How can technology enhance London’s passenger experience?

Signalling is core to assuring on-time transit, which leads to a good passenger experience. World-leader Thales is today on the job in London, applying technology that allows trains to run closer together. This increases capacity and improves reliability, bringing the London Underground network into the 21st century.

The widespread use of individualised technology has encouraged the transportation sector to focus more on the customer. Smart policies on digital enhancements can help make the existing infrastructure even more effective, safer, greener and cost-efficient.

Technology has a central role to play in a good public transport experience. This is about everything from planning an end-to-end journey using up to the minute journey information, to having the ability to choose from a number of journey options based on personal circumstances our lifestyle choice, and from knowing you can get where you need to be on time, every time, to being comfortable and crowd free on journeys and accessing a simple ticketing process.  

With nearly 20 years’ experience on the capital’s transport network, we have harnessed digital technology to address many underlying long-term problems that impact on the public transport experience, and capacity ‘pain points’ in particular. 

Embracing smarter signalling technologies on the tube network have already helped to deliver dramatic capacity increases since 2012: 33% on the Jubilee line, which is equal to 12,500 more passengers per hour and a 22% reduction in journey times. And a 20% increase on the Northern Line, equal to 11,500 more passengers per hour, and an 18% reduction in journey times. And when the ‘4 Lines Modernisation’ project completes - transforming the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines - we’ll see a further 35% increase in capacity across the capital.

Collaborative working between Thales and London Underground, using the ‘One Team’ philosophy, ensures that diverse stakeholders are brought together, giving everyone a voice, while collaborating as a unified team with clear shared goals to keep London safe, secure and on the move. This proved essential to smooth delivery and is a model for successful integrated and complex infrastructure projects in the capital.