Bombardier Transportation signed a contract with Transport for London for the provision of new trains, a depot and maintenance services for the flagship London Crossrail project. The contract is valued at approximately $2.1 billion.

The manufacturer will deliver 65 nine-car trains and construct a new purpose-built depot at Old Oak Common. The deal also includes maintenance provision for the fleet of trains. The program is scheduled to start on April 17.

The new trains will be built at Bombardier's Derby site and will support 840 U.K. manufacturing jobs, including 80 apprenticeships. In addition, the project will create approximately 260 jobs for the construction of the new depot and approximately 80 jobs for the ongoing maintenance of the trains.

The Bombardier Aventra trains for Crossrail will be more than 656 feet in length and will be able to carry up to 1,500 passengers. Key features of the new high-capacity trains include air-conditioning and interconnecting walk-through carriages. On-train passenger information systems will deliver real-time travel information to allow passengers to plan their onward journeys.

The Aventra trains have been designed with an emphasis on energy efficiency and the use of intelligent on-train energy management systems. The trains will also incorporate technologically-advanced systems for condition-based maintenance, including the award-winning Bombardier Orbita predictive maintenance capability and automated vehicle inspection system.

Bombardier will support the maintenance of the new fleet, based on its strong track record of supporting train operators throughout the U.K. at 31 sites and employing 1,800 personnel.