Bombardier Transportation (www.transportation.bombardier.com) has been awarded a contract by London Underground Ltd (LUL) to supply new motors and traction control equipment for its fleet of Central Line trains.

The contract, which will run until 2024, is valued by Bombardier Transportation at about £112 million, with the company also providing ongoing maintenance support.

Mark Wild, managing director of LUL, said: “The Central Line is one of the busiest and most important lines on the network. We are making a number of improvements to reduce delays and ensure the line is 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 in turn will boost capacity.”

Bombardier’s re-traction project is part of LUL’s larger Central Line Improvement Programme (CLIP). For the programme, Bombardier will replace the DC traction motors on Central Line trains with the latest Mitrac
AC traction systems and control equipment.

Mitrac will bring significant benefits by reducing energy consumption and improving fleet reliability and performance.

In total, Bombardier will supply new motors and traction control equipment for 85 eight-carriage Central Line trains (680 carriages in total).

Bombardier’s Västeras site in Sweden will lead the project; the capabilities of other sites in the Bombardier manufacturing network will also be used.

The installation of the first train, plus associated vehicle integration works and testing, will be undertaken at Bombardier’s Derby site in the UK.