The firm is set to build 94 trains, all with air-conditioning, improved accessibility and additional space. The contract award is also a significant step to progress plans to build a new factory in Goole, East Yorkshire, to manufacture and commission trains.
It is hoped that the new trains will be delivered for testing on the Piccadilly line in 2023, with current estimates indicating the first of these trains will be serving customers in 2024.
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.”
Siemens Mobility will build trains for all four Deep Tube lines – the Piccadilly, Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo & City. Air-conditioning will be a huge step towards easier commuting, we’ll just have to wait for the right train.
