Balfour Beatty will begin essential upgrade works to London Underground’s Piccadilly line this month.
The infrastructure company has been chosen to renew and replace aging high and low voltage switchboards, in addition to designing, supplying and installing new high voltage cables at several substations along the line.
These include Cockfosters, Hyde Park Corner, Northfields, Sudbury Hill and Leicester Square.
The contract, valued at 50 million GBP (58.87m EUR | 63.18m USD), is the first of a series of new London Underground high voltage power framework packages created to support the increase in traction power required to run the next generation of London Underground trains.
These new, longer trains , which are being manufactured by Siemens Mobility, will help to increase rush hour capacity on the Piccadilly line by almost a quarter (25%).
Introduction will begin in 2025 and it’s expected that by 2027 these trains will arrive into stations approximately every two minutes.
The framework will run for six years, with an option to extend for a further two.
“Once complete, the programme will transform travel for thousands of passengers each day and ensure that the London Underground can continue to run a reliable and safe service for many more years to come.”
