Northern engineers have been working closely with the Spanish manufacturer CAF to make its Class 331 trains more reliable.
This means the trains, which are used to run services for millions of passengers across the North West and Yorkshire, are taken out of service for repairs less frequently.
Since agreeing a new approach to maintaining the units, in a contract signed in April 2025, engineers at Northern and CAF have been holding daily meetings to discuss mechanical issues and investigate the causes together.
They also now have important parts – including traction motors and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units – repaired by specialist firms in the North of England within a few days, instead of waiting months for them to be shipped to Europe and returned.
These changes have resulted in a significant improvement in reliability.
Over the last year, the average number of miles these trains cover before faults occur has increased by 72%, from 9,031 miles to 15,549 miles.
Geraint Bartie, contracts performance manager at Allerton Train Care Centre in Liverpool, said: “We have been working together, making sure we’re all aligned and focusing on the same priorities. Ultimately, we want to do what’s best for the passenger.
“We used to meet with CAF every few weeks to talk about what went wrong and react, but we now review technical issues together every single day and see if they have caused delays for passengers. We work together to get to the root cause much faster and fix it.
“We can closely monitor any issues and plan ahead, so we have the resources and materials in place to fix issues and prevent them from causing failures in the future. This approach helps us deliver a more reliable service through the high-quality maintenance our passengers deserve.
“Fixing the supply chain has also been crucial, ensuring we can now work with local companies to repair key parts within days instead of waiting months.
“We didn’t have a single air conditioning failure on the 331 trains this summer during the heatwave because we were getting the HVAC units fixed so quickly.”
Raj Basi, Northern’s engineering director, said: “By working in partnership with CAF, we have delivered significant gains in reliability and performance for the passengers we serve across the North.
“I am incredibly proud of the teams whose expertise, commitment and innovation have made this achievement possible.
“This demonstrates what can be accomplished when organisations work as one team, united by a shared goal and a determination to deliver a better railway for passengers.”
Image credit: Northern
