London Underground awards $143.7m equipment supply contract

TINNews |

London Underground (LU) has awarded a deal worth roughly $143.7m to Bombardier Transportation for new motors and traction control equipment for its Central line train fleet.

Bombardier will also provide ongoing maintenance support under the contract, which is scheduled to continue until 2024.

The project forms a part of LU’s larger Central Line Improvement Programme (CLIP) that aims to address and rectify various operational inefficiencies of the Central line fleet.

London Underground managing director Mark Wild said: “The Central line is one of the busiest and most important lines on the London Underground network.

“We are making a number of improvements to reduce delays and make the line more reliable for our customers.

"Installing new motors is one of the most important parts of this work and will mean we can deliver a more reliable service to our customers."

“Installing new motors is one of the most important parts of this work and will mean we can deliver a more reliable service to our customers, which will in turn boost capacity.”

Bombardier are set to install the latest MITRAC alternating current (AC) traction systems and MITRAC traction control equipment on-board 85 eight-car Central line trains as part of the arrangement, replacing the conventional direct current (DC) traction motors.

The equipment is expected to reduce energy consumption and improve the fleet's overall reliability and performance.

The whole project will be led from the company’s Västeras site in Sweden, while the installation on-board the first train and other vehicle integration works and testing will be carried out at its site in Derby, UK.

Bombardier noted that the company has delivered, or is scheduled to deliver, more than 2,800 rail vehicles for LU’s parent company Transport for London (TfL) between 2009 and 2018.