East Midlands Railway (EMR) has won an international award for a documentary about the construction of its new Aurora Intercity fleet.

The video was created by Alchemy Films, and won the Longform Documentary category at the Vega Awards.

This competition aims to honour excellence in planning and carrying out digital communications.

As reported by RailAdvent in February, the film gives an insight into what the Aurora carriages will look like, and shows off the features of the train that EMR describes as “state-of-the-art”.

The new EMR Intercity fleet comprises thirty-three trains of five carriages each, which will be able to run on electricity and diesel.

Hitachi Rail is building the trains in County Durham, with finance provided by Rock Rail East Midlands. The trains are scheduled to enter service next year (2025).

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The new trains are Class 810s, and the operator chose the name ‘Aurora’ from among suggestions made in a competition in 2020.

The newest video about the Aurora project includes footage of the interior designers and suppliers, and of the EMR staff in charge of bringing the trains into service.

One important part of the films shows the work carried out to make the trains’ seats as comfortable as possible.

Derby-based design firm DGDESIGN has worked with EMR to develop the design of the seats, which is based on the FISA Lean seat, which has been used successfully on trains, including those manufactured by Stadler for Greater Anglia in 2018.

EMR has redesigned the seat, and believes that its changes have improved the seats’ appearance to match what it believes passengers expect from an Intercity seat.

This has included enlarging cushions, headrests and armrests, and using high-quality durable materials such as wool-rich moquette and leather.

The video shows how practical and technological features have been incorporated, including power and USB points, legroom, coat hooks, seat-back tables for all airline seats, and space to stow a cabin bag under each seat.

The trains also include air conditioning, free WiFi throughout, better mobile phone signal access, extra luggage space, plug sockets and improved passenger information screens.

“We are delighted that the latest episode of our Aurora documentary has received this award.

“It offers a great insight into all the work that is taking place to make sure the new fleet offers customers the features and comfort they expect from a modern train.”

Rachel Turner, Head of New Trains at East Midlands Railway