France’s Thales to upgrade London Tube in 1bn euro deal

Unite, whose members include engineers and power staff, said the proposed deal did not go far enough, especially on the flexibility of working the new night Tube. The contract with Bombardier had itself replaced a previous contract awarded by Metronet to Invensys under the London Underground public-private partnership.

Thousands of tube workers are set for another 24 hour walkout from 6:30pm on Wednesday, seeing the service grind to a halt for the second time in a month. The dispute could yet threaten the launch of the new night tube, scheduled for 12 September.

LU made a revised offer last week which will be discussed by union leaders before the two sides resume talks at the conciliation service Acas.

Back then, Transport for London issued a contract to Bombardier for £354m to have the signalling on the lines upgraded to increase maximum train speed and frequency past the level the Victorians originally allowed for, work that was to have been completed by 2018.

In a statement today, the body said work will begin later this year on updating the signalling and train control systems on the Circle, District, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines.

The contract will create or preserve up to 1,100 jobs and 60 apprenticeships in London and elsewhere in Britain, it said. The first increase in capacity would be on the Circle Line in 2021, with the “main benefits” of the project to be delivered by 2022, when the peak train frequency would increase to 32 trains/h in central London.

Transport for London (TfL) has announced plans to begin modernisation work on 40 per cent of London’s Tube network.

Nick Brown, London Underground’s managing director, said the move will “transform the journeys of millions of our customers, significantly increasing service and reliability and frequently”.