CAPTION: Green Park Underground Station in London, UK. (picture alliance/Waltraud Grubitzsch/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB/archive)
Siemens has secured a contract worth 1.5 billion euros (1.7 billion dollars) to build 94 trains for London's underground rail network, the German industrial company announced on Tuesday.
The trains are to run on the Piccadilly line from 2023, replacing rolling stock dating back to the 1970s.
Transport for London (TfL) declared Siemens the preferred bidder for the contract in the summer.
The Piccadilly line carries some 700,000 passengers a day. It went into operation in 1906 and has been extended to link the city's Heathrow Airport.
The current trains have exceeded their service life of 40 years.
The new trains are designed to be considerably more comfortable and to carry more passengers. TfL aims to raise the line's capacity by 60 per cent, carrying up to 21,000 more passengers per hour than current operations allow.
The network needs to cater to a rising population. London is predicted to grow to 10 million inhabitants by 2030, 1.5 million more than today.
TfL is planning a total of 250 new trains for four so-called Deep Tube lines, which travel far below the surface in narrow tunnels.
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