Bletchley Train Station Engineers leave in December

Bletchley train depot staff have been given a big ‘thankyou' by London Midland managing director Steve Banaghan on the site's last day as a full maintenance site.

From December, London Midland is phasing in a fleet of 37 state of the art 350/2 Desiro trains, which are maintained by Siemens at Northampton. These will eventually replace the 321s currently serviced at Bletchley.

Most of the Bletchley engineering staff will be seconded to the Siemens site, while the cleaning staff will move to London Midland's cleaning team. The depot land and buildings will revert to owner Network Rail when the lease ends later this year.

The depot was opened 42 years ago and is widely respected throughout the industry. Its staff won the HSBC Rail Awards Engineering Excellence title last year after making the 321s it maintained about six times more reliable than average for the unit.

London Midland managing director Steve Banaghan said: "The engineers at Bletchley are amongst the best in the industry and were vital to London Midland's excellent performance in the first six months of our franchise. It's good to know the new fleet will be in such good hands with them and Siemens in Northampton.

"I'd like to say a big thank you to both them and the cleaning staff and wish them all well for the future care of the London Midland fleet."

In December, London Midland is phasing in 37 four-car Class 350/2 Siemens Desiros to run mainly on West Coast Mainline routes, and phasing out its  Class 321 trains.