XC Voyager Refurbishment

[802020]

I think the red base with the big X logo looks quite good. I don't understand why they didn't simply use that design on all cars. The logo does a good job of filling in the large blank section of bodyside behind the cab, and it would do the same on the intermediate cars where the large vestibules are.

It would be further improved by using the grey for the doors instead of the blue/turquoise colour, which I think clashes a bit with the red.

As it is, those big dark grey expanses of bodyside will look really grim, especially in environments which can already feel a bit dingy. Such as, perhaps, a station where all the platforms are built underground. Good job they don't serve any of those then (!!!)

I agree with the red base! I think the mock up looked excellent!!

 

[sabanda]

I think it needs a diagonal transition similar to the one between the purple and silver on the existing livery - just further towards the rear of the driving vehicle. I would use the new Turbostar livery as an example, but personally feel the use of two shades of red on those units looks rather awkard.

 

[Neen Sollars]

RailAdvent You Tube video gives a decent walk past and walk through.

 

[tfw756rider]

The centre cars have been repainted in a grey colour as per the renders which can be seen in the picture on the Alstom press release if you zoom in

Source: https://www.alstom.com/press-releas...rst-refurbished-crosscountry-voyager-train-uk

Ah thanks, the higher resolution reduces the distorton somewhat.

 

[D365]

There was also an unconfirmed rumour that units 101-106 were coming over to XC in May as well - so maybe these ones are being refurbished early as they’ve been rotting away in sidings for god-knows how long? Might explain 102’s presence there?

Litchurch Lane is a lot more than just sidings...

 

[tfw756rider]

Picture from Stewart Cumming. Unsure which ex Avanti unit that is to the right.

Finally a decent-ish view of an intermediate vehicle, thanks for sharing!

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Litchurch Lane is a lot more than just sidings...

I thought the off lease Voyagers had been stored at Barton / CR, do they use Litchurch Lane for storing off lease trains?

 

[Jacob Porrett]

I thought the off lease Voyagers had been stored at Barton / CR, do they use Litchurch Lane for storing off lease trains?

At the moment yes.

 

[AndrewP]

Looks good to me - although I would have done the colour transition between red and grey externally differently or had just the red.

great to see airline seat tables that fit laptops and two sockets at each pair of airline seats

Looking forward to seeing these

 

[fgwrich]

I thought the off lease Voyagers had been stored at Barton / CR, do they use Litchurch Lane for storing off lease trains?

Alstom seemed to have stored most of the off lease Ex-Avanti Voyagers at Litchurch Lane, no doubt to keep Central Rivers free. And potentially to keep them warm stored.

(Ironically those kept undercover avoiding some of the issues the 175s appear to have picked up)

 

[3RDGEN]

I thought the off lease Voyagers had been stored at Barton / CR, do they use Litchurch Lane for storing off lease trains?

Maybe their on lease to Alstom? They identified the six units for their OAO bid which is still ongoing so maybe Alstom have those six units on some form of lease hence they are storing them on their own site?

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

At the moment yes.

Alstom seemed to have stored most of the off lease Ex-Avanti Voyagers at Litchurch Lane, no doubt to keep Central Rivers free. And potentially to keep them warm stored.

(Ironically those kept undercover avoiding some of the issues the 175s appear to have picked up)

Ah, that's a shame then, it means we can't get excited about what 102 being there might mean.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Alstom seemed to have stored most of the off lease Ex-Avanti Voyagers at Litchurch Lane, no doubt to keep Central Rivers free. And potentially to keep them warm stored.

(Ironically those kept undercover avoiding some of the issues the 175s appear to have picked up)

Well we will have to wait for them to be stored outside for a few years, and loads of faults occur because of it before the government will allow them to be signed into the XC lease.

 

[YorksLad12]

RailAdvent You Tube video gives a decent walk past and walk through.

I mean... even the First Class seats don't match up with windows.Why bother having windows on trains at all, if this is the standard??

 

[sabanda]

Ah, that's a shame then, it means we can't get excited about what 102 being there might mean.

Perhaps not the best source, but an Alstom intern on the Voyager project who was interviewed yesterday pointed at 102 behind her and named it as the next unit to go in for refurbishment.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Perhaps not the best source, but an Alstom intern on the Voyager project who was interviewed yesterday pointed at 102 behind her and named it as the next unit to go in for refurbishment.

