London Underground working towards new signalling contract

Date: 12/4/2011

Commuters in London may find that the trains on the Circle, District, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan lines run more smoothly if London Underground (LU) completes a new signalling contract as planned.

The organisation announced today (April 12th) that it has chosen Bombardier Transportation as its preferred bidder for the contract.

It revealed that the new signalling system will serve 40 per cent of the tube network and added that the agreement marks the single largest piece of work to upgrade the transportation system.

When the contract is finalised, it should result in faster, more reliable and more frequent trains running on a number of lines.

LU noted that this will come in conjunction with the introduction of 191 new air-conditioned, walkthrough trains.

Following the upgrade, capacity should increase by 65 per cent on the Circle and Hammersmith and City lines, by 24 per cent on the District line and by 27 per cent on the Metropolitan line.

At the end of March, LU announced that it intends to introduce a new timetable on the District line from December 2011, with the aim of reducing delays around the Earl's Court area and improving the overall reliability of services.

Posted by Mary Treen