London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, May 13, 2026

When all the London Underground lines are getting new trains

When all the London Underground lines are getting new trains

Here's how long you're going to have to wait for new rolling stock. Millions of people get the Tube every day so its not surprising so many people were thrilled to see the Piccadilly Line 's new trains that are hitting the tracks in the next five years.

The new stock give promise of luxuries like air conditioning and more internal space but it also highlights the glaring problems with the other lines.

Things like the heat, the noise, the pollution are all regular bug-bears for travellers on the Underground.

In fact, complaining about the sweltering temperatures on the Central Line is as popular among commuters as complaining about the weather is in the country as a whole.

So here are the estimates for when all the London Underground Lines are getting new trains.


Piccadilly Line

The new Piccadilly Line trains have been announced to much fanfare.

They boast walk-through carriages, improved accessibility, air conditioning and more reliable signalling.

Transport for London has already ordered the 94 new trains needed to replace the 1970s stock currently on the line. They are being built by Siemens and will begin shuttling passengers underneath London in 2024.

Trains are rolled out gradually, rather than being all plonked in overnight, but the replacement of the old stock should be complete by 2026.


Waterloo & City, Bakerloo and Central Lines

Along with the Piccadilly Line, these lines are what are known as 'Deep Tube' lines.

The plan was to replace the stock on the Waterloo & City, Bakerloo and Central with the same trains going on the Piccadilly line.

London was going to get a lovely fleet to replace the dilapidated trains currently serving those lines. But that ran into the problem that most big infrastructure projects do, money.

It was announced last year that replacement on these lines was on hold due to TfL’s well documented current financial deficit.

So don't hold your breath.

A TfL spokesperson said: “While TfL is planning to follow the introduction of new trains on the Piccadilly line with new signalling, and then to upgrade the rest of the Deep Tube lines, such large-scale investment will not be possible without capital funding from the Government.

"TfL remains fully committed to upgrading the remaining Deep Tube lines - the Central, Bakerloo, and Waterloo & City lines – and will continue to work with the Government to make the case for long term investment in London.”


Jubilee, Victoria and Northern Lines

These lines make up the remainder of the 'Deep Tube' lines.

In the grand scheme of things these lines have had their 'rolling stock' replaced quite recently.

Jubilee Line trains were replaced in 1996, Northern in the late 1990s (they are called the 1995 stock but didn't come into use until 1998) and Victoria in 2009.

TfL rightly has bigger priorities.

There are no current plans to replace the trains on these lines.


Hammersmith & City, Circle and District Lines


The shiny new S7 stock serve the passengers travelling these lines.

They started to be introduced in 2010 and it took until 2017 until the last old models were off the tracks.


They're the newest trains on the London Underground network with air-con, seats along both sides and no dividers between carriages so you can walk the length of it.

They'd be mad to replace these trains anytime soon.


Metropolitan Lines

The S8 trains run on the Metropolitan Line . They're essentially the S7 trains but slightly longer.

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