• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MayorWatch

London News and Comment

  • NEWS

New signalling system to deliver faster and more trains on District, Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines

March 24, 2015 by Martin Hoscik

tube_roundel_950Tube bosses today promised more trains and fewer delays as they set out plans to modernise the District, Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines.

Key to the project is a new signalling system which is to be provided by Thales after London Underground cancelled its original contract with Bombardier last year citing concerns about the firm’s ability to deliver the contracted work.

In October it emerged LU had paid Bombardier £80m to end the contract, prompting criticism from the London Assembly’s Transport Committee which scrutinises LU and parent agency Transport for London.

Speaking on Tuesday, Tube boss Mike Brown said it had been right to protect taxpayer money by cancelling the contract even if that meant enduring some short term criticism.

He told MayorWatch that when the original contract was let, the signs from projects in two other cities using Bombardier’s system “were positive” but that when problems later occurred in both, he decided to “get out of if” before any more cash was committed.

The new system being provided by Thales is an “improved version” of one they’ve already installed on the Jubilee and Northern lines and will eventually allow more trains to run on each of the lines.

TfL says costs will be “in line with, or below, the cost per kilometre of modernising the Northern line signalling”.

However the overall project is expected to cost around 30% more than expected after surveys revealed more work was needed at some depots and TfL decided to do additional work at the “corners of the Circle line” to make sure the new system delivered the fastest possible speeds and trains per hour.

It’s expected that customers on all four lines will see the benefits by 2022

Much of the work will be carried out overnight and Brown said that while some weekend closures will be necessary, he was determined to keep these to “an absolute minimum” to avoid disrupting passengers.

Once the work is completed the Circle line is expected to join the weekend night Tube service which starts this September.

News of the upgrade has been welcomed by Colin Stanbridge, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who said: “This is the sort of targeted investment that is essential for London’s transport system to service a rapidly expanding population”.

However Val Shawcross AM, Labour’s spokesperson on the London Assembly, said the need to find a new supplier meant passengers would wait an extra four years for the promised improvements.

Mrs Shawcross commented: “TfL have to be one hundred percent clear that they have ironed out all of the details on this deal, the absolute last thing anyone wants to see is a re-run of the expensive chaos caused when the last deal collapsed.”

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email

Filed Under: News

RECENT UPDATES

Tube and rail users to benefit from Oyster weekly fares cap

Mayor and TfL call on ministers to help plug funding gap

Tube to get full mobile phone coverage from 2024

TfL says Direct Vision Standard is already making HGVs safer for London road users




POPULAR

City Hall to move to Docklands as Mayor seeks to raise £55m for frontline services

‘Concern’ over TfL’s ability to deliver major projects in wake of Crossrail cost overruns

City Hall halts London Overground ticket office closures but many will still see opening hours reduced

Transport for London confirms bus cuts will go ahead despite passenger opposition

Copyright © 2025 · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy