Four bidders for new DLR trains

Four bidders have been shortlisted to build 43 new Docklands Light Railway trains that will enter service in 2022.

Transport for London has issued an Invitation to Negotiate to Alstom, Bombardier, CAF, and a joint venture between Siemens, Stadler Bussnang AG and Stadler Rail Valencia SAU. The contract to build will be awarded next autumn.

The new trains are designed to increase DLR capacity by 30%, owing to increasing development in the Docklands area. They will replace members of the existing fleet, and include on-board realtime information, air-conditioning and (for the first time) mobile charging points.

“The new trains are needed to support the continued passenger growth on the DLR, which currently carries 122 million customers a year,” said TfL Director of Rail and Sponsored Services Jonathan Fox.

TfL placed a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) in May, seeking expressions of interest.

Alstom spokesman Will Roberts said that while the company has yet to fix its strategy for the bid, it will always look to use its new Widnes facility to support a bid where practical.

He also declared that until the closing of the merger deal between Alstom and Siemens ( RAIL 837), the companies remain competitors and will act and behave in a totally independent manner.