Thales wins £760m contract to upgrade four London Underground lines

LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Thales (Paris: FR0000121329 - news) has been awarded a £760m contract by Transport for London to modernise four London Underground lines. As part of the contract, Thales will upgrade signalling and train control systems on the Circle, District, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City Lines, which make up 40% of the network and include the oldest part of the network built in 1863.

Thales said the contract will create or sustain up to 1,100 jobs and 60 apprenticeships.

The company's chairman and chief executive, Patrice Caine, said: "If the Jubilee and Northern lines' success is any indicator, future travellers on the Circle, District, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines will experience; faster journeys, reduced over-crowding and increased service reliability. Once completed, 60% of the London Underground will have been modernised using Thales signalling technology." The improvements will boost capacity by an average of a third on the four lines and will support London's growing population, which is expected to increase from 8.6m today to 10 million by 2030.

Work is expected to begin later this year and the main benefits will be delivered by 2022, when the frequency of trains running during peak periods will increase to 32 trains per hour in central London - a train every two minutes - with frequency increases at other times as well.

At 15:11, Thales shares were up 1.1% at €62.29.