Nowadays vast majority of the new trains’ interior lighting systems use Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology but the technology is rather new in this market sector. The LED technology’s advantages are indisputable and therefore it has superseded fluorescent lighting and other older technologies. LEDs’ small size, long life time, low energy consumption and high reliability enable the best possible solutions from the design and life cycle costs point of views.

Most of the new build train projects start from a scratch. An interior design is tailor made for a certain project and customer. This results long lead time and high development costs. Competition is the most intense on these projects. Assumable new build projects’ tailoring requirement will not change in the future.

This thesis concentrates on passenger train refurbishment markets and LED upgrading projects. The aim of this study is to find a new market space for the case company, Company x, by using a Blue Ocean strategy for a new business concept development. The new business concept is developed especially for the UK railway refurbishment markets and targeted to the platform A and B trains. LED lighting products, marketing material and plan are created to standardize and accelerate an approach, as far as possible.

Theoretical part of this thesis explains business strategy’s importance and the Blue Ocean strategy development process. Railway’s share of the global transportation is studied. Energy usage and CO2 emissions are compared to other transportation methods, to explain railways importance in global emission reduction initiatives. The UK railway and refurbishment markets are researched, expected passenger growth evaluated, and its specific characteristics explained. A questionnaire is completed to enlighten refurbishment project stakeholders’ requirements, expectations and special characteristics.

The outcome of this thesis is business concept that will be tested in the refurbishment markets and further developed based on the results.