The trains are part of a 3.4 billion pound contract that was awarded to Bombardier by Metronet. The contract was to supply new trains featuring Automatic Train Operation and signalling for the Victoria and sub-surface lines. When it is finished this upgrade should make the lines and trains more reliable. There should also be an 8% decrease in journey times between stations, and a 16% overall decrease in journey times. This decrease is partly because the new trains have better performance than the 1967 tube stock that they are replacing. The new trains have a higher top speed of , a faster maximum acceleration of 1.3 m/s, a normal service deceleration of 1.14 m/s, and an emergency brake deceleration of 1.4 m/s. This is the same as the 1992 tube stock.
During the busiest times of the day, or the "peaks", 43 trains should be available in service. This will be an increase of 6 trains over the 37 units of 1967 tube stock. The trains have seats for 252 people and standing space for an estimated 1196 passengers. This gives a 19% increase in capacity. The new trains also have wider doors for easier boarding and alighting (to descend or step down) of passengers to decrease the times that the trains have to wait at stations.
The new trains are being built wider than the current 1967 tube stock. This is because the Victoria line has a larger than normal loading gauge compared to the other deep level tube lines. The larger size means that the new trains cannot leave the Victoria line except by road as they are too wide to travel on the other London Underground deep level tube lines. This means that to move the units, each car has to be uncoupled, loaded onto a lorry, and then re-coupled when they are delivered. The trains have been built using Bombardier's technology called FICAS, which gives them a thinner bodyshell. Along with the larger size this gives more space for passengers.
The stock is the first to be designed since the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations came into force. Because of this they will have more facilities for people with impaired mobility, including multi-purpose areas with tip-up seats and space for wheelchairs and pushchairs and offset centre door poles for wheelchair access.
The design of the trains was finalised in September 2004, and manufacture of two pre-production trains began in January 2005. The first train was scheduled to be completed by mid-2006. Metronet announced on 3 February 2006 that the first of the pre-production cars had been completed to allow it to be tested without being moved. From 21 July until 4 August 2006, an example of the train was on show at Euston Square Gardens, near Euston Square tube station, for a Customer Acceptance Test followed by public display. From September 2006, the first of the two trains underwent testing at Bombardier's manufacturing and test site at their Litchurch Lane Works in Derby. It was due to be delivered to London Underground by the end of 2006 for testing on the Victoria line during engineering hours (times after the line stops carrying passengers and repair and testing work is carried out), but this did not occur until May 2007. It will also be used for driver and maintenance training and familiarisation. The first of the trains was expected to begin passenger service for the Victoria line for evaluation purposes in July 2008, with the remainder of the fleet being delivered and entering passenger service in 2009. However, by October 2007 the date for the first train entering service had been moved to January 2009. The first train entered service on 21 July 2009, leaving Northumberland Park depot at 23:00 and forming train 277 leaving Seven Sisters at 23:55 to Brixton.
Victoria line (disambiguation)
Victoria Line is the name of many things. They are often associated with Queen Victoria:
Uherské Hradiště
Uherské Hradiště is a town in the Czech Republic. About 26,280 people live there (2008). It is located in the South-East of the historical region Moravia in the Zlín region. It was founded on October 15 1257 by the Czech king Přemysl Otakar II.
Ice skate
An ice skate is a boot with a blade in it that is used in recreation or sports to move across an ice rink.
Boing
Boing is an Italian TV channel marketed at children and teenagers, produced and broadcast in Italy by Time Warner on its DVB-T frequencies.
Mir-Hossein Mousavi
Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh (; born 29 September 1941) is an Iranian politician, painter and architect. He belongs to the Iranian reform movement.
He was the fifth Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran from 1981 to 1989. After his term, the constitution was changed, and the post of prime minister was abolished. Mousavi is currently the president of the Iranian Academy of Arts. He also was a candidate for the 2009 presidential election.
Before his post as prime minister, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is also a member of the Expediency Discernment Council and the High Council of Cultural Revolution. He has not attended their meetings for years. Political analysts think that he does not like these councils. In the early years of the revolution, Mousavi was the editor-in-chief of the official newspaper of the Islamic Republican Party, the "Jomhouri-e Eslami" (Islamic Republic) newspaper. In 2009 presidential election, Mousavi chose green as his campaign color, a color which has since become common in Iran.
René Lévesque
René Lévesque (August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Minister of the Provincial Government of Quebec from 1960-1966. He was born in New Brunswick and raised in Quebec. He was the founder of the Parti Québécois. The Parti Québécois have twice tried to get Quebec to leave Canada and become a separate country.
Lévesque was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1960 until 1967. He had the position of Minister of Natural Resources.
The goal of the Parti was to give Quebec its own Sovereignty, or to make it a separate country outside of Canada. The Parti Québécois won the 1976 Quebec provincial election. Soon after coming to power, Bill 101 was made a law. This law says that French is the only official language of Quebec. At this time, Canada had two official languages; English and French. In 1980 a vote was held. This vote was a referendum where the citizens of Quebec were asked if they wish to leave Canada and become a new country. 60% of the voters wanted to stay in Canada.
For most of his life, René smoked cigarettes. On November 1, 1987 he started having chest pains. He died of a heart attack later that day while in hospital in Quebec.
Dead Space
Dead Space is a third-person survival horror video game, made by Visceral Games for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The player plays as an engineer named Isaac Clarke. He fights against an alien infestation which turns humans into monsters called "Necromorphs" on a mining ship in space named the USG Ishimura.
Issac Clarke
He is the main character. He has a job as an engineer. The Concordance Extraction Corporation sent him to the USG Ishimura to repair it.
Kendra Daniels
She is an engineer, too. She is good at network technology such as hacking. Her opinion often clashes with Hammond's.
Zach Hammond
He is Issac and Kendra's colleague. He is a black man and a senior guard.
Nicole Brennan
She is Issac's former lover. She is a member of the USG Ishimura's crew. She sent the video asking for help to Issac.
Dead Space is part of 3 games. It has 2 sequels.
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), also known as "The Georgia Peach," was a Major League Baseball player. He is known as the best player of the dead-ball era (before 1920) and as one of the best baseball players of all time.
Fulham Broadway tube station