Work has begun on Stadler’s new £20 million depot in Kirkdale, Merseyside.
Representatives from contractor BAM Nuttall were joined by those from the Swiss train maker and Liverpool City Region’s metro mayor Steve Rotheram.
Stadler signed a £460 million deal with Merseyrail in December 2016 for 52 new four-car trains, to replace the operator’s existing 40-year fleet.
The new depot is being built in support of the commissioning and ongoing maintenance of these new trains.
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BAM Nuttall secured the contract to build the new state-of-the-art depot in the following March. This deal also included work to refurbish the existing depot in Birkenhead North.
The Kirkdale depot will include washing and stabling facilities, a maintenance shed with run-through tracks and a simulator suite. The design includes potential for the depot to be extended for 80m trainsets.
At Birkenhead North, the existing depot will be upgraded with a new washing facility so it will be possible to clean the trains on the Wirral line (Birkenhead North) and the Northern line (Kirkdale). Once the Kirkdale depot is ready for the main maintenance of the new fleet, this facility will focus on overnight servicing and cleaning.
Work is scheduled to be complete 2019 in time for the arrival of new vehicles for testing.
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