First look inside new £400m Aurora train fleet that will run through from London St Pancras to Kettering as well as Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Nottingham and Derby

East Midlands Railway (EMR) has shared the first look at the fancy interiors of its new £400 million Aurora fleet.

The Hitachi built bi-mode trains will be introduced during 2025 and throughout 2026 on the firm’s Intercity routes – which run from London St Pancras stopping at Kettering, and on to cities including Leicester, Nottingham and Derby.

The news comes on the back of a £60m upgrade to the non-intercity routes that EMR runs across the rest of its network, including the Connect service that runs through Corby and Wellingborough, and means all its trains will now be either reconditioned or new models.

Features of the new state-of-the-art trains include more seats and luggage space than EMR’s existing Meridian fleet, modern interiors, air conditioning, free WiFi, power sockets and USB ports at each seat and live passenger information.

Working closely with Derby-based design firm DG DESIGN, EMR took the popular FISA Lean seat design and refined it to offer enhanced comfort and support.

The seat improvements included increasing the size of cushions, headrests and armrests and making sure that high quality durable materials were used throughout, such as a wool-rich herringbone moquette and leather.

At the same time, EMR has ensured the seats include all the practical and technological features including power and USB points, generous legroom, coat hooks, well-sized seat-back tables for all airline style seats and space to stow a cabin-bag under each seat as well as generous overhead luggage storage.

The new Aurora fleet will include a new class-leading Wi-Fi system using multiple sim cards to select the best possible signal for customers.

Customers who want to use their own mobile signal will also benefit from better connections as the trains will be fitted with bespoke glass windows designed to allow signals to pass through.

Rachel Turner, Head of New Trains at East Midlands Railway said: “We’re really excited to share new photos of the interiors of our bi-mode fleet as the fleet progresses through testing and towards being passenger-ready.

“We have worked closely with Hitachi to ensure our trains offer customers the features and comfort they expect from a modern train.”