Hitachi Rail delivers major milestone in London Underground’s largest ever signalling upgrade

Hitachi Rail has completed the latest signalling deployment on London Underground’s Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, and Metropolitan lines.

This latest phase covers the Neasden Depot area, London Underground’s largest, and marks the most intricate deployment of Hitachi Rail’s Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) technology in the 4LM programme to date. It required seamless integration between legacy interlocking infrastructure and the CBTC solution, alongside live interface testing with the Jubilee Line’s SelTrac™ system. The operation had to be delivered with uninterrupted real-time system switching, ensuring limited disruption to passenger services across the capital.

The Four Lines Modernisation programme is one of the largest and most complex signalling upgrades in the world. Hitachi Rail’s digital signalling and automation expertise is helping transform reliability, service frequency, and safety across nearly 40% of the London Underground network.

Transport for London welcomed the delivery of this phase as a crucial step in expanding the benefits of CBTC signalling across a larger part of the network.

To mark the achievement, Hitachi Rail has also released a short film spotlighting the milestone and the teams behind its delivery. The video, produced with the support of Transport for London, captures real-time scenes from the commissioning weekend and includes on-the-ground reflections from the project team.



About the 4LM project
Spanning 310 km of track and 113 stations, London Underground’s Four Lines Modernisation (4LM) programme is one of the most ambitious signalling upgrades in the world, modernising 40% of the entire network. With 192 passenger and 33 engineering trains operating across 14 different migration areas, the project represents a  significant step forward in how digital technology can transform urban mobility. The latest milestone, delivered by Hitachi Rail at Neasden depot, marks the most complex deployment to date, requiring the seamless integration of modern CBTC technology into one of London’s busiest operational environments.

www.hitachirail.com