Class 395 EMU Full Fleet Interior Refurbishment

For this challenging but rewarding project, we supported Hitachi Rail with the mid-life interior refurbishment of Southeastern’s Class 395 ‘Javelin’ high-speed train fleet. The whole refurbishment project (maintenance, interior, exterior) was a £27 million project for SouthEastern aimed to improve passenger experience and extend the lifespan of the trains, which have carried over 100 million passengers since their introduction in 2009.

Diamond Rail provided a true turnkey interior service across the entire 29-train fleet, working in close partnership with Hitachi Rail to deliver high-quality results, on time and with minimal disruption.

For this project, we:

• Stripped and deep-cleaned all vehicle interiors at Ashford depot
• Removed, transported, refurbished, and reinstalled 10,208 seats via our Sheffield facility
• Supplied new grab handles, carried out powder coating and interior painting
• Delivered full material procurement and supply chain coordination
• Managed all site labour, logistics, and installation activities
• Conducted fire testing, compliance checks, and final quality inspections for each unit

A key challenge on this project was coordinating the refurbishment of multiple trains simultaneously across different locations. Our smart, lean approach—splitting work between on-site teams and our Sheffield base—enabled us to keep turnaround time to just three weeks per unit. This innovative solution to the challenge paired with careful logistics planning, tracked deliveries, and regular client updates kept everything running smoothly.