The final unit of a five year £100 million train upgrade programme has been completed, improving 1,222 carriages used by millions of passengers across the south east of England.

The Project Aurora, which finished this weekend, saw 304 Electrostar trains modernised at Southern's Selhurst depot in South London. The work was completed on time and within budget by a dedicated team of Southern engineers. 

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) operates the UK's biggest fleet of Electrostar trains. The upgraded trains now serve passengers on Southern, Gatwick Express, Great Northern and Southeastern routes across London, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Kent.

The improvements include three-pin plug and dual USB sockets at every seat, enhanced passenger information screens with new digital displays at carriage ends, and energy-saving LED lighting. Behind the scenes, a new digital "backbone" has been installed to improve reliability and reduce repair times, with engineers now able to diagnose faults remotely before trains arrive at depots.

Forward-facing and track debris CCTV has been fitted to every train, with remote streaming capabilities to help analyse incidents and reduce future delays. New technology also counts passenger numbers, which can be used to develop better timetables.

The project required 280 kilometres of wiring, 39,000 LED lighting tubes, 36,000 power sockets and 2.8 million fixings. At its peak, two trains were fully upgraded and returned to service each week.

The work was funded by rolling stock company Porterbrook, with technical specification and design provided by Alstom.

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."

The project won Fleet Achievement of the Year at the 2023 National Rail Awards.

Image credit: Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR)