It may seem like a lifetime ago now that TfL revealed that the Picadilly Line was due to receive a fancy glow-up after acquiring a fleet of new trains in 2018. To take on such a mighty task is setting TfL back £1.5 billion for 94 swanky new trains on the Picadilly Line, but I think we can all agree it’s a much-needed investment considering these current trains hark all the way back to the 1970s.
Back in summer, the new trains were spotted for the first time after they were seen getting tested on tracks in Austria to put these new carriages through their paces. It was reported that the first trains were undergoing rigorous testing on a test track and in a climate chamber with extreme weather conditions. Now TfL have released new photos that give us a sneak peak of the interiors of these stunning new trains, bringing back some of the excitement.
While the new image shows the train isn’t entirely finished, it gives us a pretty good idea of what they’re shaping up to look like. The carriages are bright and spacious, have splashy big display screens with travelling information, and feature a new moquette seat pattern named Holden in honour of Charles Holden, the London Underground architect between the 1920s and 1940s.
A new feature of these trains that Londoners will certainly appreciate is that these new models will be fully air-conditioned, giving us some respite travelling around the city during those sweltering London summers. Carriages will also be walk-through, have wider double doors, have improved accessibility and be more energy efficient. Leicester Square, King’s Cross St. Pancras, and Heathrow Airport are some of the London Underground’s busiest stations all of which are on the Picadilly Line, accounting for more than 10% of all journeys on the underground, the new trains are set to make these journeys supremely more comfortable.
It’s still quite a way until we see these bad boys hit the tracks of the big smoke as they’re expected to be officially rolled out in 2025 – but from these new images, the new state-of-the-art trains are looking promising.