Bombardier Transportation has been awarded a contract by London Underground (LU) to supply new motors and traction control equipment for its fleet of Central line trains. For the programme, Bombardier will replace the direct current (DC) traction motors on Central line trains with the latest MITRAC alternating current (AC) traction systems and MITRAC traction control equipment. This contract, which will commence now and run until 2024, is valued at approximately £112.1 million (121,8 million euros) with Bombardier also providing ongoing maintenance support.
The Central line ’92 Tube Stock are the last LU trains to use DC traction motors, and MITRAC will bring significant benefits by reducing energy consumption while greatly improving fleet reliability and performance. In total, Bombardier will supply new motors and traction control equipment for 85 8-car Central line trains (680 cars in total). The project will be led from Bombardier’s Västeras site in Sweden, also leveraging the capabilities of other sites in the Bombardier manufacturing network. The installation of the first train, plus associated vehicle integration works and testing will be undertaken at Bombardier’s Derby site in the UK.
Bombardier’s re-traction project is part of LUL’s larger Central Line Improvement Programme (CLIP). The CLIP will bring a number of passenger-focussed improvements and is expected to significantly reduce customer-affecting failures on the Central line fleet.
“This important contract win is testament to the significant improvements in energy consumption, reliability and performance of our Bombardier MITRAC systems. This win is also a ringing endorsement of our traction system business, following MITRAC’s strong performance on other London Underground lines. Bombardier has a long history of working with London Underground, and we continue to provide cutting edge technology across the tube network, playing a vital role in keeping London moving,” Richard Hunter, Managing Director of Bombardier Transportation UK, said.
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