The Piccadilly line’s first new train has arrived in London – and it’s already been vandalised

Londoners have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new Piccadilly line trains for more than three years. Yesterday, after months of sneak peeks of the swanky air-conditioned carriages, the first new Piccadilly line train pulled up to the station in London. But to the dismay of many, it was already covered in graffiti. 

The first of 94 new trains, part of the £2.9 billion upgrade to the dark blue line, arrived in London from the Siemens factory in Vienna. It’s thought it was vandalised early on Monday morning while the train was near Latchmere rail junction, near Clapham.

Thankfully, according to sources the graffiti has now been removed and the carriage has been restored to ‘mint condition’. But the British Transport Police has launched an investigation to get to the bottom of it. 

British Transport Police said: ‘We received reports at around 6.45am yesterday (14 October) of criminal damage to several train carriages.

‘Enquiries are ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to contact BTP by texting 61016, quoting reference 75 of 14 October.’

Earlier this month London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was ‘so excited’ for the new trains to arrive when visiting them at the Siemens factory in Goole, Yorkshire. You can see the trains being built in Goole here.

Some stations will have to be altered to fit the dimensions of the new fleet. Caledonian Road station, for instance, will be closed until the end of November to make accommodations for the trains. 

ICYMI: The Bakerloo line extension just got another step closer to getting built.