Bletchley TMD

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Bletchley TMD is a railway traction maintenance depot situated in Bletchley to the north of Bletchley Station on the West Coast Main Line (and the Marston Vale Line). The depot is operated by Silverlink. The depot code is now BY but, in steam days, the shed code was 1E.

Bletchley TMD is scheduled for closure during 2008. Bletchley has won awards for the reliability of its trains for the last two years and continues to have the most reliable fleet in the UK.^{[citation needed]} Age may be the reason for its closure as the train units it maintains are nearing 20 years of hardened service and sourcing spares is rumoured to be a problem.^{[citation needed]}^{[dubious – discuss]} Furthermore it no longer maintains the 313 fleet for Silverlink Metro on site and financial viability may also be an issue, as many new manufacturers push for 'build and maintain' contracts.

However, with the announcement of the London Midland franchise the 321 fleet is scheduled for replacement and this would appear to rule out any possibility of saving Bletchley TMD.