National Express Group’s ‘one’ railway has won two awards at the prestigious 'Golden Spanners' awards, organised by the respected rail industry monthly journal Modern Railways and their Industry & Technology Editor Roger Ford.

The annual ‘Golden Spanner Awards’ recognises improvements in rolling stock reliability across the UK rail industry taking into account the different classes of trains operating throughout the network and comparing their reliability ratings.

‘one’ railway’s Crown Point Depot team won a Golden Spanner for operating the best new generation diesel multiple unit for the Class 170 trains (in partnership with train manufacturer Bombardier). These trains operate on the services between Lowestoft and Ipswich / London and Peterborough and Ipswich / London. The overall miles per technical casualty (MPC) has improved and on a moving annual average (MAA) was a class leading 14,617 MPC at the end of last period. For our passengers this improvement translates into fewer delayed journeys. In fact the delay minutes generated on the network due to technical failures on this fleet has steadily decreased and is currently 40% better than at the same point last year.

In addition, the Norwich-based Crown Point Depot team won a Silver Spanner for most improved intercity fleet for the Class 90 locomotives and Mk3 carriages, which operate ‘one’s Norwich to London intercity services. The improvement over last year has been achieved by the development and implementation of a suite of reliability modifications by the technical team. The MPC MAA on this fleet has more than doubled and is now 9,952 MPC compared with 4,734 MPC at the same point last year.

These changes have contributed to an improvement in the moving annual average punctuality across ‘one’ from 87% to 89% with more passengers enjoying more ‘on-time’ journeys.

Commenting on these awards, Mike Watkins, Fleet Manager for ‘one’ railway at Crown Point said:“The significant improvement in the reliability of our fleet of Class 90 locomotives and Mk3 carriages is a great credit to the maintenance team at Crown Point. I’m delighted that their efforts in delivering high standards of engineering excellence have been recognised. Our passengers are enjoying a more reliable train service as a result of their efforts. I am also pleased that our joint partnership with Bombardier in delivering a high quality standard of reliability for the Class 170 trains has also been recognized.”

Andrew Chivers ‘one’ railway’s Managing Director commented: “Over the last year we have been making great efforts to improve the service we offer our customers. These awards are recognition of the contribution that the team at our Norwich Crown Point Depot have made towards these improvements. I would like to congratulate the Crown Point team on their success. Our services are now the most reliable that they have been since the beginning of the franchise and the team at Crown Point are an important part of this improvement in trains.”