Siemens to build new London Underground trains

German manufacturing conglomerate Siemens will build almost 100 new trains to replace the decades-old rolling stock on London Underground's Piccadilly Line, the group said in a statement Tuesday.

"London Underground... signed a contract with Siemens Mobility to design and build 94 new generation Tube trains worth around 1.5 billion pounds" (1.7 billion euros, $1.9 billion), the firm said.

Delivery of the first new trains for the line—which dates back to 1906 and whose current rolling stock is of 1970s vintage—is slated for 2023.

Siemens promised a "substantially improved passenger experience" with wider doors, carriages open along the length of the train and air conditioning.

As well as producing the rolling stock at a factory announced earlier this year for Goole in northeast England, which will employ up to 950 people, Siemens will provide parts and maintenance after the trains are delivered.

Siemens beat out competitors including France's Alstom—with which it is in the process of merging—as well as Canada's Bombardier and Japan's Hitachi.

London's public transport network is in the midst of a massive modernisation programme, with the new east-west "Elizabeth Line" set to open next year after 10 years of building work.

© 2018 AFP