Project name: Piccadilly line extension to London Heathrow Terminal 5
Product: S1108 (1-108 EME-SP-14-025) LUL Track Feeder Cable
Location: Piccadilly Line London Heathow Airport Terminal 5
Company/client: Tube Lines (London Underground)
Scope: Manufacture and supply of LSZH DC Track feeder cable
Tratos & Tube Lines / London Underground cooperation
The Piccadilly line extension consists of a two-platform station, two sidings where trains can be stabled, approximately 3 km of 4.5m diameter bored tunnels, a ventilation shaft and two escape shafts. The construction project included civil works for the two tunnels, track work, the vent shaft, one escape shaft and construction of the Terminal 5 station. The Piccadilly line part of the London Underground (LU) provides a tube station stopping service to central London and the wider tube and rail network.
The contract to manufacture and supply Tratos low smoke zero halogen (LSZH) track feeder cable formed part of the new tunnel traction power installation system.
Tratos supplied S1108 (1-108 EME-SP-14-025) approved single core elastomeric insulated and low smoke zero halogen (LSZH), a specialised product used for DC power connections was installed at the time of the tunnel fit out phase of the project. The cable provides a low smoke cable (LSC) with full fire safety material compliance to TfL/LU S1085, a fundamental requirement for cables when installed in London Underground (LU) Section 12 sub-surface stations and tunnel infrastructure. Tube Lines Limited, initially known as ‘Infraco JNP’ (an amalgamation of Infrastructure + Company), was the asset-management company responsible for the maintenance, renewal and upgrade of the infrastructure, including track, trains, signals, civils work and stations, of three London Underground lines (Jubilee, Northern & Piccadilly) Tube Lines became a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) in May 2010 and has now been rebranded as TfL/London Underground.
Did you know?
The Piccadilly line opened as the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway on 15 December 1906 and it ran between Finsbury Park and Hammersmith.
The line remained much the same until the 1930s when it expanded rapidly, incorporating stations which are now regarded as classic examples of period architecture. Arnos Grove, Southgate and Sudbury Town, for example, are listed buildings.
The development of Heathrow Airport has also been a reason for expansion, with Heathrow Terminals 1-5 opening between 1977 and 2008. When Terminal 5 opened in 2008, it became the first stretch of new Underground railway in London since the Jubilee line extension in 1999.
Key Piccadilly line dates
- 1906 – The line opens between Finsbury Park and Hammersmith
- 1907 – A branch line from Holborn to Aldwych opens
- 1932 to 1933 – The line extends to South Harrow, Arnos Grove, Hounslow West, Uxbridge and Cockfosters
- 1977 – Heathrow Terminals 1, 2 and 3 open
- 1986 – The Heathrow service becomes a loop with the opening of Terminal 4
- 1994 – The Aldwych branch of the Piccadilly line closes down because of too few passengers and high costs
- 2008 – Heathrow Terminal 5 opens
Tratos is long committed to supporting sustainable transport and the UN Global Goals related to the transport, such as Goal 1 End poverty in all its forms everywhere, Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being, and Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.
Tratos is pleased to support the expansion of London Underground. Tratos’ Tube Lines approved S1108 (formerly 1-108 & EME-SP-14-025) cable was manufactured and supplied for the Piccadilly line extension to provide power to the traction conductor rail as part of the DC traction power system.
