Transport for London (TfL) will award Siemens Mobility Limited a GBP 1.5 billion (EUR 1.7 billion) contract for the supply of 94 new generation Tube trains which will replace the entire 1970s Piccadilly line fleet. While this order is for an initial 94 trains, the contract will be awarded on the expectation of a single manufacturer building the trains for all four Deep Tube lines. Creating a single train design will allow TfL to maximise cost savings through greater standardisation of train operations, staff training, equipment, spares and maintenance.
The trains will have new design features that will significantly increase customer comfort. Each new train will be six metres longer than the existing Piccadilly line trains. They will include walk-through, fully air conditioned carriages and improved accessibility, and will be specially designed to optimise the space constraints in the narrow Deep Tube tunnels. Customers will also benefit from in-train information systems helping them to plan their onward journey more easily.
Starting 2023, the new Inspiro trains will be delivered on the Piccadilly line enabling up to 27 trains-per-hour to operate at peak times by the end of 2026, up from the current service level of 24 tph.
Combined with a signalling upgrade and the purchase of additional trains, peak period capacity on the busiest central sections of the Piccadilly line will increase by more than half by the end of the 2020s and will mean an additional 21,000 customers will be able to board trains every hour during peak times.
The award of this contract will allow Siemens Mobility Limited to progress its plan to build a new factory in Goole, East Yorkshire, to manufacture and commission trains. After completion, TfL will work with Siemens Mobility Limited to maximise the number of Piccadilly line trains being built in this facility.
The factory would employ up to 700 people in skilled engineering and manufacturing roles, plus up to an additional 250 people during the construction phase of the factory. As a result, around 1,700 indirect jobs would be created throughout the UK supply chain.
This is the first order under the Deep Tube Upgrade Programme that aims to replace the life-expired rolling stock, signalling and control systems across the four lines. In total, the upgrade programme will deliver a 36 per cent increase in capacity across the four lines by 2035. Currently, the four Deep Tube lines make up a third of the Underground network, carrying around two million passengers per day on key corridors linking the City, the West End, King’s Cross and Heathrow Airport.
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