Spencer Group completes Tyseley depot expansionJuly 15, 2025Spencer Group has completed a three-year project to extend and improve facilities at a busy Tyseley depot in Birmingham for West Midlands Railway.The collaboration between Spencer Group, West Midlands Railway and key stakeholder Network rail has resulted in the project not only being completed ahead of time, but also under budget.The project has included three phases, known as Work Packages 3, 4 and 5, which have been completed over a three-year period.The latest package to reach completion was Work Package 5, which included a 100m extension to the existing depot building, providing six car stabling of trains on two roads, numbers 11 and 12.As the most extensive of the three packages, Work package 5 also included the formation of new under carriage maintenance pits on both roads 11 and 12, as well as the supply and installation of numerous train jacks, an overhead gantry crane and two mobile gantries, to offer a wider capability of services for current and future maintenance requirements.Work packages 3 and 4 were completed earlier in the scheme and included the removal of a significant section of existing track in preparation for a 30m extension to the existing Underframe Cleaning (UFC) building, as well as mechanical and electrical works to the existing depot buildings, including ventilation, shore supplies and testing, commissioning and snagging works.The expansion of our depot in Tyseley is part of our GBP 1 billion investment into infrastructure and rolling stock. These works were vital to accommodate our new four-car Class 196 fleet, which serve lines between Birmingham, Worcester, Hereford and Shrewsbury, as well as between Leamington and Nuneaton, John Doughty, Engineering Director for West Midlands Railway, said.The extension works are a critical part of West Midlands Railways future operations, as the former depot was too small to house the train operators newest fleet of trains, which are four carriages long.With the Tyseley depot now having the capacity to house six carriages, the project has also future-proofed the facility, ensuring it has the space needed to undertake all of the maintenance and overhaul requirements of the train fleets based at the depot, throughout their lifecycle. The upgraded depot is also enabling West Midlands Railway to reduce its carbon footprint in multiple ways. The new shore supplies will mean trains critical systems can be powered for testing and commissioning without the need to leave their engines running. Additionally, the depot features a large solar photovoltaic panel array capable of generating 124,000 Kwh per year.Share on:RECOMMENDED EVENT: