New Piccadilly line trains arrive in London for testing ahead of 2025 roll-out

Credit: Transport for London

Transport for London (TfL) has announced that it has received the first of its new Piccadilly line trains in the capital as part of a major upgrade programme. The train will undergo extensive testing before being introduced into service by late 2025. This marks the beginning of a £2.9 billion modernisation plan to improve train frequency, reliability and accessibility on one of the London Underground’s busiest lines.

The fleet of 94 trains will replace the current trains, which have been in use for almost 50 years. Around 80% of the trains will be constructed at a new factory in Goole, East Yorkshire, with the first test train built in Vienna, Austria. After initial trials in Germany, the train has been transported to London for further testing.

The new nine-carriage trains will increase capacity by 10%, offering modern features such as air-conditioning, walk-through carriages, wider doorways, real-time digital information screens and on-board CCTV. Lighter and more energy-efficient than their predecessors, the trains will consume 20% less energy, contributing to TfL’s sustainability goals. Once all trains are operational by 2027, the frequency on the Piccadilly line is set to rise from 24 to 27 trains per hour.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “It’s an exciting moment for London as testing begins on the new Piccadilly line trains. These state-of-the-art trains – most of which will be manufactured here in the UK – will be more spacious, equipped with CCTV cameras and, for the first time ever in a Deep Tube train, air-conditioned, to make everyone’s journeys more comfortable.”

Stuart Harvey, TfL’s Chief Capital Officer, said: “The countdown is on for the next generation of Tube trains to start serving London, with the arrival of the first, new Piccadilly line train in the capital this month. These new trains are going to transform the experience of millions of our customers, providing a more frequent and reliable service on walk-through, air-conditioned trains with a host of features that will make journeys quicker, easier and more comfortable. We now have a year of rigorously testing the new trains before we start bringing them into service by the end of 2025.”