The contract to deliver rolling stock and a new depot for the London Crossrail project has been awarded to Bombardier by the British department for transport.

The £1 billion contract between TfL and Bombardier covers the supply, delivery and maintenance of 65 new trains and a depot at Old Oak Common.

The contract award is subject to a ten day standstill period.

TfL will run Crossrail as part of its integrated transport services for London, including ticketing and customer travel information.

Bombardier has confirmed that the new trains will be manufactured and assembled at their plant in Derby.

This contract will support 760 UK manufacturing jobs plus 80 apprenticeships.

An estimated 74 per cent of contract spend will remain in the UK economy.

The construction of the maintenance depot at Old Oak Common will support 244 jobs, plus 16 apprenticeships.

When fully operational the depot will support 80 jobs to maintain the new fleet of trains.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “The Crossrail project is now rolling on full-steam ahead.

“The manufacture of these new trains will not only revolutionise rail travel in London, they will deliver jobs and economic growth in their birthplace in Derby and across the UK.

“With a firm on board to deliver a fleet of 21st century trains and the tunnelling more than halfway complete, we’re on track to deliver a truly world-class railway for the capital.

London’s population is set to grow from 8.4 million today to around ten million by 2030.

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “This announcement will mean state of the art trains providing quick, comfortable journeys for the millions of people Crossrail will serve.

“It is also great news for British manufacturing and for Derbyshire, where Bombardier will support 760 new jobs and 80 apprenticeships.”

Crossrail will boost London’s rail-based capacity by ten per cent, connecting Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west and Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.

It is connecting people and places, providing faster journey times and up to 24 trains per hour between Paddington and Whitechapel during the peak.

In addition to the jobs created through the rolling stock and depot contract it is estimated that Crossrail will generate at least 75,000 business opportunities and support the equivalent of 55,000 full time jobs right around the UK.

Each Crossrail train is 200 metres long and able to carry up to 1,500 passengers.

Key features of the new high-capacity Crossrail trains include air conditioning and inter-connecting walk-through carriages.

On-train passenger information systems will deliver real-time travel information to allow passengers to plan their onward journeys.

The new lightweight Crossrail trains will be built with an emphasis on energy efficiency and use of intelligent on-train energy management systems.

All bidders were asked to set out how they would engage with their wider supply chains and maximise opportunities for SMEs.

Bombardier will target at least 25 per cent of the value of this contract going to SMEs.

Bidders were required to manage the project through a London-based office and to commit to have plans to deliver job and training opportunities, including apprenticeships.

TfL will introduce the new trains from May 2017, with the fleet progressively introduced to the existing rail network well in advance of services commencing through Crossrail’s central section in December 2018.