Strathclyde
Partnership for Transport has announced upgrades to the Glasgow Subway system
which includes new rolling stock of driverless trains. This news is worth
mentioning, especially for my readers from London.
From SPT press release
New Subway trains
unveiled
Contract
awarded to Stadler Bussnang AG / Ansaldo STS Consortium.
Strathclyde
Partnership for Transport (SPT) has today (Friday 4 March) taken a significant
step in the Subway Modernisation Programme approving the award of contracts to Stadler Bussnang AG / Ansaldo STS
Consortium for the supply of new trains, signalling and equipment, valued at
£200 million.
The
announcement was made following a meeting of the SPT Partnership this morning
which approved the recommendation that the consortium offered the best value
and solution option to deliver the contract.
SPT
Chair Jonathan Finlay said:
“The
SPT Partnership Board is delighted at this award of contract which continues
the great work that our staff has been engaged in over the last few years
modernising our Subway Stations and infrastructure.
“The
new Rolling stock will provide the travelling public with a much improved
journey experience and the system will be more flexible in terms of frequency
and availability.”
SPT
Chief Executive Gordon Maclennan said:
“This
contract is a key part of our plan to modernise the Subway for generations to
come. We are all aware of the proud rail history of the Subway as the third
oldest in the world and our plans for modernisation will ensure that the Subway
continues to be an essential component in the transport network of the future.”
The
dimensions of the Glasgow Subway are unique, and therefore the new trains will
be the same length and size as existing rolling stock but will be a four-car
set, as opposed to the current three-car set, with open gangways to maximise
the space available and allow for wheelchair access with wheelchair users able
to access the system at St Enoch in the City Centre and Govan at the new
transport interchange which is currently under construction.
The
Subway’s signalling equipment, control systems and control centre will all be
replaced to accommodate the new Subway trains and enable improved availability
and reliability.
The
system will include new platform screen
doors, which will be ‘half height’ to preserve as much space and openness
within the stations as possible while still maintaining passenger safety and
security.
Peter
Jenelten, Executive Vice President Marketing & Sales for Stadler said:
“This
project is a major milestone for Stadler. It is the first time that Stadler’s
rolling stock will be part of a driverless underground system.“
Derek
Mackay, Minister for Transport & Islands said:
“I
welcome the achievement of this important milestone in the project being taken
forward by SPT to modernise the Glasgow Subway, towards the costs of which the
Scottish Government will be providing up to £246 million, in line with the commitments we made in 2012. New rolling
stock and signalling will help ensure that this historic metro system
continues to serve passengers for many years to come.”
Here are some of
photos of the new train which I found on their modernisation project page.
The
17 new trains will be the same
length and size as the existing rolling stock, due to the unique dimensions of
the Subway, but will be a four-car set,
as opposed to the current three-set.
Inside
the trains will have a radically different look and feel with more open space between carriages. Passengers will also have a new forward view
through a new wide-screen window at the
front of the train.
For
the first time in its history, the Subway will now be equipped with wheel chair spaces with wheelchair users able
to access the system at St Enoch in the City Centre and at Govan at the new
transport interchange which is currently under construction.
Once
the new full system is in place – trains, signalling, operational control
centre, platform screen doors – and
it has been fully tested, the Subway will move from its current partially automatic trains to Unattended Train Operations
(UTO).
You
should start to see the new trains in
the system from 2020.
Why did I call it ‘The New Tube for Glasgow’? because the
project is similar to what Transport for London are doing which is upgrading
the selected deep level lines with new driverless trains which feature
walk-through gangways like the S Stock train features.
I’m going to compare
it with the ‘New Tube for London’
project as I forgot to mention that on the 18th January 2016 TFL issued a press release on
London Underground regarding issuing an Invitation
To Tender (ITT) to find a manufacture to design and build the New Tube for
London.
LU
CALLS FOR TENDERS FOR DESIGN AND BUILD OF NEW TUBE FOR LONDON
London
Underground (LU) took a significant step today in its search for a manufacturer
to design and build the New Tube for London by issuing an Invitation to Tender
(ITT).
Five
pre-qualified manufacturers - Alstom,
Bombardier, CAF, Hitachi and Siemens - can now proceed to the next stage of
the formal procurement process with LU over the design and build of the next
generation of Underground trains, which will come into service from the early
2020s.
The
New Tube will mean faster, more frequent and more reliable journeys for
customers travelling on the deep-level lines - the Piccadilly, Waterloo & City, Bakerloo and Central lines. It
will also mean greater capacity and more comfortable journeys, and the first
air-cooled trains on the deep-level sections of the Tube. In addition, the new
trains will feature improved accessibility and safety features including walk-through carriages and wider doors.
Nick
Brown, Managing Director of London Underground, said: `Today's invitation to
train manufacturers to submit bids for the design and build of the New Tube is
a significant step forward. Londoners have already seen huge improvements to
the Tube network, but to meet the needs of our rapidly growing population we
must continue to invest in and improve our services. More people are using the
Underground than at any point in its 153-year history. The New Tube for London
will transform the journeys of millions of customers, providing trains fit for
a world city for the next five decades.'
The
building of the 250 new trains, which will feature attractive internal styling
that echoes the Underground's heritage, will also help to support new jobs and
growth elsewhere in the UK. They will be designed and built to be
'future-proofed', which will include the capability for fully automatic
operation, given that the New Tube will
serve London for around 50 years.
Along
with modernised signal systems operating alongside them, the trains will boost
capacity on all four deep-level lines:
·
The
Piccadilly line by 60% (the equivalent of up to 21,000 customers per hour)
·
The
Waterloo & City line by 35% (the equivalent of up to 7,000 customers per
hour)
·
The
Bakerloo line by 25% (the equivalent of up to 9,000 customers per hour)
·
The
Central line by 25% (the equivalent of up to 12,000 customers per hour)
·
Bidding
parties will need to return their proposals to LU in summer 2016 with the contract to build the new trains awarded in autumn 2017.
LU
placed a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) in
February 2014 seeking expressions of interest to build the new trains. This
enabled LU to put together a shortlist of five bidders which have now been
issued with the ITT.
The
OJEU notice quoted a range of between £1bn
and £2.5bn for 250 new trains.
The New Tube for
London programme will see approximately:
·
100
trains for the Piccadilly line
·
10
trains for the Waterloo & City line
·
40
trains for the Bakerloo line
·
100
trains for the Central line
Here are couple of
images of the New Tube for London to
compare with the new Glasgow subway trains. Images are taken from the New Tube for London project page.
I have also written a
couple of articles in relation to the New
Tube for London project:
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