Train manufacturers have been invited to bid for a London Underground (LU) contract estimated to be worth up to £2.5bn.
The deal is to build 250 new walk-through, air-conditioned trains to serve the Piccadilly, Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo & City lines by the early 2020s, benefiting west Londoners.
Manufacturers Alstom, Bombardier, CAF, Hitachi and Siemens have been issued with an Invitation to Tender (ITT), to design and build the New Tube for London.
Nick Brown, managing director of London Underground, said: “The 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.
“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.”
People travelling to Ealing, Uxbridge, Hammersmith, Hounslow and Heathrow Airport will benefit from an additional 100 trains for the Piccadilly line boosting capacity by 60%.
Another 100 new trains for the Central line which serves stations including Ealing Browadway, East Acton, Northolt, West Ruislip, Shepherd’s Bush and Notting Hill; and 40 for the Bakerloo line boosting capacity by 25% which runs between Harrow & Wealdstone and Elephant & Castle via Paddington.
There will be 10 new trains for the Waterloo & City line.
The New Tube project will support new jobs, with ‘future-proofed’ trains built to serve passengers for around 50 years.
The fleet of new deep-level tube trains will be capable of full automatic operation, providing faster, more frequent and reliable journeys for passengers, as well as walk-through carriages and wider doors for safety.
Bidding parties will need to return their proposals to LU in summer 2016 with the contract to build the new trains awarded in autumn 2017.
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.”
