ALSTOM has started giving Virgin trains a facelift at the new £21 million revolutionary technology hub in Widnes.

The rail engineer clinched a £23.8m contract to re-paint the 56-strong Pendolino fleet.

The project secured 80 jobs at the Halebank Road and created five apprenticeships.

The first Virgin train came in to be re-painted early last month and will be completed within approximately five weeks.

After work on the first three trains is finished, it will take just two weeks to complete the re-painting of each train.

The re-painting of all Pendolinos will be delivered by December 2019.

The project is the first that Alstom will deliver at its new rail modernisation centre in Widnes which opened in July and is the biggest site of its kind in the UK.

Mike Hulme, managing director of trains and modernisation at Alstom UK, said: “This time last year our site at Widnes was just an empty field.

“To see the re-painting work on the first Pendolino is an incredible achievement and I’m very proud of everything our team has achieved to get here.

“I’m also pleased to welcome our new staff to Widnes, the majority of whom were recruited locally to work on this project.

“The technology we have in place at Widnes to deliver this contract is second to none in the UK, making this re-painting project the most efficient I have seen.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of the Pendolinos go through the repainting process in the coming months.”

Alstom has installed large-scale, specialist painting booths in the modernisation centre at Widnes, which ensures the re-painting work is completed to the highest quality and in the quickest time.

Industry 4.0 virtual reality painting simulators have also been fitted to train the team and validate the work.

A further 15 apprentices will taken on in September when the Alstom Academy for Rail opens on the same site.