Yesterday, 4th June 2026, Transport for London and Alstom invited RailAdvent to Derby Litchurch Lane Works to take a look at the first of ten new Elizabeth Line trains.

345071 is the first complete unit that has left the production line and is now undergoing final tests on the Derby Test Track.

The Class 345 is the same train as those that currently operate on the Elizabeth Line network, but will help to boost capacity to around 120,000 people.

Once final tests are completed, 345071 will move to London for testing before entering service later this year.

The Aventra trains will also help to serve HS2’s Old Oak Common station in the future.

The trains have been designed and built at Derby Litchurch Lane factory, which is the only facility with the ability to design, build and test trains.

Each of the new Class 345s is nine carriages in length, and the construction, which Alstom showed us around, includes 50 miles of cabling, 47,700 screws and 31,700 bolts.

More than 850 million journeys have now been made on the Elizabeth Line, with growing demand being at the forefront of the new trains.

Seb Dance, Deputy Mayor of London, said that the Elizabeth Line is the ‘perfect example’ of how transport infrastructure can unlock opportunities.

First up on our visit, we were shown how the carriage roofs are made, with cabling etc attached at this stage before the sides and floor are added in.

Moving onto the next stage is the doors, these have their own stage where they are fitted, sealed and tested before each carriage moves onto the fitting out stage, where the carriage ends are added, seats fitted, and final tasks completed.

Each carriage is completed on a rolling road type system where there are multiple carriages in the workshop at each time, with one carriage at each stage of the process.

It is really interesting to see how a roof is turned into a fully completed carriage.

Once we had been in the workshop, we were then taken round to the test track.

We were given the opportunity to ride on 345071 before any members of the public had been on it.

The carpet was still covered in protective wrapping, and a rare chance to experience the carriage in brand new condition.

It’s really impressive to be able to see such progress from designing work, all the way through to a complete train that can travel up to 45 mph in these test conditions.

We were also invited into the cab for a ride, certainly something you don’t see every day.

“Seeing the first of our new Elizabeth line Aventra trains roll off the production line in Derby is a proud moment for everyone at Litchurch Lane. These new trains will help meet growing demand on the Elizabeth line while supporting highly skilled jobs in Derby and our nationwide supply chain.

Andy Butters, Managing Director of Derby Litchurch Lane Works

A video is now in works showcasing our visit, and we hope to have this uploaded to our YouTube channel really soon.

A big thank you to Alstom for inviting us to Derby once again for another milestone.