Tender issued for design and build of New Tube for London trains

London Underground (LU) has issued and invitation to tender for design and build of New Tube for London trains to serve Piccadilly, Waterloo & City, Bakerloo and Central lines.

London Underground has begun steps to find a manufacturer to design and build 250 new walk-through, air-cooled tube trains for service on the Piccadilly, Waterloo & City, Bakerloo and Central lines.

Five pre-qualified manufacturers – Alstom, Bombardier, CAF, Hitachi and Siemens – can now proceed to the next stage of the formal procurement process with LU over the design and build of the next generation of Underground trains, which will come into service from the early 2020s.

New Tube for London will provide faster, frequent and more reliable journeys for customers

According to Transport for London (TfL), The New Tube will mean faster, more frequent and more reliable journeys for customers travelling on the deep-level lines – the Piccadilly, Waterloo & City, Bakerloo and Central lines. It will also mean greater capacity and more comfortable journeys, and the first air-cooled trains on the deep-level sections of the Tube. In addition, the new trains will feature improved accessibility and safety features including walk-through carriages and wider doors.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson MP, said: “Over the last few years we have seen the completion of several major signalling upgrades on the Tube, as well as the delivery of 191 brand new air-conditioned walk-through trains. But it is clear that London must have continued investment in its Tube network if it is to continue to flourish, and that is why I have argued so hard to protect our capital investment programme. I am delighted that we are now able to launch the process to commission a fleet of new deep-level Tube trains that will transform journeys for the millions of passengers who use our Piccadilly, Waterloo & City, Bakerloo and Central lines.”

“A significant step forward”

Nick Brown, Managing Director of London Underground, said: “Today’s invitation to train manufacturers to submit bids for the design and build of the New Tube is a significant step forward. Londoners have already seen huge improvements to the Tube network, but to meet the needs of our rapidly growing population we must continue to invest in and improve our services. More people are using the Underground than at any point in its 153-year history. The New Tube for London will transform the journeys of millions of customers, providing trains fit for a world city for the next five decades.”

Along with modernised signal systems operating alongside them, the trains intend to boost capacity on all four deep-level lines:

• The Piccadilly line by 60 per cent (the equivalent of up to 21,000 customers per hour)
• The Waterloo & City line by 35 per cent (the equivalent of up to 7,000 customers per hour)
• The Bakerloo line by 25 per cent (the equivalent of up to 9,000 customers per hour)
• The Central line by 25 per cent (the equivalent of up to 12,000 customers per hour)

Bidding parties will need to return their proposals to London Underground in summer 2016 with the contract to build the new trains awarded in autumn 2017.