Tube modernisation programme set to resume

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The modernisation of London Underground’s sub-surface railway is set to resume later this year as Transport for London (TfL) announces that it is close to finalising negotiations with Thales for the troubled resignalling contract.

TfL has pushed back the planned completion of upgrading the District, Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines to 2022 and increased the budget from £4.26 billion to £5.54 billion.

The increase will cover the cost of “a more realistic price” for the signalling contract, TfL has said. Although, London’s public transport authority expects the price to be in line or below the equivalent cost of both the Northern and Victoria line modernisations.

At the end of 2013, London Underground (LU) cancelled a contract with Bombardier to install its CITYFLO 650 system on the network. LU said that because of the complexity of the project, Bombardier’s signalling modernisation programme was “simply not progressing and there was no guarantee it would have worked”.

Thales is expected to provide an updated version of the signalling systems it has designed for the Jubilee, Northern and Victoria lines.

The £5.54 billion budget also includes the supply of 191 new, which are being manufactured by Bombardier in Derby.

Mike Brown, managing director of London Underground, said: “Having modernised three of the most heavily used lines we now need to bring the next four lines in to the modern era. To do so is absolutely vital to us continuing to effectively support London’s new economic growth, housing and jobs as London’s population grows from 8.6 million today to 10 million in 2030.

“The work will transform for the better the journeys of millions of our customers – cutting journey times, wait times and crowding and ensuring journeys are more reliable.

“The scale and complexity of the work and the need to keep London moving as we do it means that it will take several years. In the meantime we are continuing to deliver a better, more reliable service – with delays now at their lowest ever level. We are all focussed on getting the next major phase of modernisation underway as soon as possible so all of our passengers, across the city, can get the type of modern Underground which we already are seeing on other parts of the network.”

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