21.06.07
Metronet successfully starts new Tube train trials on Victoria line
Trials of a new Tube train set to enter service on the Victoria line from 2009 have started successfully, says Metronet Rail, the company renewing two-thirds of the Tube.
The eight carriage pre-production train is steadily being introduced to new sections of the line to confirm its ‘gauging’ – or clearance through the tunnels. After an initial run from Seven Sisters to Walthamstow Central at just 5kph, the train has since successfully run at 65kph.
A further nine months of tests overnight in engineering hours will check the essential performance characteristics of motoring, braking, ride comfort as well as its compatibility with line side and station equipment such as traction supply, signalling and communications.
The high-tech trains are being introduced as part of a £750 million-plus upgrade of the Victoria line by Metronet which, with upgraded track, a brand new signalling and control system and a power upgrade will, by 2013, have helped increase rush hour frequency by 17% and cut journey times by 16%.
Designed and built by Bombardier Transportation at the UK’s only train production facility in Derby, the new trains will be bigger, faster, safer, more reliable and more comfortable, with improved accessibility features.
They employ regenerative braking to return power to the rails and save energy, and they have the latest information systems.
Alistair Kennedy, who heads up the programme for Metronet, said: “After over four years of careful design and preparation, there’s a real sense of achievement seeing the train running on the Victoria line.
“Last year we tested the train design with the public and received an overwhelming customer satisfaction rating of 93% against our target of 65%. The train has also satisfactorily completed over 7,000km at Derby – and now we have started proving the train on the line itself.
“This is a real success, and entirely due to the very close working relationship between our suppliers, Bombardier and Westinghouse Rail Systems, the Metronet team and our colleagues at London Underground.”
Paul Kilius-Smith, Head of Operational Upgrades at London Underground, said: “We are delighted with the arrival of the first new Victoria line train at Northumberland Park depot where testing has begun – this signals the beginning of a very important phase of the Victoria Line Upgrade.
“The new 47 train fleet will feature bigger, more comfortable and more accessible carriages. Security will also be improved with CCTV installed in every carriage and a direct line for passengers through to the driver in case of emergency.
“The new trains will also have an improved ventilation system that will draw air in from underneath the train where it is cooler and blow it in through head high vents.”
The train has already undergone 3,700 hours of testing on Bombardier’s test track in Derby. A second pre-production train will begin testing in London in 2008 under the control of the new signalling system. It will run first in engineering hours and then, later, in traffic hours before being used to carry passengers to gather further feedback.
At the Victoria line depot at Northumberland Park, Metronet is also building a train lift, the first of its type on the Underground, with 32 Pfaff-silberblau jacks which can lift an entire eight-carriage train in one go for maintenance (the current machinery can lift only one carriage at a time). This will also have two remote controlled Windhoff mobile handling tables which will allow removal of entire bogies.
Close by, a multi-million pound, dedicated service control centre has been built which will transform the way Victoria line trains operate on the London Underground. These will allow for the better control and regulation of trains, ensuring a consistent flow of trains arriving at each platform. The centre is now being fitted out.
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