Transport for London yesterday announced the signing of a new £36m contract with Bombardier Transportation for an extra 36 rail carriages for the new London Overground network.
The carriages are due to enter service in early 2011 and are in addition to the 44 new trains currently being built by Bombardier which are due to enter service on the North London Railway from 2009 and the East London Railway once open in 2010.
The new trains are class 378 Electrostars, and are designed specifically to carry the high numbers of passengers who will use London Overground services.
They feature wider gangways to create more space and increase capacity, onboard CCTV , air conditioning, wider seats and dedicated wheelchair bays.
Speaking as the contract was announced Mayor of London Ken Livingstone promised that the new service would “set new standards of rail travel for passengers in London.”
London Overground services will start on the North London Railway from 11 November this year.
Last month MTR Laing was appointed to run the service under a contract described as “tightly managed” by Transport for London.
