London’s transport system has been hit hard by the pandemic. Passenger numbers have tumbled and financial challenges have brought into question the business case for future investments.
But Transport for London was already delivering a number of major enhancements when Covid arrived. On the London Underground these include the Northern Line extension to Battersea, due to open this autumn, and Bank station upgrade, scheduled for completion in 2022. A little further down the line will be 94 new Siemens-built trains for the Piccadilly Line, due to enter service from 2025.
The sub-surface Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines already have new trains in the form of the 192-strong ‘S’ stock fleet, supplied by Bombardier (now Alstom). To make the most of the new fleet, TfL is introducing new signalling on the four lines to control trains automatically, enabling journey times to be reduced and frequency increased.
