TRANSPORT FOR London was aiming to go live with the first section of automatic signalling on the London Underground’s sub-surface lines over the weekend of 16-17 March, after this issue went to press.
Thales is supplying Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) equipment under the Four Lines Modernisation (4LM), with the aim of delivering a series of timetable enhancements by 2023. Introduction is planned across 15 Signalling Migration Areas (SMAs), beginning with the Hammersmith branch.
TfL’s Major Projects Director Stuart Harvey told TfL’s Programmes and Investment Committee on 6 March that a new version of software had been introduced the previous weekend along with successful trial runs using the CBTC system. He confirmed the aim was to go live with the system between Hammersmith and Latimer Road on 16-17 March. He also told the committee the CBTC equipment had been installed across the next five migration areas, covering the entirety of the Circle Line, in preparation for these to follow.
The go-live of the first migration area had initially been targeted for June 2018 but was postponed while software issues were resolved. Mr Harvey told the Programmes and Investment Committee the aim was to commission CBTC signalling across the Circle Line by the end of this year, potentially supporting an early timetable uplift in March 2020.
