Follow on Google News News By Tag * Frost Sullivan * London Underground * Transport For London * Rolling Stock * Track * Signalling * Deep Tube * Sub-surface Rail * More Tags... Industry News News By Location Country(s) Industry News
Follow on Google News | Frost & Sullivan Analyses London Underground Upgrade: Overcoming Challenges Toward TransformationThe London Underground (LU), is undergoing a major network upgrade programme. It is estimated that from 2011 to 2014/15, Transport for London (TfL) is investing approximately £1.4 billion annually for the Tube's capital expenditure programme.
By: Frost & Sullivan The sprawling network consists of nearly 402 km of track and 270 stations, performing approximately 4 million passenger journeys per day. It carries approximately 1.10 billion passengers per annum, which is more than the yearly passenger journeys across the rest of the United Kingdom rail network put together. With the Olympic and Paralympic Games taking place in London in 2012, the LU is projected to remain even more under intense scrutiny. “Restructuring a network as complicated and old as the LU is one fraught with great difficulties,” Under the oversight of TfL, a new signalling system came into operation on the Jubilee line in June 2011, which has been converted to Automatic Train Control (ATC) using the Thales SelTrac S40 Communications- On the Victoria line, the 1967 train stock has been replaced with Bombardier 2009 stock built in Derby. The new trains allow the implementation of the Invensys Distance To Go – Radio (DTG-R) Automatic Train Protection (ATP) product, which would help to increase the number of trains per hour to 33 from 27, once the upgrade is complete. By 2016, the LU will have also replaced over 40 per cent of its fleet on the 4 sub-surface railway (SSR) lines (District, Hammersmith & City, Circle and Metropolitan) “Once the upgrade of the Hammersmith & City and Circle lines is complete, capacity will increase by 65 per cent, which is an additional 17,000 passengers an hour,” says Mr. Jampala. The upgrade on the Northern Line is scheduled to be accomplished by 2014 and includes a new control centre, ATC and computerised signalling, using a technology similar to the Thales SelTrac system on the Jubilee line. Capacity will be increased by 20 per cent and journey times reduced by 18 per cent. As part of the ‘Deep Tube’ programme (Central, Bakerloo, Jubilee, Northern, Victoria, Piccadilly, Waterloo & City lines), TfL will upgrade the Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines. A common rolling stock design will be utilised for both lines, which is expected to produce synergistic cost savings. LU has already requested major train manufacturers, Bombardier, Siemens and Alstom, to develop an innovative train concept. The focus lies on aspects such as being lightweight, energy efficient, semi-articulated and aluminium bodied. Even though Siemens already unveiled its deep tube concept train at Railtex 2011, LU will launch an open competition for the procurement of the new rolling stock, which is expected in 2012. The next decade may see Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines run on a new concept train called "Evo" (for 'evolution') “The SSR upgrade programme is scheduled for completion by 2018, while the BCV/SSR Stations (lifts, escalators and accommodation) “Further innovations are likely to be seen in the area of ticketing procedures and driverless trains in the future. The level of customer satisfaction over the coming years will inform the industry as to the degree of success of TfL's sweeping programme of transformation,” If you would like to read the full Frost & Sullivan research article on the London Underground Expansion Programme and/or would like to speak to the analyst, please contact Katja Feick, Corporate Communications, at katja.feick@ # # # Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's research and consulting services empower clients to generate, evaluate, and implement effective growth strategies. End
Account Email Address Account Phone Number Disclaimer Report Abuse
|
|