UK: Bletchley Traction Maintenance Depot was officially reopened by Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy on September 12 following an £80m modernisation programme.
The depot will be the stabling and maintenance centre for West Midalnds Trains’ 36 five-car Alstom Aventra Class 730/2 EMUs which are being rolled out on routes between London Euston, Northampton and Crewe. The depot will ensure that 33 are available for service every day, with only three stopped, two of which will be on exams.
The depot had fallen into a poor state following its closure in June 2008. Part of it was re-opened in September 2018 as a maintenance base for the three short-lived Vivarail Class 230 units which operated on the Marston Vale line from Bletchley to Bedford, but it closed in December 2022 when Vivarail entered administration and the trains were withdrawn.
Reopening has been primarily funded by leasing company Porterbrook, with additional support from the Department for Transport. The works carried out by Taylor Woodrow included lengthening the main shed to cope with 120 m long five-car sets, along with the construction of improved inspection facilities and installation of train lifting equipment.
The overhead electrification equipment has been replaced and an overhead gantry now offers roof access to the full length of the train. Two external roads can accommodate 10-car sets, three can hold single five-car units and the cleaning road is also five cars long.
The depot will also service the three two-car Class 150 DMUs which operate on the Marston Vale line, as well as the two-car CAF Class 196 units which are being sub-leased from West Midlands Trains for use by Chiltern Railways on the East West Rail route from Oxford to Milton Keynes. These sets can be accommodated on two diesel roads each capable of stabling two trainsets, and on the diesel fuelling road which can also hold a pair of DMUs.
