Hitachi wins UK’s top reliability award for third year

1 min read

The Lumo (Class 803) fleet was awarded gold – the highest accolade possible – in the 2nd generation new inter-city category.

Lumo

The 100% electric Lumo fleet was built in the North East at Hitachi Rail’s Newton Aycliffe’s manufacturing facility and helped transform passenger journeys on the East Coast Mainline. It is currently the UK’s most reliable fleet.

Lumo's performance is truly exceptional. It has been ranked the No.1 fleet in the UK according to reliability figures for the last nine periods and is currently operating at a remarkable 13 times better than the UK industry average.

The fleet’s incredible reliability over the past 12 months is a result of customer collaboration, tireless work from their maintenance teams, and integration of new digital solutions.

This is the third year in the row Hitachi Rail’s maintenance team has won gold for outstanding performance and reliability.

The Golden Spanner awards are organised by Modern Railways and are the rail industry's most prestigious awards for fleet reliability based on reliability data from the past 12 months.

Jim Brewin, chief director UK & Ireland at Hitachi Rail, said: “For the third consecutive year, Hitachi Rail’s maintenance team has been honoured with the industry’s highest award for reliability.

“This achievement is a testament to our strong partnership with our customers, whose daily collaboration is vital in establishing new standards in train reliability.

“A huge congratulations to our dedicated maintenance teams, whose ‘continuous improvement’ mindset and digital maintenance solutions are breaking new ground in fleet performance.”

Martijn Gilbert, managing director of Lumo, said: “This Golden Spanner award is a real reflection of the exceptional efforts of our team and those of our partners at Hitachi. It highlights the strides we’ve made in setting new standards for reliability while pioneering sustainability goals to make rail even cleaner, greener and truly customer focused.

“Our focus remains on providing a dependable, eco-friendly service that meets the evolving needs of customers, and this prestigious recognition reinforces the value of the Lumo approach.”

Digital maintenance has played a major role in maintaining consistently high levels of train availability across the rail network. Hitachi Rail’s digital maintenance offer includes digital asset monitoring solutions, which captures information about the train in real-time. This reduces depot downtime and digitally optimises maintenance activities.