TRAIN company GNER is about half way through a £30m refit of its electric trains.

The York firm said yesterday that 15 of the 30 Mk4 trains were now in service on the East Coast Main Line.

Work is on schedule to rebuild the remainder of the fleet by October this year.

The refit, codenamed Mallard after the famous engine of the same name, allows for two inches extra leg room in standard accommodation, contoured seats with flip-up arm rests, extra wheelchair space, power points and caf-bar. Ten of the trains also feature wireless Internet facilities in first and standard class.

Last year, GNER denied that the flagship £30m project was behind schedule after the Strategic Rail Authority said the timetable for completion of the work had slipped.

But it admitted that there had been some teething problems with some of the trains, which are being refurbished by Bombardier, in Wakefield.

GNER's chief operating officer Jonathan Metcalfe said: "Work on the Mallard project is progressing well, and we're hugely encouraged by the positive response the trains are attracting from passengers and rail experts alike."

The programme is believed to the biggest of its kind in the UK. To ensure that GNER maintains its 122 services every weekday while the rebuild is under way, the company has hired diesel trains to cover.