French multinational stock manufacturer, Alstom, have extended their Train Services Agreement (TSA) with CrossCountry in the UK valued at £825 million.

The eight-year agreement will allow Alstom to continue to maintain, overhaul, service and clean 252 vehicles of the CrossCountry fleet at their primary depot in Central Rivers in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire.

Nick Crossfield, Alstom Managing Director, UK & Ireland said: “We are delighted to extend our Voyager Maintenance Contract with CrossCountry for another eight years. We have worked in close partnership since 2007, providing reliable, well-presented, and safe trains for all CrossCountry’s customers. We look forward to working with our colleagues at CrossCountry to help them deliver a high-quality train service for the next eight years.”

The contract places a strong focus on robust fleet performance, with a collaboration team between Alstom, the asset owner and CrossCountry established to identify optimisation and improvement initiatives, as well as ensuring the quality of the passenger environment.

Tom Joyner, Managing Director, CrossCountry said: “We’re delighted to continue our relationship with Alstom as we embark on our National Rail Contract. Improving the onboard experience is critical to ensuring our customers view us as a long-distance operator of choice and we look forward to working closely with Alstom in the years ahead to deliver these improvements.”

As part of the agreement the fleet will be installed with an Intelligent Engine Stop Start (IESS) system, which will drive a reduction in fuel usage, emissions, and operational costs. Additionally, the collaboration team will continue with other fuel savings measures to build on the weight reduction initiatives already undertaken, or underway, which will substantially reduce the emissions produced from the fleet.