TfL appoints Barber & Osgerby to work on design of Crossrail train

Following a competitive process design studio Barber & Osgerby has been appointed as Transport for London's (TfL) design partner for the fleet of Crossrail trains that will go into service from 2017 on the UK's newest rail line.

The London-based design studio will be working on the interior and exterior designs with TfL and Bombardier, who will be building the trains at their factory in Derby. Each train will be just over 200 metres long, made up of nine walk-through carriages and able to carry up to 1,500 passengers.

Key features of the new high-capacity trains include air conditioning and inter-connecting walk-through carriages, and  on-train passenger information systems will deliver real-time travel information to allow passengers to plan their onward journeys. 

The new lightweight trains will be built with an emphasis on energy efficiency and use of intelligent on-train energy management systems controlling lighting and air conditioning and will re-generate energy back into the supply when braking.   

Howard Smith, TfL's Director of Crossrail Operations, said: "London's transport is iconic from our red buses to the Tubes and the new trains for Crossrail will build on that heritage. So much work has already been done to deliver Crossrail and it is exciting to see this design work getting underway for the new trains which will start to carry passengers from 2017."  

Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby said: "Crossrail presents TfL with an historic opportunity to create a design legacy for London. London is the city that we both live and work in and we feel proud to have won this project. It gives us the chance to make a profound contribution to millions of commuters."

Crossrail will run over 100km from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through new tunnels under central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.   TfL will introduce the new trains from 2017, with the fleet initially introduced to the existing rail network well in advance of services commencing through Crossrail's central section in December 2018