Details released of funding settlement for Elizabeth Line new trains

The additonal trains for the Elizabeth line, to be ordered to stave off closure of Alstom’s Derby Litchurch Lane Works, are to cost £2.45m per vehicle, according to a newly-released letter.

Setting out the funding settlement from the Department for Transport (DfT) to Transport for London (TfL), then Transport Secretary told London Mayor Sadiq Khan that £220.5m would be provided.

The contract is for 10 nine-car Clas 345 EMUs, and the total value includes maintenance and spares. It was announced in June, and followed Transport for London’s submission of a business case to Harper on May 28, by when the government was in the ‘pre-election period’ when such announcements are tightly controlled.

“My officials and I have carefully considered the consequences of making this decision during the pre-election period and have concluded that it is in the wider national interest to proceed with it,” Harper wrote on June 14 in a letter that has only now been made public.

“I am aware of the critical importance of this contract to the UK rail supply chain and of the risk that postponing this arrangement may create wider uncertainty for these organisations and cause operational problems for the Elizabeth Line network at the point when the additional trains are needed.

“We will make a low-key and factual announcement that funding has been provided, to ensure transparency and to inform the markets.

“However, in line with Cabinet Office guidance, we will not publicise this further and will deal with any media queries reactively. I would ask you to do the same with any announcement you make,” he told Khan.

The money comes with some strings, explained Harper. It is only to be used to buy the trains, they will be built at Derby and delivered in the 2026/7 and 2027/8 financial years.

TfL will have to bear any additional costs (either train or track, such as signalling) and the trains must be used to support an uplift to 18 trains an hour to/from the new Old Oak Common station when HS2 opens (which is not given a date). Before then, they should be used to support existing services.

Also, the DfT will not provide a penny more and TfL is responsible for all risks, including their introduction. If TfL subsequently does a sale-and-leaseback deal for the trains, it will have to pass the £220.5m back to the government.

Closing his letter, Harper told Khan: “I expect you and TfL to work closely and constructively with Government during the construction of the new Old Oak Common station and to help fully realise the benefits of HS2, Old Oak Common and Euston, both for London and the rest of the country, without placing undue burden on the national taxpayer.”