Siemens to design and manufacture ninety four new trains to replace the 1970s-built Piccadilly line fleet
  • New trains will be more spacious, air-conditioned, have walk-through carriages and improve accessibility
  • Additional capacity and improved customer experience for millions of passengers
  • The contract will facilitate a multi-million pound investment in a factory in Goole, East Yorkshire, creating thousands of UK jobs

London Underground Limited (a subsidiary of Transport for London) has signed a contract with Siemens Mobility Limited to design and build 94 new generation Tube trains to replace the existing 1970s fleet.

The current trains are old, increasingly unreliable and expensive to maintain. From 2023, new spacious 'Inspiro London' trains will be delivered for testing on the Piccadilly line, with current estimates indicating the first of these trains will be serving customers in 2024. These will improve reliability and enable increased frequencies during peak times by the end of 2026 (up from 24 to 27 trains-per-hour). This service - a train every 135 seconds at the busiest times - will help to address crowding on the line as London's population continues to rise.

The state-of-the-art Tube trains will significantly improve the experience of millions of customers, with wider doors and longer, walk-through, fully air-conditioned carriages. In addition, in-train information systems will help all customers plan their onward journey more easily.
 
The initial order is for 94 trains and an associated Fleet Services Agreement covering the supply of spares and whole life technical support (a value of approximately £1.5bn). This has been awarded with the expectation that Siemens Mobility will build trains for all four Deep Tube lines - the Piccadilly, Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo & City. Creating a single train design will allow TfL to maximise cost savings through greater standardisation of train operations, staff training, equipment, spares and maintenance. To maximise whole life benefit and return on investment, Siemens Mobility will also be offering a range of added value digital services using its Railigent® asset management suite of applications.

Nigel Holness, Managing Director of London Underground, said:

'The introduction of new trains on the Piccadilly line will significantly improve the journeys of millions of our customers, providing more frequent and more reliable trains for decades to come. This order will mean the replacement of the 1970s Piccadilly line fleet, with delivery of the new trains in 2023, and will help address crowding on the line as London's population continues to rise.'

William Wilson, Managing Director Rolling Stock of Siemens Mobility Limited, said:

'These state-of-the-art trains, which are track-friendly and future-proofed for a long life, will transform the travel experience for the 700,000 daily Piccadilly line passengers.

'We've thought about travellers at every stage of the process and as a result the trains feature walk-through carriages with wider doors, improved access to make them easier to get on and off, and feature full air-conditioning - a real challenge in hot tunnels.'

As Siemens Mobility announced earlier this year, the contract award is a significant step to progress plans to build a new factory in Goole, East Yorkshire, to manufacture and commission trains. The two companies will now work together to maximise the number of Piccadilly line trains being built at this facility.

The continued modernisation of the Tube is a key part of the Mayor's Transport Strategy to make London a greener, more accessible place. The investment in improving public transport will help reduce reliance on the car and contribute to the Mayor's target of 80 per cent of journeys made by public transport, cycling or walking by 2041.
 


Notes to editors:
 

  • The contract for the supply of new Piccadilly line trains is between Siemens Mobility Limited and London Underground Limited (a subsidiary of Transport for London). Of the £1.5bn (approximate) total contract value, approximately 1.54bn euro is immediately bookable by Siemens Mobility, the remainder will be booked over the course of the contract in accordance with accounting principles as it is related to the 40 year Fleet Services Agreement
  • London Underground placed a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) in February 2014 seeking expressions of interest for the design and manufacture of a new fleet of trains for the Piccadilly line, with options for the Bakerloo, Central, and Waterloo & City lines. The contract also includes whole-life technical support from the manufacturer. Bids were received in September 2016 from three bidders: Alstom, Bombardier / Hitachi (joint venture) and Siemens.
  • TfL announced its intention to award the contract, worth around £1.5bn, for the design and manufacture of 94 new trains to serve the Piccadilly line to Siemens Mobility Limited on 15 June 2018.
  • Siemens Mobility is a separately managed company of Siemens AG. As a leader in transport solutions for more than 160 years, Siemens Mobility is constantly innovating its portfolio in its core areas of rolling stock, rail automation and electrification, turnkey systems, intelligent traffic systems as well as related services. With digitalization, Siemens Mobility is enabling mobility operators worldwide to make infrastructure intelligent, increase value sustainably over the entire lifecycle, enhance passenger experience and guarantee availability. In fiscal year 2018, which ended on September 30, 2018, the former Siemens Mobility Division posted revenue of €8.8 billion and had around 28,400 employees worldwide. Further information is available at: www.siemens.com/mobility.

For more information on Siemens contact Silke Thomson-Pottebohm at silke.thomson-pattebohm@siemens.com or 07808822780