crown Point depot upgrade under way

Work has begun on a £40 million upgrade of Norwich Crown Point depot, ahead of the introduction of new trains.

Greater Anglia has leased a depot at Colchester from Balfour Beatty, to cover for the disruption at its Norfolk site.

However, the company has said that no decision has yet been made regarding the proposed new maintenance facility at Brantham (near Manningtree), which was due to open in December but where construction work has been paused for several months.

Under plans to introduce 1,043 new vehicles for Greater Anglia, Crown Point needs upgrading to stable and maintain 58 trains being built by Stadler.

Taylor Woodrow is carrying out the work, which includes installing a new train wash facility, improved servicing equipment, and fuel facilities.

Because the trains are lowfloored vehicles, most components are on the roofs and so high walkways are being installed.

New jacks will allow staff to lift an entire train without having to split the carriages for bogie and underframe work. Upgraded toilet maintenance facilities are being constructed, and new support offices are also being built.

Swiss manufacturer Stadler will be responsible for maintenance of the trains that it is supplying.

These are split into 14 three-car Class 755/3 and 24 four-car Class 755/4 bi-mode trains, ten 12-car Class 745/0 electric multiple units (EMUs) for the Great Eastern Main Line expresses, and ten 12-car ‘755/1’ EMUs for the Stansted Express service.

GA has confirmed that some 70 staff will transfer to Stadler, with 12 seconded as Systems Technicians. Each will spend six months in Holland, Switzerland, Poland and/or Spain learning the new trains.

GA Franchise & Programmes Director Mike Kean said: “We’re committed to the region we serve and playing our part in supporting its development, so we’re very pleased to be able to create a new centre of excellence for train maintenance in East Anglia, in partnership with Stadler.”

Maintenance of Class 90-hauled Mk 3 sets has already partially moved from the site due to ongoing building works, with one set per day visiting Bounds Green for an exam while five coaches per week are moved to Ilford for repairs.

Norwich Crown Point depot is currently responsible for Greater Anglia’s Class 90 and Mk 3 fleet, as well as its Class 153, ‘156’ and ‘170’ diesel multiple unit fleets. It is also home to two Class 08s hired from Railway Support Services.