28.03.18
TfL orders five more Elizabeth Line trains in £70m Bombardier deal
Bombardier Transportation is to provide five additional Aventra trains for London’s Elizabeth Line in a major deal announced this week.
The agreement with TfL also includes an expansion to the existing Train Services Agreement to cover the new trains, which now bring the total train order to 70. This additional contract is valued at around £73m.
Mark Wild, TfL’s managing director for the London Underground and the Elizabeth Line, said: “The opening of the Elizabeth Line in December will redefine transport in London with journeys made easier and trains passing through brand new tunnels beneath central London to new, accessible stations.
“The additional trains will allow us to serve all the terminals at Heathrow and provide an increased frequency when the line is fully open in December 2019.”
These extra trains, which will be made up of nine-car units, will boost the capacity of the central section of the Elizabeth Line and for the extension of services to Reading and Heathrow Terminal 5 – with each train carrying up to 1,500 passengers.
They will be added to the 585 cars already in production at the Derby site, and are scheduled to enter service by the end of 2019.
Managing director of Bombardier Transportation UK, Richard Hunter, added: “The Elizabeth Line is set to transform transport in London with quicker, easier and more accessible journeys, and we are proud to be playing our part.
“This important additional order is an endorsement of our workforce and the quality of the products we design, engineer, manufacture and service in the UK.”
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