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Londoners, new Piccadilly line trains are just a matter of months away. Three and a half years after the dark blue line’s new designs were first revealed in 2021, we’ve been following their development very closely here at Time Out, from more designs to the testing phase in Austria to what the interiors will look like. And now we’ve got another update.
New images have been released showing Piccadilly line trains under construction in a factory in Yorkshire. The Siemens Mobility factory – or ‘train manufacturing facility’, if we’re being specific – officially opened this week at Goole. Dubbed a ‘rail village’, it will assemble 80 percent of the Piccadilly line’s new trains.
Just in case you’re out of the loop, the Piccadilly line’s new trains are a big deal. Boasting air-conditioned, walk-through carriages and improved accessibility, the dark blue line is set to be near-unrecognisable from its stuffy, sweltering, loud current self. The new trains are scheduled to start entering service from 2025.
Here are some pictures from Siemens Goole of the new Piccadilly line trains being assembled.
The opening of the factory was attended by London mayor Sadiq Khan and transport secretary Louise Haigh. Khan said about the opening:
‘This train manufacturing facility in Goole is a fantastic example of the expertise we don’t have and how investment in London benefits the whole country. This factory, where the new state-of-the-art Piccadilly line trains will be built, will create up to 900 direct jobs and support another 1,700 in the supply chain, delivering great benefits to the wider UK economy, showing that where London succeeds, the whole country succeeds and vice versa.’
Haigh said: ‘This impressive, world-class facility will be transformational to Goole and its people, providing a boost to the region’s economy and supporting hundreds of skilled jobs.
‘Its opening demonstrates the importance of high quality, long-term investment to pave the way for employment and growth.’
The wider ‘Goole Rail Village’ won’t just build the Piccadilly’s new trains – it’ll also manufacture Siemens Mobility’s future train orders and help maintain its trains currently in service.
Sprucing up London’s transport network on Time Out
The Piccadilly line isn’t the only London train service getting a makeover. The Central line’s trains are getting refurbed as we speak (though the line is hampered by delays), the DLR is also getting new trains (though these are delayed indefinitely), while the Bakerloo line could be next to get extended.
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