New Bakerloo trains could be running “before the turn of the decade” if Government funds can be secured to continue to modernise the London Underground, according to the capital’s transport commissioner.
Andy Lord wants a fleet of replacement trains for the Bakerloo line – currently the oldest in the country – to roll off the production line as soon as an existing order for 94 new Piccadilly line trains is complete.
This would involve using the same design of trains that are being built for the Piccadilly line – they have walk-through, air conditioned carriages and CCTV – on the Bakerloo line.
The call has been backed by London mayor Sadiq Khan, who said the existing Bakerloo line trains were so old that they had started running before he was born in 1970.
But both Mr Khan and Mr Lord have to convince Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Chancellor Rachel Reeves to provide a long-term capital funding deal for Transport for London. TfL only has a £250m one-year deal at present that expires in March 2025.
In February, a report backed by TfL said the Bakerloo line was in a state of “managed decline” and “at risk of critical failure” without new trains.
Mr Lord, speaking to The Standard during a visit to the Siemens factory in Goole, Yorkshire, that is building 80 per cent of the new Piccadilly line trains, said securing an order for new Bakerloo line trains was “critically important” for the future of the factory and “critical for London”.
He said: “The Bakerloo line fleet is the oldest rolling stock in everyday use in the UK. We have the [contractual] operations with Siemens. We have a fantastic new [Piccadilly] line train that can be adapted for the Bakerloo line.
“I’m hopeful with the new Government that they recognise we need a long-term funding commitment. A funding commitment for the Bakerloo line trains will be a key priority for us as part of those discussions.”
He added: “It should be before the end of the decade if we get the decision quickly. The last new Piccadilly line trains are due to roll off the assembly plant here [in Goole] towards the end of 2027. Siemens want to keep the production going.
“So, in theory, we could see the Bakerloo trains before the turn of the decade, if not a bit sooner. But we need decisions to be made quickly and we need to get that funding agreed.”
London-based journalists from The Standard, BBC London and ITV London were not permitted to ask the Transport Secretary questions during her visit to the Siemens factory on Thursday.
But speaking to Yorkshire journalists, Ms Haigh said: “You can’t be in a room with Sadiq Khan for more than five minutes without him asking for hundreds of millions of pounds. He has done that again today.”
Mr Khan, who Ms Haigh described as a “great friend”, said he “dreamed” in his first eight years as mayor to be able to “ring up a minister and make a pitch” for investment in the capital.
He said the Government has recently supported his plans for new homes at Cockfosters Tube station and to pedestrianise Oxford Street.
Mayor @SadiqKhan: I’m so excited about the new Piccadilly line trains pic.twitter.com/f3hYo1QXq3
— Ross Lydall (@RossLydall) October 3, 2024
“My polite, courteous point to the Government is: look, if we had funding for the Bakerloo line trains, which we are desperately in need of – they are older than me – then [Siemens] could invest even more in this factory and take on more staff.
“The community in Yorkshire benefits, London benefits and the country benefits.”
He wants to extend the Bakerloo line south of Elephant and Castle but the project is unfunded and a new Superloop bus route, dubbed the Bakerloop, has been suggested as an interim solution.
Mr Khan added: “We have been patching and mending [the Bakerloo line trains] for the past 10, 15, 20 years but those trains were past their ‘use date’ 20 years ago. We need to make sure they are replaced as soon as possible.”
