Red signal for £500m Central line upgrade after just four trains refitted
The planned £500m upgrade of the Central line has hardly got going, CityAM can reveal, after the project to refit the key underground line serving the Square Mile suffered severe delays.
Just 4 of 71 Central line trains had been successfully refitted by the beginning of 2026, according figures obtained via a freedom of information request submitted by CityAM, despite the project having been set into motion as far back as 2023.
Only another four trains are expected to be completed by the end of the year, despite TfL commissioners previously promising that one upgraded train would enter service every month from the project’s launch. At the current completion rate, the refit would not be completed until 2043.
TfL first laid out proposals to extend the life of the current Central line stock, which was introduced into service in the early 1990s, as a cost-saving measure to avoid completely replacing the trains, a task which would likely cost more than £1bn.
The plans include new seat moquettes, new motors and new in-car information screens. But unlike the Piccadilly line upgrade, the refitted trains will not include air conditioning.
Plans still on track, insists TfL
The sluggish upgrade programme comes as a blow to City commuters, who have enjoyed an increasingly less reliable service on the Central line, with trains arriving less frequently and regular station closures.
The ageing stock has also been plagued with graffiti over the past year, circumstances which TfL have put down to cleaning issues at its depots.
TfL has insisted that the rate at which refitted Central line trains re-enter service will be sped up, and that the £500m project will be completed before the end of the 2020s.
Richard Jones, TfL director of asset performance delivery said: “We are undertaking the most significant overhaul project in the history of London Underground. This crucial and innovative work will refresh the ageing trains on the Central line and ensure trains will continue to operate, extending their working life.
“Four of the newly refurbished trains have entered service so far, with four more trains expected in 2026. We are in the process of undertaking essential testing and once this has been completed the rate that trains will enter service will increase significantly. The completion date at present remains that we are working for the trains to be upgraded by the end of 2029.”