Skip to main content

Bombardier to supply new propulsion technology to London Underground

Rail technology supplier Bombardier Transportation has been awarded a contract by London Underground to supply new motors and traction control equipment for its fleet of Central line trains. This contract, which includes ongoing maintenance support, will run until 2024 and is valued by Bombardier Transportation at approximately US$143.7 million (£112.1 million). Bombardier's re-traction project is part of London Underground's larger Central Line Improvement Programme (which aims to bring a number of pas
August 29, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

Rail technology supplier 513 Bombardier Transportation has been awarded a contract by London Underground to supply new motors and traction control equipment for its fleet of Central line trains. This contract, which includes ongoing maintenance support, will run until 2024 and is valued by Bombardier Transportation at approximately US$143.7 million (£112.1 million).

Bombardier's re-traction project is part of London Underground's larger Central Line Improvement Programme (which aims to bring a number of passenger-focussed improvements and is expected to reduce customer-affecting failures on the Central line fleet.

For the programme, Bombardier will replace the direct current (DC) traction motors on Central line trains with the latest MITRAC alternating current (AC) traction systems and MITRAC traction control equipment. The Central Line '92 tube stock are the last London Underground trains to use DC traction motors, and MITRAC will bring benefits by reducing energy consumption while improving fleet reliability and performance. In total, Bombardier will supply new motors and traction control equipment for 85 eight-car Central Line trains (680 cars in total).

Related Content

  • Weigh in motion technology aids overweight vehicle reduction
    March 16, 2012
    Innovative use of truck weighing technology is growing as strategies aimed at reducing numbers of overweight vehicles gather momentum. Business is generally good at present in the truck weighing sector in general, and weigh-in-motion (WIM) technology in particular, according to leading suppliers of systems serving to help reduce overloading. Strategies aimed at deterring excessive truck loading – cutting damage to road networks and risks to safety – vary considerably worldwide, with some governments draggin
  • Cost benefit: Toronto retimings tame traffic trauma
    July 19, 2018
    Canada’s largest city reckons that it is saving its taxpayers’ money simply by altering the way traffic lights work. David Crawford reviews Toronto’s ambitious plans to ease congestion Toronto, Canada’s largest metropolis (and the fourth largest in North America), has saved its residents CAN$53 (US$42.4) for every CAN$1 (US$0.80) spent over a 2012-2016 traffic signal retiming programme, according to figures released by its Transportation Services Division. The programme covered 1,275 signals (the city’s
  • Cost saving multi-agency transportation and emergency management
    May 3, 2012
    Although the recession had dramatically reduced traffic volumes in the past few years, the economy was on the brink of a recovery that portended well for jobs but poorly for traffic congestion. Leaders of four government agencies in Houston, Texas, got together to discuss how to collectively cope with the expected increase in vehicles on the road. "They knew they couldn't pour enough concrete to solve the problem, and they also knew the old model of working in a vacuum as standalone entities would fail," sa
  • Congestion pricing: the time to act is now
    August 20, 2024
    New York may have thrown a curveball on congestion pricing, but it is a proven global strategy for traffic management which cities should adopt, argues Wes Guckert of The Traffic Group