French transport and defence group Thales has won a contract worth €1billion to upgrade four London Underground lines, including the oldest part of the network.

Under the £760million contract, Thales will modernise signalling and train control systems on the Circle, District Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines, which make up 40% of the network.

Upgrading the old equipment should allow the lines to handle on average a third more traffic, Thales said in a statement.

Canada's Bombardier was originally awarded the contract to upgrade the lines in 2011, but the contract was terminated in 2013 following overruns and delays.

source: Reuters