Alstom helps complete £100 million upgrade on South East England’s biggest train fleet

• 1,222 Southern, Gatwick Express, Great Northern and Southeastern carriages upgraded over five years
• Benefits include plug and USB sockets, information screens and a new digital ‘backbone’ bringing reliability improvements and timetable benefits

Millions of passengers in South East England have benefited from an Alstom-facilitated £100 million train upgrade project – the biggest in the UK – with the final unit having rolled off the production line.

The 304th Electrostar train in the scheme – known as Project Aurora – rounds off the programme which has completed on-time and on-budget over the past five years at Southern’s Selhurst depot in South London. It has brought reliability and onboard benefits for passengers on franchises operated by Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR): Southern, Gatwick Express, Great Northern and Southeastern.

As the UK’s leading supplier of new trains and train services, Alstom provided technical specification, design work and materials for Project Aurora.

Steve Harvey, Services Director UK and Ireland at Alstom, said: “Aurora marks a landmark achievement for UK rail, and I’m immensely proud of Alstom’s pivotal role in delivering this transformation. Our commitment continues as we provide ongoing support for this significant fleet, which we’ve serviced for over 20 years since its introduction.

He added: “Completing the country’s largest fleet upgrade on time and on budget is a true testament to the dedication and expertise of our teams. The enhancements to our Derby-built Electrostar trains will make a meaningful difference to passengers’ journeys every single day.”

The award-winning works were funded by rolling stock company Porterbrook, the UK’s leading rolling stock financier and asset management company, and completed by a dedicated team of Southern engineers who have been busy installing plug sockets, information screens, LED lighting, improved WiFi and a new digital ‘backbone’ to the train. The latter has helped speed up the repairs process meaning trains spend less time out of service.

With more trains added to the scope mid-scheme, Aurora became one of the largest fleet upgrades, with 1,222 carriages completed in time for the modern railway’s bicentenary.

With the final train – Southern’s No. 387305 – now completed and back on the rails serving customers in London, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Kent, staff were treated to a celebration event on Tuesday 14 October to mark their past five years of dedication to the project.

At its peak, two trains were fully upgraded and returned into passenger service each week. All 304 trains required:

• 280 km of wiring

• 39,000 LED lighting tubes

• 36,000 power sockets (each with two USB sockets)

• 2.8 million fixings and fastenings

The trains now feature plug and dual USB sockets at every seat, enhanced passenger information screens, with new digital screens at the end of each carriage, energy saving LED lighting and new technology to count the number of passengers on a train. The latter can be used to adjust and develop timetables to give people better services.

Behind the scenes, smart on-board data recorders and updates to the Train Data Network allow for improved remote monitoring of the train’s operational systems, which helps reliability and reduces the time trains spend out of service for maintenance or repair, as engineers can diagnose faults before the train’s arrival.

Forward-facing and track debris CCTV has also been installed on every train with the ability to remotely live stream and download images which aid in incident analysis and reducing future delays.

Project Aurora won the Fleet Achievement of the Year award at the National Rail Awards in 2023 for its efficiency, especially with such a huge scope of carriages to complete.

GTR has the UK’s biggest fleet of Electrostars, operating between London, Surrey, Sussex and the south coast. The trains, all built at Alstom’s Derby Litchurch Lane Works, also run on Great Northern and Gatwick Express routes.