First Rail London
Operator of the London Overground
First Rail London is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the London Overground concession.
01History
Transport for London shortlisted Arriva, FirstGroup, Go-Ahead Group and Transport UK Group for the next London Overground contract.
In December 2025, FirstGroup was awarded the contract with First Rail London, and took over the concession from Arriva Rail London on 3 May 2026. The contract runs for eight years, with the option to extend it by two additional years.
02Rolling stock
First Rail London inherited a fleet of Class 378 and Class 710 rolling stock.
Current fleet
| Family | Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Train Numbers | Cars | Seat layout | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||||||
| Bombardier Electrostar | 378/1 Capitalstar | EMU | 75 | 120 | 20 | 378135-154 | 5 | Longitudinal | East London line South London line |
2009-10 | |
| 378/2 Capitalstar | EMU | 75 | 120 | 37 | 378201-378234 378255-378257 |
5 | Longitudinal | North London line West London line East London line South London line Watford DC line |
2008-11 | ||
| Bombardier Aventra | 710/1 | EMU | 75 | 120 | 30 | 710101-130 | 4 | Longitudinal | Lea Valley lines Romford-Upminster line |
2017-20 | |
| 710/2 | EMU | 75 | 120 | 18 | 710256-273 | 4 | Longitudinal | Gospel Oak to Barking line Watford DC line |
2017-20 | ||
| 710/3 | EMU | 75 | 120 | 6 | 710374-379 | 5 | Longitudinal | Watford DC line | 2020 | ||
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “First Rail London”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
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