Waltham Forest Guardian story

The designs for the next generation of ‘driverless’ London Underground trains have scooped an international award

The new trains are set to be introduced on the Central line in the mid-2020s

London Underground and design partner PriestmanGoode were unveiled as the Silver Top Winners at the Industrial Designers Society of America's (IDSA's) International Design Excellence Awards.

It was announced last year</a> that around 100 of the new trains, dubbed the New Tube, will be introduced in the mid-2020s on the Central line. 

The other 150 of the newly built trains will be in use on the Piccadilly line, Bakerloo line and Waterloo & City line.

The trains, costing over £1billion, will feature step-free access from the platform as well as walk-through carriages and wider doors.

Transport for London (TfL) expects them to serve London for more than 40 years and they will be built to be capable of being operational without a driver.

The capacity of the Central line is expected to be increased by 25 per cent, or up to 12,000 customers an hour.
The trains' design will allow for air-cooling for the first time on deep-level sections of the Tube.