London Northwestern Railway celebrates one year of its Alstom Aventra fleet in the UK
Alstom trains have driven a 20% increase in customer satisfaction on the operator’s Trent Valley Line services.
www.alstom.com
Millions of London Northwestern Railway (LNR) passengers have travelled on one of Alstom’s newest UK train fleets in their first year in service.
The first Class 730/2 Aventra electric train entered service on 9 June 2025 and has been credited with revolutionising the travel experience to and from London Euston railway station. The fleet, built at Alstom’s historic Derby Litchurch Lane Works, is made up of 36 five-carriage trains – a total of 180 carriages – and has increased capacity on LNR routes to and from London Euston by a fifth.
The fleet was gradually introduced to the route between Northampton and London Euston from June 2025 before entering service on the Trent Valley Line between Crewe and Euston in December 2025, serving destinations including Milton Keynes, Rugby and Lichfield.
One year on, the rollout is now complete and has led to a major 20% increase in customer satisfaction on LNR’s busy Trent Valley Line services as well as a 10% increase on the route towards Northampton, with passengers quick to praise the trains’ spacious interiors.
Part of the Aventra family of electric multiple-unit trains, Alstom has produced 2,660 cars at its Derby factory for customers across the UK since 2015 – making it the biggest train manufacturing programme in a generation. Celebrating its 150th birthday this year, Derby Litchurch Lane Works is the UK’s only facility capable of designing, engineering, manufacturing and testing trains from scratch for both domestic and export markets
“It’s fantastic to see the real impact our Aventra trains are having for London Northwestern Railway and its passengers just one year into service. From boosting capacity to driving significant improvements in customer satisfaction, this fleet is transforming journeys on some of the UK’s busiest routes,” said Andy Butters, Managing Director Derby Litchurch Lane Works at Alstom.
He added: “For everyone at Litchurch Lane, this milestone is a proud reflection of the skill, dedication and innovation of our teams, who have designed and built these trains in Derby. As the UK’s only end‑to‑end train manufacturing facility, we are committed to delivering modern, high-capacity fleets that support sustainable growth on the railway while underpinning jobs and expertise across our nationwide supply chain.”
Earlier this month, the first of ten new Elizabeth line Aventra trains left the Derby production line before being put into passenger service later this year. These new Aventra Class 345 electric multiple units (EMUs) for Transport for London will see the Elizabeth line fleet grow to 80 trains, helping Transport for London meet growing demand on the UK’s single busiest railway service.
Meanwhile, as part of the recent national timetable change in May, the continuing rollout of the new LNR fleet meant that the operator was able to introduce 42,000 extra seats on its services to and from Euston every week, significantly increasing capacity on busy commuter and leisure routes.
To celebrate the additional capacity, LNR is giving away thousands of half-price train tickets booked through its app before Monday 21 June for travel up to Friday 31 July.
“These modern electric trains have made a massive difference for the millions of commuter and leisure passengers who travel on our services to and from London Euston every year,” said Jonny Wiseman, Customer Experience Director at London Northwestern Railway.
He added: “It’s fantastic to see how our customer satisfaction scores have risen since their introduction 12 months ago and we look forward to building on the success of the fleet as we move towards an integrated publicly owned railway.”
The successful rollout of the Class 730/2 fleet was hailed at this year’s Rail Industry Planning Awards and played a major role in LNR being named Train Operator of the Year at the 2026 Rail Business Awards.
Other destinations served by the Class 730/2s include Birmingham New Street, Coventry, Watford Junction, Leighton Buzzard, Tamworth and Nuneaton. A five-car Class 730/2 has 406 seats, significantly more than the average of 233 seats on the Class 350 trains they are replacing. Many of the Class 730/2s operate in pairs, providing 812 seats across 10 carriages – more than an average 12-carriage Class 350.
London Northwestern Railway is part of West Midlands Trains, a train operating company that also runs West Midlands Railway services. The Class 730/2 launch followed the successful rollout of the three-carriage Derby-built Class 730/0s across the West Midlands Railway network. These trains are in service on the popular Cross-City Line in Birmingham, between Wolverhampton and Walsall, and between Rugeley and Birmingham International.
More information on both fleets can be found here .
www.alstom.com
