Class 810 Aurora
Hitachi's AT300 intercity train built for the Midland Main Line, with shorter cars than the Class 800s and four diesel engines.
Drawing to come
- Type
- Bi-mode multiple unit (electric and diesel)
- Builder
- Hitachi Rail, Newton Aycliffe
- Built
- 2021 onwards
- In service
- since 2025
- Operators
- EMR
- Formation
- 5 cars, each 24 m long (shorter than other Hitachi intercity cars, so two trains fit St Pancras's platforms)
- Fleets
- East Midlands Railway: 13 of 33
- Top speed
- 125 mph
- Power
- 25 kV AC overhead, or four 735 kW diesel engines
- Profile
- main-line
- Seats per train
- 301
- Status
- Being introduced: 13 of 33 accepted by September 2026, after a three-year delay and reliability problems.
Sources
- Abellio invests £400 million in new Hitachi trains for East Midlands Railway, Hitachi Rail, 30 July 2019 (33 five-car trains, £400 million, Rock Rail, maintained at Derby Etches Park)
- Aurora: a new dawn for the East Midlands, Rail Engineer, 13 February 2025 (car bodies welded and painted at Newton Aycliffe; four 735 kW engines)
- East Midlands Railway finally launches 810 fleet, Rail, 24 November 2025 (24 m cars to fit two units at St Pancras; 301 seats; four engines)
- Aurora fleet enters into service as first customers travel on EMR, East Midlands Railway, 3 December 2025 (first passenger service 3 December 2025)
- EMR looking to Voyagers and extending Class 222 lease as more services are restored, Rail, 30 September 2026 (13 of 33 accepted)
- Interim report IR1/2026: collision between two passenger trains at Elstow, near Bedford, Rail Accident Investigation Branch, October 2026 (125 mph)