The elderly Bakerloo line trains will eventually need to be replaced, and Transport for London (TfL) has started looking for suppliers to prepare the Bakerloo line for the new trains.
(c) ianVisits
The new trains, presumed to be based on the forthcoming Piccadilly line trains are needed as the existing Bakerloo line trains are way past their operational life and the cost of keeping them limping on is increasing each year.
The old trains also don’t comply with modern accessibility standards and shouldn’t be used at all. Only a temporary exemption from accessibility laws allows them to remain in service until their replacements are ready.
TfL is aiming for the new trains to come into service around 2030, but before that happens, the Bakerloo line itself needs upgrading to work with modern trains. That means work on the depots, power supplies, some signalling work and issues that might crop up matching the old platform levels and tracks with the new trains.
TfL has issued a “prior information notice”, which is aimed at gathering feedback and ideas from future suppliers for the upgrades to get an idea of costs and where there might be interesting ways of delivering the project or problems they haven’t foreseen.
Assuming the order for the replacement trains goes to Siemens Mobility, it would ideally have to be placed by the end of this year at the very latest to fit in with the Siemens factory timeline. With the order for new trains secured, TfL would need most of the Bakerloo line upgrades to be ready by 2028. That would then permit the new trains to undergo safety and compliance testing and have drivers trained to use them so they can come into service around 2030.
The notice to contractors put out by TfL is unrelated to the proposed Bakerloo line extension, as the trains will need replacing regardless of whether the extension goes ahead. Of course, the new depot and signalling works would be easier and generally cheaper to carry out if they were synchronised with the Bakerloo line extension, but it’s up to the government to agree to that.
Weird question, but could I (as a normal joe bloggs member of the public) ever have access to buy a whole unit for myself when they a retired?
Short answer – yes.
Longer answer – lots of environmental considerations and costs to consider. No train company sells a train without checking the new owner knows what they’re doing.
Still cheaper to run than the current 92 Central Line trains, which is costing 1/2 billion pounds to refurbish and upgrade all the traction motors, traction control electronics and welding the carbodies. Still they’ll hopefully get another 20 years out them, so the money will be well spent, as it takes the pressure off the stock replacement and should improve the reliability.
The 72 mk2 trains are being upgraded to comply with disability legislation, with wheelchair points and other associated requirement, i.e handrails and public address system.
The amount of work needed to bring the Bakerloo up to modern standards, ie. signalling is huge and will cost billions. Add in the estimated cost of the southern extension, up to £8 billion, plus a couple billion for the trains, when they are delivered around 2030. The Bakerloo could eat well over £10 billion pounds, possibly £15 billion, by 2030.
There is also the Piccadilly line signalling to variable block signalling and ATO, which is currently unfunded and with these delay, the stocks on the other lines are getting older and will need replacing within the next 20 years. TFL is going to be in a funding crisis, for capital spend, for decades to come.
Know doubt funds will come from the local authority leading facilities The Public Works Loan Board, but it has to be paid back.
The Public Works Loan Board funded the building of the Victoria Line which cost £56 million, for everything, line, stations, trains, depot, with £9 million in interest payments. I’m sure TFL would wish costs were still at 1960’s levels and not the tens of billions required to upgrade the network.
https://www.dmo.gov.uk/responsibilities/local-authority-lending/about-pwlb-lending/
The Bakerloo line trains can be partially upgraded for disability compliance, but as the link provided shows, there’s a lot that can’t be done – hence the consultation for an exemption from the requirements
I love these carriages. Please please please retain the lovely deco look.
Once the Bakerloo line trains are upgraded it will no longer be necessary to train tube drivers to be able to drive “manually” (I believe for union reasons all drivers are required to be trained to drive on all lines, and the Bakerloo line trains are by far the most technically challenging).
I do wonder what impact that will have on the tube driver union’s negotiating power and the salaries they are able to command.
I shall miss the face-to-face groups of 4 seats in some of the carriages. You could look out of the windows. I hate today’s “backs to the wall” longitudinal seating