When will the Northern line go ATO?

Thought the first section in TBTC was going to be back end of 2012? A lot of the work is part complete already, like the trains have TBTC wiring and equipment fitted mainly, just not switched on as far as I know. Axle counters are springing up along the trackside too, so I can't see it being as late as 2016/2017

Thanks for the replys. Does anybody know when ATO finally comes to the Northern line will the trains have higher acceration? At the moment i know they are restricted to 60% power.

The question was about acceleration, not top speed .

When will the Nothern line upgrade start i belive its when the Jubilee line upgrade is finished but not 100% sure?

They haven't fitted the new speedo's (TODs), but everything else is done - even the computers are fitted, just not switched on.
Swapping a speedo takes about 30 mins - the wiring is all there. I believe the only issue is training / agreement to use the new speedo in non TBTC mode until the line is ready, and back end of 2012 is still planned as far as I know for the first section (whatever that is!)
Installation is still progressing - the loop cable is even installed through Highgate station, so no way will it be as late as 2015/16

First TODs should be fitted on the 95TS in the next few months. There are still a few legacy issues to resolve first. Completion date for the upgrade is likely to be in the 2013-14 range. Should become clear in the coming weeks. ATO will be implemented section by section.

When the 1995 stock was being tested did they run on full prefomance mode?

Will some parts of the Northern line be ATO by December 2011?

And also bear in mind, apart from a small clique of "train the trainer" type staff, no one on the Northern Line has received any TBTC training yet.

Why does it seem you never read the thread?

No. The first big closure for testing is likely to be xmas 2011. No passenger service in TBTC or ATO for a good while after that.

The number of closures is planned to be drastically reduced compared to the Jubilee line. The majority of the work will take place in engineering hours and some late starts on Sundays, probably starting late this year. There will be a few blockades over easter and xmas in next few years and a few whole weekend closures of part of the line to do the final, intensive service tests. As a result you will not see much in the way of visible progress (or hopefully visible inconconvience to customers) for some time. There are some closures for track works that will have TBTC activity piggy-backing onto them.

Training, picking up north end's point, will not start for train ops probably until next year and for service control around the end of this year.

I agree you can't test without closures. But the point you took up was that there will be a 'drastically reduced' number of closures. I am not sure anyone would assert that there will be no closures. From things I've read, I think the idea behind this new project delivery method is to reduce the number of weekend line closures for installation of the new signalling equipment.

In addition, I would suggest (and this is only an assumption) that at any given time (weekend or early closure for example), one branch of the Northern could be closed. Work could then be carried out intensively on this one branch for the required periods reducing whole line closures and reducing disruption. Small scale testing could then be carried out and the project then move onward to another branch. I don't mean to suggest this would take place in one weekend but by directing resources to a smaller sub-project at any one time, I suspect efficiencies may be gained. Then once all the signalling is in place integrate and test the entire system more intensively. Incidentally, I think this is how the Jub signally upgrade was supposed to be carried out (the line being divided into 4 sub-sections) before Tubelines de-scoped the project in an attempt to cut costs.

I wonder which part of the Northern line will go TBTC first? I think it could be the High Barnet branch first?

First section into passenger service is now planned to be High Barnet to West Finchley.