East Midlands Railway – which runs trains through Grantham – launches multi-million project to replace standard class seats

A train company is investing £3 million to refurbish thousands of seats in its intercity fleet.

East Midlands Railways, which runs through Grantham, has a project which will see more than 5,500 standard class seat covers and foam padding replaced.

It will see 5,272 standard seats and 243 tip-up seats refurbished in 222 fleets.

The seats will be changed to a neutral grey colour and refurbished during routine maintenance without needing to take any trains out of service.

EMR customers will begin to benefit from the upgrade this month, as the first units with the refurbished sets travel up and down the Midland Main Line.

Ian Hyde, fleet director for East Midlands Railway, said: "This is great news for our Intercity customers while we await the exciting introduction of the Aurora fleet.

"The refurbishments will significantly improve the experience and environment for our customers, all without the need to take any trains out of service.

"This much-needed refresh of the train interiors represents a significant investment for the fleet and future-proofs them, enabling them to continue serving UK customers wherever they go after they leave us.”

The old seat materials will be recycled, and the foam will be transformed into material for rubberised safety matting used in children’s play areas.