Millions of Govia Thameslink Railway passengers in the south-east benefited from the biggest train upgrade in the UK – the £100m Project Aurora.
The award-winning works to the operator’s entire Electrostar fleet were funded by Porterbrook, which owns the trains, and completed in partnership with GTR and Alstom.
Project Aurora was named the Fleet Achievement of the Year at the National Rail Awards, and became one of the largest fleet upgrades, with 304 vehicles, consisting of 1,222 carriages, completed in time for the industry’s 200th anniversary.
At its peak, two Electrostars 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
