Award-winning £100m upgrades to GTR Electrostars completed
Millions of passengers in the south-east have benefited from a mammoth £100m train upgrade project – the biggest in the UK – with the final unit rolling off the production line at the weekend.
The 304th ‘Electrostar’ train in the Aurora scheme, which brings around reliability and onboard benefits for Southern, Gatwick Express, Great Northern and Southeastern passengers, rounds off the project which has completed on-time and on-budget over the past five years at Southern’s Selhurst depot in South London.
The award-winning works were funded by Porterbrook, the owner of the fleet, and completed in partnership with GTR and Alstom. Engineers have been busy installing plug sockets, information screens, LED lighting, improved WiFi, and a new digital “backbone” to the train which has helped speed up the repairs process meaning trains spend less time out of service.
Project Aurora was named the Fleet Achievement of the Year at the National Rail Awards, and became one of the largest fleet upgrades, with 1,222 carriages completed in time for the industry’s 200th anniversary.
Ben Ackroyd, Chief Operating Officer at Porterbrook said: “This has always been about making sure that we provide passengers with the best quality trains that we can, and we’re confident that they will see the benefits of these extensive upgrades. It’s been a real team effort, and I want to thank GTR, Alstom and all the other companies involved for playing their part in Project Aurora’s success.”
Steve Lammin, GTR’s engineering director, said: “The success of this modernisation scheme has resulted in wide-ranging benefits to passengers on some of the country’s busiest routes and I’d like to thank everyone whose dedication contributed to this.
“A project of this scale to be completed in-house by Southern engineers is a really impressive feat and has been key to the speed we’ve managed to get upgraded trains out and serving customers again.
“I hope passengers are feeling the benefit of these improvements as they use our trains to visit friends, family and explore some of the great destinations our railway can offer.”
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, Alstom’s services director UK and Ireland, 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.
“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.”
At its peak, two trains were fully upgraded and returned into passenger service each week. All 304 trains required:
- 280km 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 tech to count the number of passengers on a train which 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.