By Jennifer Sieg
Funding has been confirmed to create 10 new nine-car trains for the Elizabeth Line as Transport for London (TfL) continues to see high passenger demand.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who has been advocating for the funding, said the investment will “give a vital boost to UK manufacturing and support supply chains and jobs around the country.”
Khan added: “I’m delighted that ministers have confirmed the funding for these state-of-the-art trains.
“The transformational Elizabeth line is the fastest-growing railway in the UK, with more than 350m journeys made on the line since its opening.
“It is significantly helping to drive recovery from the pandemic and adding an estimated £42bn to the UK economy.”
The Elizabeth Line celebrated its second year of operations in May, with many deeming it a rare success story in Britain’s infrastructure scene.
It comes as the Elizabeth Line saw a record number of City commuters in April, despite concerns about a recent downturn in performance.
A new set of TfL data released last month showed 17.1m journeys were taken in April, which was up from 14m during the same month last year.
It means the ‘Lizzie Line’ is still on track for another bumper year, after carrying a whopping 155.2m passengers in its first 12 months.
It is thought this could reach as high as 200m in the 2023/24 reporting period.
