Service contract for Class 185 DMUs extended

On 31 May 2023 Siemens Mobility announced that it has been awarded a contract extension for the maintenance of the Class 185 fleet serving TransPennine Express routes operating between Manchester, Sheffield and Cleethorpes and Manchester to Hull from northwest of England depots. The majority of maintenance work will take place at Ardwick Depot, Manchester and subsidiary depots at York and Cleethorpes.  

“We have had a long and productive relationship with Siemens Mobility and we are delighted to continue working together with the award of this eight-year contract extension. We are looking forward to Siemens Mobility, Eversholt Rail and TransPennine Express delivering further improvements to one of our key fleets through building upon our strong, collaborative partnership. Suppliers like Siemens are vital in making sure that customers remain at the heart of everything that we do and we are committed to offering the best passenger experience when people choose to travel with us,” said David Walker, Head of Fleet Commercial for TransPennine Express. 

The 530 million GBP contract extension will continue to support around 200 jobs across Siemens Mobility depots in the north of England. The manufacturer has been maintaining the fleet since 2006 and has delivered a programme to provide a full digital upgrade to the 51-strong fleet leading to improved reliability. 

The Class 185s use Siemens Mobility’s cloud based Railigent X application suite, this means the trains are fitted with remote condition monitoring which allows the teams to get direct updates on each train and how it is performing, including any areas that need to be prioritised for maintenance. The technology provides updates on individual vehicles as well an accurate picture across the whole fleet, ensuring the 20-year-old trains can give the best passenger experience. This technology has meant the train fleet has performed consistently well, winning industry reliability awards. 

Siemens Mobility will work closely with the operator, TranspennineTrains Limited, and train owner, EversholtRail, to ensure the continued reliable service of the Class 185s throughout the extended contract to 2031.

The Class 185 Desiro UK DMUs were built by Siemens Mobility. EversholtRail Leasing owns the fleet which is leased back to the operator, Transpennine Trains Limited. The maintenance contract has been awarded by the latter. The Class 185 fleet has been awarded a Golden Spanner six times in the last seven years, including at the most recent awards in November 2022.

Siemens Mobility operates from around 30 UK locations including 13 train maintenance locations in the UK (Scotland to Southampton), and infrastructure depots. Siemens Mobility employs more than 5,000 people in the UK and is operating three manufacturing sites: Chippenham (signaling& Research and Development); Ashby-de-la-Zouch (control systems, customer information systems, telecoms) and Goole (trains). Siemens-built trains make up almost a quarter of UK passenger trains; 572 Siemens’s units are in service, and the company maintains a total of 587 trains.