Hmm okay, well if she's working on the project she'd know - so perhaps we'll have a nice further compliment of six more? Would be very welcome.
I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[swt_passenger]

I'm sure I read somewhere that they were going to prioritise the Avanti ones as they aren't XC spec (e.g. they have the disused shop instead of the extra luggage space). Can't remember where though. Shame in a way as they're in the best condition.

However there are also posts in this thread back in 2024 that said the ex-Avanti units would be done last…

 

[P156KWJ]

220033 will see the mainline again next week.

Albeit hauled by something else.

 

[FGWHST43009]

220033 will see the mainline again next week.

Albeit hauled by something else.

Depot move?

 

[Bayum]

I mean... even the First Class seats don't match up with windows.Why bother having windows on trains at all, if this is the standard??

Was that not because they still need to match the reservation system which wasn’t part of the refurb?

 

[19Gnasher69]

RailAdvent You Tube video gives a decent walk past and walk through.

The video shows an original XC-liveried Voyager, then the Avanti colour scheme, then the latest XC-livery. It’s a rail version of the Ascent of Man only in reverse - it goes from sober and classy, through okay to a childish dog’s dinner.
The only positive thing I can see in the new livery is that they finally painted the roofs something other than VXC red.

 

[Laserbeam31]

RailAdvent You Tube video gives a decent walk past and walk through.

That’s quite a useful walkthrough. Provides a slightly better feel of the insides than the static pictures.

Very amusingly, though, it looks like they haven’t quite got rid of all the redundant at-seat entertainment points! At 6:17 in the video, at the bottom left of the picture, isn’t that still one of the entertainment units in situ? Presumably the one which would have served the wheelchair space in that area?

 

[sabanda]

Latest render on the XC website (https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/travel-information/on-board/about-our-trains) shows the train exactly as it appears now, with no transitions between the red and grey coaches.

 

[Russel]

Not that there have been any decent exterior photos yet of course, just ones that only really show one driving vehicle for some reason.

There is a few floating around on Facebook but I can't remember which group I saw them in now.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Feb 2026 ==

That looks tight, given that the LEAN has quite a short base and the seats are raked quite steeply backwards (remember that taller people also have longer lower legs so their knees sit higher than short people). Not as bad as the original Class 158 but not far off.

Plus, the muppets have put the sockets right in the way of one possible location for a taller person's knee. About the most stupid place to put them I've seen yet.

Can't remember which way round it is, but as build either red or blue seats had extra leg room, hence why they don't line up, as seen in this photo on Wiki

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/...media/File:220001_Standard_Class_Interior.jpg

If they haven't done anything with the reservation system, I assume this would still be the case.

 

[fgwrich]

Very amusingly, though, it looks like they haven’t quite got rid of all the redundant at-seat entertainment points! At 6:17 in the video, at the bottom left of the picture, isn’t that still one of the entertainment units in situ? Presumably the one which would have served the wheelchair space in that area?

I spy a ghost of Virgin Voyagers past… as you mention

Another small thing of note is that the Toilet Murals have gone. I have mixed feelings about those as they were a nice distraction from the otherwise plain and easily vandalised walls, but they themselves have ended up being rather scruffy lately.

 

[Russel]

I spy a ghost of Virgin Voyagers past… as you mention

I'm surprise that wasn't removed and plated over!

 

[sabanda]

I spy a ghost of Virgin Voyagers past… as you mention

Another small thing of note is that the Toilet Murals have gone. I have mixed feelings about those as they were a nice distraction from the otherwise plain and easily vandalised walls, but they themselves have ended up being rather scruffy lately.

The original plans for the refurb saw the inside of the toilet doors adorned with the same stylised landmark drawings as the XC paper coffee cups. Perhaps this is still the case, as the doors themselves aren't visible in the toilet photos?

I'm glad that they went ahead with the Birmingham Library-inspired patterns on the walls at the end of each coach.

 

[SuperS16v]

here’s some photos of the other vehicles

 

[802020]

Latest render on the XC website (https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/travel-information/on-board/about-our-trains) shows the train exactly as it appears now, with no transitions between the red and grey coaches.

What a shame.

 

[fgwrich]

The original plans for the refurb saw the inside of the toilet doors adorned with the same stylised landmark drawings as the XC paper coffee cups. Perhaps this is still the case, as the doors themselves aren't visible in the toilet photos?

I'm glad that they went ahead with the Birmingham Library-inspired patterns on the walls at the end of each coach.

I’m glad you spotted that, a neat little feature I noticed yesterday too. I’ll give XC some credit for that, a rather neat little touch given XCs Birmingham HQ and central to the network.