The trains were due in late 2025 but they have been delayed. Transport for London has announced that the trains will be in service at some point between December 2026 and June 2027. But when transport authorities start using windows of time or seasons to describe start dates, commuters get nervous there will be more slippages.
The complexities have also meant the budget was recently increased from £2.9bn to £3.4bn to build new depots and for the extra work across the line.
TfL commissioner Andy Lord is certainly bullish about what passengers will experience when the new trains are running.
“These trains are the latest, highest-tech design we’ve ever had on the Tube network,” he says. “They’re extremely complex, particularly because of having to integrate air-conditioning in very tight spaces.
“So there have been some initial design challenges on that. We’re working very closely with Siemens, our partner on this, who have done some amazing work to design and deliver these trains.
“The trains were initially late to London, and then, as you’ve also seen, the line itself, most of it is Victorian.
“We’re having to adapt the line in the infrastructure for the new trains.
“We’re also having to adapt it so we can run both the new fleet and the existing fleet together for probably two to three years. So that involves a huge amount of engineering construction, and we’ve got to upgrade the power and various other elements.
“So there’s a multitude of factors for why the trains are not coming in as originally planned. But, we’re working really hard to get them in sometime between December and next summer.”
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