UK: Transport for London has appointed AECOM to assess depot and siding changes needed for a future Bakerloo Line fleet, advancing preparations to replace trains that entered service in 1972.

Bakerloo line 1972 Tube Stock train at Stonebridge Park
A Bakerloo line 1972 Tube Stock train at Stonebridge Park. Illustrative photo. Photo: Peter Skuce, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Depot planning comes before a train order

The Bakerloo Line still relies on trains introduced into passenger service in 1972. According to AECOM, they are the oldest trains in daily passenger operation in the UK. Their eventual replacement is expected to support improvements in reliability, capacity and passenger experience, but TfL has not placed an order for a new fleet.

AECOM, supported by Arcadis, will carry out feasibility and planning work at Stonebridge Park Depot, the Queen’s Park area and the London Road sidings near Elephant & Castle. The study covers railway and systems engineering, environmental services, digital delivery and Building Information Modelling, with a coordinated baseline design intended to support later stages of the Bakerloo Line Upgrade.

TfL’s £2.2 billion capital funding settlement for 2026/27 to 2029/30 is intended to support rolling-stock upgrades on the Piccadilly, Bakerloo and Central lines as well as the Docklands Light Railway. That settlement covers several programmes rather than constituting a Bakerloo train order, and the current AECOM appointment remains an enabling study rather than fleet procurement.

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A November 2026 decision window

TfL also faces a defined contractual milestone. In a London Assembly session, Commissioner Andy Lord said TfL has options with Siemens to order Bakerloo and Central line trains under the wider Piccadilly line fleet contract, and that those options need to be actioned by November 2026.

In that session, Lord also said that even if an order were placed, the first Bakerloo trains would not enter service until towards the end of the decade. Significant infrastructure upgrades would still be required before the new fleet could operate. The latest feasibility announcement gives no newer firm date for passenger service.

Infrastructure work is planned into the 2030s

Earlier TfL procurement planning shows the scale of that supporting work. A February 2026 preliminary market engagement notice envisaged reconstructing Stonebridge Park Depot, expanding stabling at Queen’s Park and modifying London Road sidings, alongside power, signalling and potentially gauging works.

That notice estimated a Stage 1 infrastructure works period from July 2027 to December 2034 and said the works were expected to be completed around 2034. The dates were explicitly indicative rather than a commitment to procurement.

The latest feasibility appointment therefore moves the replacement programme forward without resolving its two decisive next steps: converting planning into funded infrastructure delivery and placing a train order. Until those decisions are taken, London’s 1972 Bakerloo fleet remains in service while TfL prepares the facilities needed for its successor.

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