First Aurora will enter service in December
posted on 12th Nov 2025 08:50
On 10 November 20225, Transport UK and East Midlands Railway (EMR) confirmed that the first Aurora from EMR’s new 400 million GBP fleet will enter service across the East Midlands and South Yorkshire. Six year ago, when EMR ordered the trains, the first units were envisaged to start passenger service in 2022. Subsequently, the date for the homologation of the new Class 810 was moved to early 2023 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then to 2024, before being changed into 2025.
The Hitachi Rail-built fleet will travel on the Midland Main Line, providing more seats, modern, spacious interiors, improved air conditioning, free class leading WiFi, plug sockets at every seat and clear customer information screens. The Class 810 dual-power trains will take advantage of the 1.5 billion GBP Midland Main Line upgrade, with the ability to run on electric overhead lines - dramatically cutting carbon emissions by 66 %, meaning quieter and greener journeys too.
Each Aurora will provide 24 % more seats and over 19 % more legroom in a typical five-car formation, compared to the Class 222 Meridian DMUs it is replacing. Once the full fleet of 33 EDMUs is in service, it will deliver a substantial 46 % increase in the total number of seats available for customers travelling on the MML.
Transport UK’s EMR business went to great lengths to source and adapt a brand-new seat for the new trains. Working closely with Derby-based design firm DG DESIGN, it has taken the proven product of a FISA Lean seat and refined it to offer enhanced comfort and support for customers. At the same time, it 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 seats and space to stow a cabin-bag under each seat.
The Auroras also include a new class-leading Wi-Fi system that uses multiple sim cards to select the best possible signal for customers. Furthermore, thanks to specially designed glass, customers will enjoy stronger mobile signal.
