The UK’s largest fleet upgrade project has been completed, with the final Electrostar rolling out of GTR’s Selhurst depot as part of the £100 million Project Aurora. In total, 304 trains operated by Southern, Gatwick Express, Great Northern and Southeastern have received comprehensive reliability and passenger-focused enhancements.
Funded by Porterbrook and delivered on time and on budget in partnership with GTR and Alstom, the five-year programme introduced major upgrades including plug sockets at every seat, enhanced passenger information screens, LED lighting, improved Wi-Fi and a new digital backbone designed to reduce maintenance downtime.
"This has always been about making sure that we provide passengers with the best quality trains that we can, and we’re confident they will see the benefits," said Ben Ackroyd, Chief Operating Officer at Porterbrook. He added that the success of Aurora was the result of strong cooperation across the industry.
GTR’s engineering director Steve Lammin highlighted the scale of the achievement: "A project of this size to be completed in-house by Southern engineers is a really impressive feat. I hope passengers are feeling the benefit of these improvements as they travel on some of the country’s busiest routes."
Alstom, responsible for technical specification, design and materials, called Aurora a landmark effort. "Completing the country’s largest fleet upgrade on time and on budget is a testament to the dedication and expertise of our teams," said Steve Harvey, Alstom’s services director for UK and Ireland.
The modernised Electrostars also feature enhanced remote-diagnostics capability, forward-facing and debris-detection CCTV and smart monitoring systems, all contributing to faster fault detection and reduced time out of service.
PROJECT AURORA – KEY NUMBERS
- 304 upgraded trains (1,222 carriages)
- £100 million investment
- 39,000 LED lighting tubes
- 36,000 plug and USB sockets
- 280 km of new wiring
- 2.8 million fixings and fastenings
- 2 trains/week returned to service at peak delivery
