Alstom secures £20 million contract to overhaul nearly 400 Southeastern Networker bogies in Cheshire

Aerial View, Architecture, Building, City, Cityscape, Outdoors, Road, Urban default.Crewe Works, Cheshire, UK (28 October 2025) Crewe Works, Cheshire, UK (28 October 2025)

Almost 400 bogies from Southeastern’s Networker fleet will be overhauled at Alstom’s UK Centre of Excellence for Bogie Overhaul in Cheshire, supporting 50 skilled roles over two years.

Alstom has secured a £20 million (€22.9 million) contract with Eversholt Rail for the overhaul of almost 400 bogies for Southeastern’s Class 465 Networker fleet in the UK. The project covers 398 power bogies across 97 four-car units and will undergo a full mileage-based overhaul at Crewe Works. The work includes wheel and traction motor replacement, paint removal and new application, component replacement, gearbox overhaul, axle inspection, and electrical testing of traction packages.

“This award is a strong vote of confidence in Crewe’s capability and in the expertise of our people. Our Centre of Excellence will deliver a safe, high-quality overhaul of almost 400 Networker bogies for the South East of England while sustaining skilled jobs in the North. It’s a great example of how Alstom’s investment and Crewe’s heritage are helping keep passengers moving reliably across the country every day,” said Mark Derbyshire, Crewe Works General Manager at Alstom.

The Class 465 fleet is based at Southeastern’s Slade Green depot in South East London, with bogies transported to Crewe weekly for overhaul when the project begins next year. The overhaul will allow Southeastern to continue operating the Networkers, first introduced in 1992, while a more accessible replacement Metro fleet is procured.

Crewe Works is home to Alstom’s UK Centre of Excellence for Bogie, Wheel and Traction Motor Overhaul, having refurbished over 20,000 bogies in the past ten years for UK trains including Class 170, Class 221, Class 377, Class 378 and Class 458. The facility will also manufacture bogies for High Speed Two (HS2) rolling stock, the first time in almost two decades these will be made in the UK.

The contract follows Crewe Works’ inauguration of a new state-of-the-art HVAC refurbishment area and a suite of new offices, part of a multi-million-pound investment in the site.

Alstom is a global leader in rail services, maintaining over 35,500 vehicles worldwide and providing tailored solutions from technical support to fully outsourced maintenance.