Firms compete to build new train

This computer-generated picture is illustrative only but based on the specification given to Alstom, Bombardier, Hitachi and Siemens. See a 'fly-through' of the new trains.

We’ve great news from the Department for Transport which on 27 November 2008 released the information needed by manufacturers hoping to design and build the Thameslink Programme’s brand new eight and 12-carriage trains.

Over five months, manufacturers Alstom, Bombardier, Hitachi and Siemens, have to work up a response to a challenging brief.

They must supply detailed proposals for about 1200 carriages that can carry many more people and, at the same time, ensure those people can get on and off the train quickly enough to allow up to 24 trains per hour through central London by the end of 2015 – that’s a train every two to three minutes.

It’s making a mainline train run at metro-style intervals!

Features specified include:

• Longer trains with greater capacity
• More spacious interiors and wide open connections between carriages
• Lighter, energy-efficient vehicles that cause less wear to the track
• Greater reliability
• Faster acceleration and braking
• Advances in safety and reliability built in
• Intelligent use of new technology:
  • Passenger information systems fed with real-time travel information to update passengers on their connections and to guide overseas visitors arriving through the airports and Eurostar services
  • Passenger loading information transmitted to central London platforms to advise people where to stand so they can board the train where there is most space
  • Air-conditioning that automatically adjusts according to the number of people in each carriage
• Features for passengers with luggage and people of restricted mobility

The specification has been informed by research with Thameslink route passengers and special interest groups, carried out on behalf of the independent national rail watchdog Passenger Focus in a joint project with London TravelWatch. There’ll be more consultation as the project develops.

Update 2010: A preferred bidder is expected to be selected from the two remaining companies involved, Bombardier and Siemens, in the spring 2011 with a contract awarded later that autumn. The first new trains are scheduled to enter service between 2015 and December 2018, from when the full benefits of the programme, including 24 trains per hour across the capital, will be delivered.

Update June 2011: Siemens has been appointed preferred bidder. You can read the DfT news release here.