New Motor Technology Aims to Boost Central Line Reliability

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Major contract awarded to Bombardier for motors and traction control equipment

The Central Line is to get an upgrade in propulsion technology which Transport for London say should significantly improve fleet reliability, availability and energy efficiency.

Bombardier Transportation has been awarded a contract by London Underground (LU) to supply new motors and traction control equipment for its fleet. This contract, which will commences immediately and run until 2024, is valued by Bombardier Transportation at approximately £112.1 million with the company also providing ongoing maintenance support.

Bombardier will replace the direct current (DC) traction motors on Central line trains with the latest BOMBARDIER MITRAC alternating current (AC) traction systems. The Central line ‘92 Tube Stock are the last LU trains to use DC traction motors, and they say MITRAC will bring significant benefits by reducing energy consumption while improving fleet reliability and performance.

In total, Bombardier will supply new motors and traction control equipment for 85 8-car Central line trains (680 cars in total). The project will be led from Bombardier’s Västeras site in Sweden. The installation of the first two trains, plus associated vehicle integration works and testing will be undertaken at Bombardier’s Derby site in the UK.

Between 2009 and 2018, Bombardier has delivered or has orders for more than 2,800 rail vehicles for Transport for London. Its MOVIA ‘S7’ trains on the sub-surface lines have reached a peak of 200,000 miles between failures. The new Central Line MITRAC propulsion systems will be a version of that fitted to these trains.

Mark Wild, Managing Director of London Underground, said, “The Central line is one of the busiest and most important lines on the London Underground network. We are making a number of improvements to reduce delays and make the line more reliable for our customers. Installing new motors is one of the most important parts of this work, and will mean we can deliver a more reliable service to our customers, which will in turn boost capacity.”

Richard Hunter, UK Managing Director of Bombardier Transportation commented, “This important contract win is testament to the significant improvements in energy consumption, reliability and performance of our MITRAC systems. This win is also a ringing endorsement of our traction system business, following MITRAC’s strong performance on other London Underground lines. Bombardier has a long history of working with London Underground, and we continue to provide cutting edge technology across the tube network, playing a vital role in keeping London moving.”

August 30, 2017