TfL has said that its brand new London Underground trains may not have a feature that would make travel more ‘accessible and comfortable’ for customers. The Piccadilly line’s 1970s stock is being replaced as part of a £2.9 billion upgrade of the route.
The first new train is due to arrive in London for testing in 2024 and enter service in 2025. As the new stock is rolled out, TfL plans to increase the frequency of Piccadilly line services in 2027.
But a rephasing of the plans in the face of a ‘shortfall’ in central government funding of £250 million, the authority’s commissioner, Andy Lord, has admitted, will cost more money overall over the long term. Now, more detail about how the new stock will work on a day to day basis has been published.
READ MORE: Photos of old London Underground carriages show way trains might massively change
In documents for a meeting of the TfL board held at the beginning of this month, officials said that complexities mean a live ‘busyness indicator’ of how many passengers are in each carriage – like the one currently deployed on Overground and Elizabeth line trains – may not be installed. Bosses say it would aid accessibility and help ‘people who were uncomfortable’.
Papers read: “It was a common feature on many modern trains with the latest technology but would be a challenge to retrofit to the London Underground. Stuart Harvey confirmed that it was not featured on the new Piccadilly line trains, but he would discuss with Siemens if it was technically feasible to trial it, and use on the Elizabeth line trains, and would report back to the Board.”
Any change now would be ‘unlikely to deliver the required benefit’
They added: “Piccadilly line trains have the capability to measure weight (loading) on each bogie, however because each car does not have the same number of bogies, it is a complex issue. We have explored this requirement and the technical capability for real time passenger loading information really only unlocks with the delivery of Automatic Train Control under Stage 2 works.
“Any change now would be unlikely to deliver the required benefit and may impact the focus on delivering the new fleet and the programme that underpins it. We will continue to explore if this functionality can be adopted and pending the outcome will look to consider how best to achieve the required outcome.”
On the current status of the programme, officials added: “TfL had ensured it remained on track for the arrival of the first new train for testing in 2024, and entry into service in 2025. A greater number of trains than the original 50 per cent target would now be built in Goole, which was positive news for the UK and jobs in that region.
“Siemens was investing up to £200m in its facility, creating up to 700 jobs directly at its factory and up to 1,700 jobs within the wider supply chain. TfL had protected its planned increase in the frequency of Piccadilly line trains in 2027, so customers would still benefit from new trains and a more frequent service on the line.
“The Commissioner thanked Siemens for working closely with TfL to achieve this and particularly thanked Stuart Harvey and Rachel Sherry for their leadership in the discussions with Siemens, which had reached a good agreement.”
A Department for Transport (DfT) spokesperson previously told MyLondon: “The Government has provided more than £6.6bn of support to TfL since 2020 – including the most recent injection of £250m in capital funding in December 2023. As transport is devolved, it is for the Mayor of London to deliver services in the capital and explain how his decisions are funded.”
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