The video shows the new Piccadilly line train on a track in Austria
A strange social video has surfaced showing a batch of new Piccadilly line trains passing through an Austrian city. The Tube trains appear to be en route to the UK from a Siemens factory in Vienna, where a small proportion of them are being built.
Around 75 of the 94 new trains are being built at Siemens’ sister factory in Goole, Yorkshire, with new services expected on the line between December 2026 and June 2027. The video, posted this week on the London Underground subreddit, appears to show multiple Piccadilly line trains being transported through St. Pölten, which is about 40 miles (64km) west of Vienna.
The ‘2024 Stock’ is currently being tested on the Piccadilly line ahead of their introduction later this year. They are the first deep Tube trains to have air conditioning, and they also have walkthrough cars, increasing capacity by 10 per cent.
Midweek and weekend closures of the line continue this summer to allow testing. Transport for London said one test train has already travelled 400km in a fully loaded state of 68 tonnes.
The new trains are part of a wider £3.4bn investment project to bring the Piccadilly line up to modern standards and replace the ageing 1970s stock. The increased fleet size will allow frequency to increase from 24 to 27 trains per hour.
Full list of Piccadilly line closures this summer for train testing
- Friday July 10 ( Night Tube ) – Sunday July 12: Hammersmith to Heathrow and Uxbridge
- Fri 17 July (Night Tube): Hyde Park Corner to Cockfosters
- Saturday July 18 – Sunday July 19: King’s Cross St Pancras to Cockfosters
- Thursday July 30 – Friday July 31: Cockfosters to Uxbridge
- Friday July 31 (Night Tube): No service on the entire line
- Saturday August 1 – Sunday August 2: Cockfosters to Heathrow
- Monday 3 August: Cockfosters to Uxbridge
- Tuesday August 18 – Thursday August 20: Cockfosters to Uxbridge
- Tuesday August 25 – Thursday August 27: Cockfosters to Uxbridge
- Friday 18 September (Night Tube): Hyde Park Corner to Northfields
- Saturday September 19 – Sunday 20 September: Hyde Park Corner to Acton Town
- Saturday September 26 – Sunday September 27 September: Cockfosters to Uxbridge
- Friday October 16 (Night Tube) – Sunday October 18: Hammersmith to Heathrow and Uxbridge
- Friday October 30 (Night Tube) – Sunday November 1: No service on the entire line
- Friday November 20 (Night Tube) – Sunday November 22: Hammersmith to Heathrow and Uxbridge
Stuart Harvey, TfL’s Chief Capital Officer, said: “I’d like to thank our customers for their patience while we carry out these essential upgrades to the Piccadilly line and rigorously test the new trains, which will transform journeys for many decades to come. Introducing a new fleet of trains is a huge engineering and logistical feat which inevitably requires upgrades and intensive testing.
“Although much of the hard work goes on behind the scenes, there are times when we need to close sections of the railway to ensure that these pioneering new trains can operate effectively and interact correctly with a wide range of complex infrastructure. We are very confident that once this intensive period of upgrades and testing is completed, and the new trains start to enter service, our customers will reap the benefits of moving around the capital on these game-changing new trains.”
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